Like LA Long's previous two books, "Unwanted in Life, Embraced in Death" seamlessly blends fact and fiction into a harrowing and emotional narrative. This effort is based on the life of Neil Washington, a man abandoned as an infant. As he grows, it seems that life is choosing to stand in his way at every turn-in the old foster mother who takes him in and disciplines with a firm hand, and in the way social workers suddenly move him into a boys' ranch without explanation or warning. Many people would crumble under the oppression and overwhelming feelings of not being wanted in life, but...