My Kindle has become my good buddy the last four and a half days since the freak snow storm last Saturday. After sitting in the dark, cooking on the camp stove and washing in a bucket, I was more then ready to disappear into a good book. This time around, my time machine, AKA Kindle, took me back to 1950's Mississippi. (If you are wondering I did just have to spell Mississippi out loud to get it correct!) I was the investigator to the brutal beating and kidnapping in the book Prenumbra by Carolyn Haines.
The book opens on a hot summer afternoon as a mother, Marlena and her child,Suzanna, are waiting in the car. They are waiting for Marlena's lover to come take them away for the afternoon. As the story progresses, it starts to be told through the eyes of the child. A few more pages in we meet, Jade, half sister to Marlena and also a mixed race women who was raised by a black couple. She is the town hair dresser and also the beautician at the funeral home. It is she who sits by Marlena's side in the hospital after the attack. it is also Jade who gets herself caught up in the investigation into the brutal attack and kidnapping.
As the investigation heats up, sheriff Frank Kimble comes onto the scene. He is a small town cop born and raised in Drexel, who has fought in WWII, only to return home and head the police department. to some of the folks in town, he has big city ways that do not sit well. Frank enlists Jade's help in getting Marlena to speak about the attack. Along the way together they go through twists and turns.
As I got deeper and deeper into the book, I started to pick sides. One moment I was feeling sorry for Jade. The next I wanted to snuggle up close to Frank. Along the way, we meet Marlena's mother, her husband, and her best friend. Pasts are revealed and secrets are kept. Lies are written and truths are told. It is not to the very end of the book, that the whole story comes together. When it came together for me,I was startled and shocked.
I definitely want to see more from Ms.Haines. She is a very well written author and has no problem taking me away from the here and now,only to drop me into another time and place.
Rating: 5 curls
