Ballantine Books, 2010HC $25.00
for: Adults
319 pages
Rating: 5
The story begins in 2009 with 26-year-old English teacher, Jody Linder. Her three much-loved uncles arrive to tell her that Billy Crosby, the man convicted of murdering her parents 23 years earlier, has been let out of jail. However, after these first few pages it flips back to 1986 and explains how she was orphaned one fateful, stormy night when she was only three. But it leaves off before finding out what really happened.
The second part flips ahead again, to 2009 and Crosby's re-entry into the town of Rose, Kansas, where the Linder family is honored and admired and the entire town is up-in-arms...literally. We learn more about Billy's son, Collin, who was seven when his father was sent to prison. Through the years Collin and Jody have been weirdly attracted to each other, and as the rest of the story unfolds, their connection becomes even more powerful.
This is an excellent piece of storytelling. Even though I did a lot of guessing about what "really" happened, in some ways I was close and in some ways I wasn't. I couldn't wait to finish it. I enjoyed my trip through Kansas two summers ago, and now I want to return and check out some of the small towns, the cattle farms, and the COWBOYS!
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