The premise of this book is unusual. It's a mystery-thriller set in rural Oklahoma that puts regular, honest people up against crime and the supernatural.The main character is a young woman, Chantalene, who's always wanted to travel and do interesting things but can't seem to get out of her tiny rural town. She's in a great relationship but isn't sure she wants to commit, because she's afraid she'll be stuck in an Oklahoman rut forever if she does.
In the meantime, her sort-of adopted mother, Thelma, is trying to track down the husband who left her decades ago so she can get his name off of the titles to her land. An oil company wants to lease with her, but she can't sign a lease without her husband's signature or death certificate. A man comes into town claiming to be her husband, with all the credentials thereof, but she just knows it's not him. But Chantalene is the only one that believes her.
Chantalene is afraid for Thelma, so she promises to find out who this stranger really is. But in so doing, she falls into a mystery involving Thelma's real husband, a large sum of money, and the mob, putting herself and Thelma in danger.
In the meantime a mysterious old hermit is being haunted by the ghost of a young girl he once knew. He believes Chantalene is the incarnation of this girl, and that Chantalene must somehow be destroyed in order to exercise the ghost. The old hermit and the young girl are both also somehow involved in Chantalene's mystery, but she doesn't even know they exist, though she dreams about the girl at night.
This was a great mystery, the sort you think you've got figured out, but you don't. Thelma and the old hermit come across as a bit stereotypical, but Chantalene is a great, believable character. I definitely recommend this one, and will look for more from this writer.
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It does sound completely different from what I've run across lately. Pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I just figured out why the authors name sounds familiar....same author who wrote Trudy's Promise. No wonder it was good!!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't this it's the same writer, M.K. Preston / Marcia Preston? Not sure. Could be.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my kind of book.
ReplyDeleteA couple years back I joined a reading challenge that was supposed to be centered on a theme. I chose books that had the word bone in them. There are a lot. Even though the challenge is over I still make not of books that fit the challenge.
ReplyDelete