His last words are pushed to the side in the aftermath of his death, as Mackenzie is consumed with grief. Until the things he had spoken of start to come true.
Mackenzie's search brings her to the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, to the 19th century mansion where her husband was raised, and face to face with a mother-in-law she didn't know existed. The two women each have an agenda. Cora, a recluse, worries that her son revealed devastating childhood secrets to his wife. Mackenzie is concerned that unless she uncovers those secrets and finds the elusive James, she may not survive. The two women circle around one another, hunter and prey. But which is which?
As the plot unfolds Mackenzie becomes more driven and takes increasingly dangerous risks while Cora’s precarious mental state rapidly deteriorates forcing her to relive a past she has worked so hard to keep buried.
A gallery of photographs in the bowels of the house holds clues to generations of abuse, treachery and possibly murder. Messages hidden in Nick’s childhood Bible within the Epistle of James have Mackenzie racing against time to put the pieces together, unearth the reasons her husband chose to vanish when he was sixteen years old, and locate the person mentioned in Nick’s dying breath.
When James is finally found, the results are more horrifying than Mackenzie could have ever imagined.
Particulars of the Book:
Publisher: BookBaby
Publication date: 5/26/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 470
The Dame's Review :
"The Book of James" is a startling and absorbing read. I started reading it weeks ago just before I changed computers, and then lost it in the shuffle! It was like a punch to the solar plexis because I loved the book and couldn't get to the ending....like watching "Rosemary's Baby" and not being able to find out what happened! Not that I'm comparing this book to that one...just the idea of a fabulous gothic suspense/mystery that rivets you and won't let you sleep at night until you get to the final answer. That's the stuff of this book. It's just a page turner from the start. PS: I did get another copy of the book and was able to finish it! LOL
While the gothic and mysterious is a huge draw of this book, one of the central keys to making this a top shelf novel is Ms Green's writing skills, absolutely, stand alone. She is brilliant in creating suspense and dialog. Her story starts with a crashing bang from the get-go and it doesn't let up. Characters are illusive and beautiful and her ability to manipulate them to create atmosphere and mystery are indicative of a gifted writer. I was thinking of strong writers such as Patricia Cornwell and Lisa Jackson and others while I was reading this book. Although, Ms Green has a wonderful style of her own that is edgy and gothic which is a delight to my heart, personally, to add to the mix.
The central character, Mackenzie, is the woman we all know we'd be in the similar situation. She's feisty and strong-minded. I loved her bravery and brains from the beginning of the tragedy of losing her husband to her eventual discovery of all his secrets. The opening scenes of losing her husband were stellar and rang clear to me as a widow who nearly lost my husband in the blink of an eye. Ellen Green knows shock and grief and many more of the emotions Mackenzie and others of her characters experience throughout this book. She not only knows them, but she can translate them to words and make you feel them which is also the sign of a gifted writer.
I can only highly recommend "The Book of James" to you as one of the finest gothic suspense novels of this year. It's a book that should be jumping off the book shelves if it were in paperback. For now, you can find it in ebook format. I think we're sure to be hearing more from and about Ellen J. Green in the future. I'm one of her biggest fans!! Go get a copy of this one for a night this weekend. You'll be up all night reading.... :]
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
About the Author :
Website: Ellen J. Green
I was born and raised in upstate NY and moved to the Philadelphia area to go to college. I graduated with degrees in psychology. Although writing has always been my first love I somehow took a left turn in life and ended up as a therapist in a maximum security correctional facility.---for the past 7 years. (plenty of fodder for writing there, I can tell you).
I have been published three times in various magazines, (True Confessions, Woman's World) The Book of James is my first novel. I am starting a Masters degree program in creative writing in the fall.
Please visit SupraGurl Tours for more information and to visit more tours of "The Book of James" featuring giveaways, guest posts and interviews of Ms Green
Purchase this book on: Amazon or Barnes & Noble
where it's getting nothing but 5 star reviews!!
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