About the Book
-
Author:
- Kara Thomas
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- Straight
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: In Flanders Field…
Drinking Buddy: Just One
MPAA Rating: R (murder, violence, rape, language, drug use)
Talky Talk: So Who Was It?
Bonus Factor: Small Towns
Anti-Bonus Factor: Police Brutality
Bromance Status: I’m Intrigued
Cover Story: In Flanders Field…
The title gives away the genre, but in reality, it was one of those covers I couldn’t describe until I looked at it just now to describe it. The flowers growing on the site of the fire is a nice touch.
The Deal:
When Samantha Newsom was a girl, someone burned down her family home, killing her parents and her toddler sister Lyndsey. They never caught who set the fire. Samantha moved in with her aunt and cousin and tried to go on with her life.
Twenty-two years later, Samantha is working as a nurse in New York City when she receives a call that a recent arrestee claims he was there the night of the fire. And he makes a shocking claim: he saw a man run out of the burning house carrying a screaming infant.
Could Lindsey have survived the fire? Surely this guy is just making stuff up in order to reduce his sentence. But when he mentions Lyndsey’s special Minnie Mouse blanket, Samantha wonders if maybe there’s something to all this. She travels back to her hometown of Carney, New York, searching for answers.
Drinking Buddy: Just One
I liked Samantha, but she’s a woman on edge and probably doesn’t need to be drinking a lot. Like most hospital nurses, she’s way overworked. She never really had a chance to have a childhood. Her aunt kind of resented having to take her in. She had a snipey fight with her mother on the night she died and has always regretted that. She’s divorced and bitter. Now, to top all this off, her beloved sister may still be alive out there, somewhere, not knowing her past. Does Sam want to open this can of worms?
MPAA Rating: R (murder, violence, rape, language, drug use)
This is an intense book, with a lot of small town secrets being uncovered. And Samantha herself has a lot of baggage to unload. She hooks up with an old boyfriend…but is that such a good idea? The book opens with her helping her dying uncle commit suicide. Perhaps the morally correct thing to do, but would the authorities see it that way? Especially when the police resent her poking her nose in this cold case. Her sister vanished all those years ago, and if Sam’s not careful, could she be next?
Talky Talk: So Who Was It?
Samantha has a lot of theories, and she tends to immediately glom on to a new suspect, once the person she previously suspected has been cleared. Was it the guy in jail, covering up his own crimes? Her uncle, who died with an apology to Sam’s mother on his lips? The local cop, who had it out for her uncle and was being sued by him for police brutality? The too-good-to-be-true man from her past? The handsome investigator who wants to reopen the case? Sam’s angry and sullen cousin? Or someone else?
Bonus Factor: Small Towns
Carney, New York, is kind of an isolated place, and the town has secrets. There are drug dealers, strip clubs, and maybe even human trafficking. Why was the fire investigation so slipshod? Why are the women at the strip club so reluctant to talk to Sam? What happened to that Polish girl who vanished all those years ago? And if Samantha keeps digging up the past, might she end up sharing the same fate as her sister?
Anti-Bonus Factor: Police Brutality
Sam’s uncle was a drug dealer, and the cops had it out for him. When he winds up with a broken collarbone and concussion, he has a pretty good lawsuit against the department. But then the fire burns down the family home and the police are unable to find a suspect. And now that Samantha is poking around, her car is pulled over, her uncle’s gun is confiscated, and she’s been repeatedly warned to leave town. Hmm…
Bromance Status: I’m Intrigued
While Sam was kind of an exhausting heroine and the cast of characters was a little overwhelming, the big reveal was very satisfying. I’ll be back for more by this author.
Literary Matchmaking
Killing Time, by Brianna Ehrlich, is another great book about a multi-generational cold case.
As is Susan Vaught’s Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas also looks at police brutality and subsequent coverups.
FCC Full Disclosure: I received neither money nor booze for writing this review, though I did get a free copy of the book from the publisher.
