All Allie Marshall wants is a fresh start. But when dark secrets refuse to stay buried, will her chance at a new life be shattered forever? Convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, Allie watched a decade of her life vanish – time that can never be recovered. Now, out on parole, Allie is determined to clear her name, rebuild her life, and reconnect with the daughter she barely knows. But Allie’s return home shatters the quaint, coastal community of Brunswick, Georgia. Even her own daughter Caroline, now a teenager, bristles at Allie’s claims of innocence. Refusing defeat, a stronger, smarter Allie launches a battle for the truth, digging deeply into the past even if it threatens her parole status, personal safety, and the already-fragile bond with family. As her commitment to finding the truth intensifies, what Allie ultimately uncovers is far worse than she imagined. Her own sister has been hiding a dark secret—one that holds the key to Allie’s freedom.
My Thoughts:
This is a fast paced book that has you cheering for the main character. Though at first I thought maybe the back cover blurb (up above) may be giving too much away, it really didn't. From it you know the sister does know something but the story turned out to take a totally different path than I thought it would. Allie's situation is sad and I really wanted her to succeed and move past the small town prejudices. She had been in a great time of her life, engaged to the love of her life who accepted and loved her daughter, accepted into medical school, she seemed to have everything going for her. But when the local sheriff came upon her bent over the bloody body of the beloved high school coach, she was arrested. That she had written an editorial for the paper accusing the coach of some pretty serious things did not help her cause and she was convicted for his murder and sent to prison. But she set her mind to survive because she had her beloved 5 year old daughter to think of. Always maintaining her innocence, she now returns to town, paroled 6 years early, to try to take back her life. But it is so much more difficult that she could have imagined. And when her now teenage daughter is bristling about meeting her and is confused, demanding of her mom to prove that she is innocent, Allie has no choice but to do just that so that her daughter will once again trust her. I really liked so many things about the story. How it delved into the difficulty of a person just out of prison trying to start over, what things a teenager might go through with a parent just paroled and also another area of concern that I don't know how to mention without giving away some of the story. But it was interesting and caused me to keep the pages turning. I was much more engaged in this mystery/psychological thriller than I was the last one.
Of note, though Thomas Nelson (a Christian publishing company) did publish this book, I would not categorize it as a "Christian" fiction. I would just plain plunk into the contemporary suspense thriller genre. I think anyone enjoying a good mystery filled with twists that isn't overly violently graphic in nature or dropping swears continuously would enjoy this taut, page turning read.
Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for providing me with a free copy for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
1 comment:
Reading this gave me goosebumps. I like the occasional mystery, and this sounds like a good one.
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