This is a suspense novel and the first book that I've read by this author. Ellie Hathaway is a young police officer in a small Massachusetts town. Unbeknownst to everyone in the town, including the officers she works with, Ellie was once the victim of a serial child kidnapper. She was the only one of his victims to escape and that was thanks to the quick thinking of FBI agent Reed Markham. For the past three years, right around her birthday in July, a person has disappeared from Ellie's town. Shortly after each disappearance, she receives an unsigned birthday card. Her colleagues on the force do not believe Ellie's theory that the disappearances are related (mostly because they do not know of her past). So, as her birthday approaches, Ellie calls up Agent Markham for help. She hasn't seen him since the night he rescued her and she doesn't know that he's going through a rough patch and is on "stress" leave from the FBI. The mystery that follows is actually very thin. There is truly only one possible suspect in the town given the way the book is written and so I was disappointed in that aspect of the book. However, I thought the portrayal of a survivor of such a violent childhood trauma was excellently done. Ellie's emotions are not cut and dried, and what happened to her has affected the way she lives and the way she thinks. For this alone, I was glad to have read the book.
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2018
The Vanishing Season/ Joanna Shauffhausen/ 274 pgs
This is a suspense novel and the first book that I've read by this author. Ellie Hathaway is a young police officer in a small Massachusetts town. Unbeknownst to everyone in the town, including the officers she works with, Ellie was once the victim of a serial child kidnapper. She was the only one of his victims to escape and that was thanks to the quick thinking of FBI agent Reed Markham. For the past three years, right around her birthday in July, a person has disappeared from Ellie's town. Shortly after each disappearance, she receives an unsigned birthday card. Her colleagues on the force do not believe Ellie's theory that the disappearances are related (mostly because they do not know of her past). So, as her birthday approaches, Ellie calls up Agent Markham for help. She hasn't seen him since the night he rescued her and she doesn't know that he's going through a rough patch and is on "stress" leave from the FBI. The mystery that follows is actually very thin. There is truly only one possible suspect in the town given the way the book is written and so I was disappointed in that aspect of the book. However, I thought the portrayal of a survivor of such a violent childhood trauma was excellently done. Ellie's emotions are not cut and dried, and what happened to her has affected the way she lives and the way she thinks. For this alone, I was glad to have read the book.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent - 300 Pages
This is an adventurous Historical Fiction novel with a love story, set on Coastal Massachusetts in 1673. The author fictionalizes one of her ancestors in this story which has well-developed, believable, and sympathetic characters. This book is also a prequel to Kent's previous title, The Heretics Daughter.Plot Summary: Martha Allen is loaned out to her cousin, who is expecting her third child, to help on the family homestead not far from Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600's. Thomas Carrier is also working on the land in order to earn a parcel of land owned by Martha's cousin and husband. But Thomas has a former life that must remain secret in order for him to survive and prosper in the New World. There are enemies searching for Thomas in order to return him to England where his story began.
The book gives the reader a view of early American life in the colonies and the hardships that early settlers endured in order to live in a world that is inhabited by marauding wolves and Indians who are not above kidnapping unsuspecting victims. The settlers have brought diseases and are encroaching upon the Indians sacred hunting grounds. The story of Thomas' prior life eventually unfurls and answers questions Martha has about the man she has grown to love. This is a tale of romance and courage.
Similar reads might be: Deceptions: a Jamestown Novel by Marilyn Clay or The Widow's War by Sally Gunning.
cj/MK
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