Wow! This was a fast read!
I read this story in just 2 days...of course it helps that most of the weekend was grey, wet, dreary. I ran errands and went to church and did housework of course but the bulk of Saturday morning was spent reading.
STORY SUMMARY
Jack Quinlan is married to Sarah and they have twin daughters, Elizabeth and Emma who are freshmen in college. They live in Montana and Jack hasn't been back to his hometown of Penny Gate, Iowa in over twenty years! The only thing Sarah really knows about Jack's family is that his parents (Lydia and John) were killed in a bad car accident in 1985 when Jack was just 15 year old and his younger sister Amy was 11. Amy and Jack went to live with their Uncle Hal and Aunt Lydia and cousin Dean who was a couple of years older. Hal and Julia raised Amy and Jack as though the young teens were their own.
Dean is now married to Celia who was once Jack's steady girlfriend. Sarah has never met any of Jack's family.....
Until he gets a phone call early one morning that his Aunt Julia is in the hospital after a bad fall. She is in a coma and Jack needs to go back to Penny Gate.
Once Jack and Sarah arrive, Sarah learns that this whole family has many secrets. And that her husband of 20 years has not told her the truth about his parents' deaths. His mother was murdered!! And his father disappeared the day that Jack himself found his mother's body in the dark basement of their farm home.
And now Amy is the main suspect in Julia's accident!!
Just what is the truth??
Sarah, a former journalist turned advice columnist, begins to investigate Jack's family and the sheriff's dispatcher, Margaret, who befriends Sarah, gives her the entire box of the case files.
Will Sarah uncover the truth about Jack's parents?? Jack was considered a suspect at one point back in 1985...whatever for?? and why hasn't he been honest with Sarah??
What really happened with Lydia and John??
MY THOUGHTS
This was a very easy and fast-paced novel. I've read two of this author's other books and enjoyed them immensely so I just knew I'd like this one and I did.
Her characters seem to jump right off the page as though you know them.
The small town atmosphere adds to the excitement of this mystery suspense.
I loved uncovering the secrets as Sarah got closer and closer to the truth of what really happened. At one point I took a guess as to who the murderer was and I was wrong! Then I started to suspect someone else and I was correct.
This book leaves you turning the page long after you should have turned off the light!
The book's main themes seem to be family secrets, addictions, betrayal, honesty, and trust....it also brings out the questions of if your spouse has a deep secret from the past, should you know about it or should he/she keep it buried?
The author does a great job with character development and in fact, a couple of the characters really change as they progress through the book.....along with this comes the question of just how much should a family reveal about itself to others outside the family??
The setting is creepy and works so well for this plot. The small town village and isolation of the farmhouses really worked well for the "creepy" affect.
I can't wait to see what the author is going to surprise us with next!
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.
1 comment:
Sounds very interesting.
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