Release Date: 11/08/16
Publisher: Century
SYNOPSIS:
Arrowood is the most ornate and beautiful of the grand historical houses that line the Mississippi river in southern Iowa where the days are long and humid and communities are small and closed.
It has its own secrets and ghostly presence: it's where two small twin girls were abducted ten years previously - never to be seen again.
Now, Arden has inherited Arrowood, and she returns to her childhood home determined to establish what really happened to her sisters that traumatic summer. But the house and the surrounding town hold their secrets close - and the truth, when Arden finds it, is more devastating than she ever could have imagined.
Family lies, buried secrets and a terrifying truth lie at the heart of this brilliant and haunting crime novel.
REVIEW:
I love a mystery that really draws you in and when you blend it with a psychological and supernatural aspect it can be something that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat but also gives you chills as events unfurl. What happens within the book is a tale that has a solid story, some decent twists as well as dialogue that keeps it moving on at its own pace. For me there was just one problem.
I hated the principle character. I just couldn’t get on with her as I couldn’t get a hook into her, so much so that I really didn’t have enough interest in the story to care about how events turned out and how it would affect her. Back this up with an ending that didn’t feel like it gave me any real closure and all round I was disappointed with hits outing.
Hail Mighty Readers,
With today being the release of Laura McHugh's Debut in Hardback (released by Hutchinson) we were lucky enough to get our hands on the authors own character profiles which we hope will grab your attention and give this great author a chance to spend time with you.
So here for your delight they are:
Lucy:
Seventeen-year-old Lucy Dane has always longed to escape the isolated mountain town where she grew up. Her father’s family has lived in Henbane for generations, but Lucy is treated like an outsider thanks to the mother she never knew, a captivating stranger who arrived in town amid a swirl of rumors and disappeared in the hills not long after Lucy’s birth. She’s desperate to learn more about her mother, but most of what she knows is pieced together from local myth. Lucy is on her own while her dad travels for work, and she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Not much scares her, and she knows that her protective uncle and her elderly neighbor, Birdie, are looking out for her. When one of Lucy’s few friends, slow-minded Cheri, is found murdered, Lucy is haunted by the knowledge that she didn’t do more to protect her. She becomes determined to find Cheri’s killer, and in the process she uncovers long-buried secrets about her mother’s disappearance that force her to question everything and everyone around her.
Lila:
Lila’s mother and step-father provided a normal, loving life for her on their Iowa farm, but when they are killed in an accident, Lila is shuffled between a series of foster homes, often causing problems with her impulsive behavior. As she ages out of the foster care system, Lila is alone and running out of options. Her last chance is a job on an Ozark farm, and she’s determined not to ruin it by getting involved with the wrong people and making reckless choices as she’s done so many times in the past. When she arrives in the remote town of Henbane, she finds herself an object of rumor and suspicion; the locals don’t trust strangers, and Lila isn’t one to blend in. What she wants more than anything is a place to call home—something she hasn’t had in a very long time—though she’s not expecting to find it Henbane, where even the landscape feels threatening.
For more information and to keep up with Laura please visit her website.
Release Date: 03/07/14
Publisher: Hutchinson
SYNOPSIS:
This is a gripping debut psychological crime novel about family lies and dark secrets in an isolated community as a series of women go missing. People still whisper about Lucy Dane's mother who vanished years ago from the town of Henbane, deep in the Ozark mountains. When one of Lucy's friends is found murdered, Lucy feels haunted by the two lost women: by the mother she never knew, and the friend she couldn't protect. But her search for answers, in a place where secrets are easily concealed, leads her to a chilling discovery. And with this revelation, she must grapple with the meaning of family, the secrets we keep, and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.
REVIEW:
To be honest I think that for a great many people its going to be a marmite book, that is to say, a title that you’re either going to love or hate. For me, I really enjoyed it. I loved the gritty feel, the way that the Lucy, came across, the strength of her difference against the insular philosophy of the culture to which she is raised.
Its definitely something that works very well, for me as the author, Laura, brings it across with ease allowing the reader to not only see but feel how it is to be in a culture such as this. All round, along with sharp prose and gritty realism, the reader is treated to one hell of a story that really doesn’t let up from start to finish so much so that when you get to the heart of the matter (or rather the meat of the story) you’ll discover that some things are never quite what you expect let alone believe. Great writing.
