Kelly O. (astucity) - reviewed on 11/4/2009 + 18 more book reviews

It's very hard to review this book, given it was a light read at just under 200 pages, but let me give it a shot.

Hailey Trosclair is a 16 year old teen living in New Orleans and dealing with personal demons raging war across her family. Her mother, Lena, having had a miscarriage a few months earlier and is now bedridden with her own grief and depression, her father, Jules, a laid off alcoholic who is hiding an affair rather unsuccessfully, and her brother, Cyrus, who just can't seem to stay out of trouble and wouldn't even if he could; these are the characters that set the stage.

Cyrus has recently come into the acquaintance of a man named Moses
who while in prison got the idea of opening a drive-thru style church with the idea that people could drive up in their cars and get handed scripture. He had amassed some followers, mainly troubled youth, and Cyrus was more than happy to go along and cause a little mayhem.

One night their antics went a little too far and while Moses and Cyrus were beating up a pedophile they were trying to teach a lesson to, it seems he suffered a brain injury and died a few days later as a result.
That's when suspicion, betrayal, paranoia, and a breakdown of mental stability come into play.

I read this book was compared to literary classics such as To Kill A Mockingbird but frankly, I didn't see it. I would almost compare it to a shortened and water downed version of Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, just with less social posturing.

With that comparison made I do not want to make it sound like the writer isn't talented enough to tell a riveting story, he just didn't give me enough time to get involved with the story and it seemed like the story he was trying to tell didn't quite fit into the number of pages he allowed himself. However, for a fast read it did stand on it's own.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details