Tuesday, January 8, 2019

SPLINTERED SILENCE by Susan Furlong

 
Publisher:      Kensington
Published:      December 26, 2017
ISBN:      978-1496711663
Genre:     Mystery, Thriller
Format:     Print from Library   
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  myreviewbooks@aol.com

FIVE HEARTS

 

Brynn Callahan has returned from three tours of duty as a Marine a wounded and broken woman.  Wounded in body and mind.  Her K-9, Wilco has returned with her.  He too has been wounded—a leg lost to an IED.  Because of the comfort he can give her with her own PTSD and because he can no longer serve, he has returned to Bone Gap with her.  When she becomes aware that her grandmother needs her help, she returns to Bone Gap and the Travellers’ compound there.  The Travellers are an Irish clan, close knit and with little trust of outsiders.  Shortly after her return, while out with Wilco, the dog, a cadaver K-9, indicates that he has found a dead body.  At first it appears to be a neighbor’s sister but it turns out to be someone even closer to Brynn.  Draw into seeking out a killer and answers to her own life, Brynn slowly but surely confronts her past.  Walking a fine line between her people—her clan and the settlers—town people, Brynn finds answers to questions she never wanted to ask.

When I first saw Susan Furlong had a new series, because I enjoyed her previous ones, I had to check it out.  I thought, wrong, given that her prior series were cozies with quirky characters and often amusing aspects that her Bone Gap Travellers series would be one as well.  Let me start by saying OMG!  WOW WOW WOW.  Furlong goes way beyond what I anticipated.  What a fantastic read.  Normally I shy away from stories of wounded warriors from our modern day wars—I know too many people in real life that have been hurt and/or affected by these wars and prefer to focus on their needs than that of fictional characters.  The beginning of SPLINTERED SILENCE is very much like a depressing women’s fiction, but because I do like Furlong as an author along with the fact that the heroine in this one is not only a Marine but a female Marine and K-9 handler I continued on.  I am so glad I did.

Furlong introduces readers to the Travellers—an Irish clan that travels from place to place where work is needed.  She explains their place in our society so much better than I can in a review.  Brynn is a damaged heroine—at times I just wanted to walk away from her, but that is a testament to strength of Furlong’s writing---that and that I kept reading.  Bit by bit, piece by piece, the author takes you into the world of the Travellers, Brynn and Wilco.  Her characters are three dimensional, driven by their pasts and presents and the cross sections of their very different worlds. 

The mystery itself is multi-dimensional.  Each character has a part in its creation and solution.  Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down.  I’m now eagerly awaiting the arrival of book 2 of this series, FRACTURED TRUTH.

Even if, like me, you find the subject matter difficult, SPLINTERED SILENCE is a do not miss read.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

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