** I received an ARC kindle copy from MindBuck Media in exchange for an honest review**
Book title: Little Falls (Kindle ARC edition)
Author: Elizabeth Lewes
Publisher: Crooked Lane/Penguin Random House
Number of pages: 264
Genre: mystery, thriller, suspense, contemporary
Expected Release Date: August 11th, 2020
Favorite Quotes:
“…My chest tightened, my vision narrowed, darkened. Pinholed. I closed my eyes, shook my head, pushed down all the thoughts, the impulses, and the screams. And when I opened my eyes, there was just Sophie.”
“I had to get this shit out of my head, had to push the blood and the terror and the dreams back into the dark corners.”
“She shuddered. I stopped in my tracks, my memory flashing like a television set: scrambled pixels, then for a moment, a millisecond, clear.”
“Words of rage and frustration and fear screamed through my mind, held back only by my grinding teeth. I had no protocol for this. I had no training.”
“Fear comes after. Its after the rip of the adrenaline, the numbness of the shock. That’s when fear settles in, deep and strong. Tidal.”
“But fear blooms. Into paranoia. Pain. Then – if you’re lucky – anger. Anger that rages like a forest fire.”
“That his death was opening so many doors in my head, was pulling so many blood-soaked memories out of my brain that I was this close, this close to-.”
Penguin Random House Synopsis:
She tried to forget the horrors of war–but her quiet hometown conceals a litany of new evils.
Sergeant Camille Waresch did everything she could to forget Iraq. She went home to Eastern Washington and got a quiet job. She connected with her daughter, Sophie, whom she had left as a baby. She got sober. But the ghosts of her past were never far behind.
While conducting a routine property tax inspection on an isolated ranch, Camille discovers a teenager’s tortured corpse hanging in a dilapidated outbuilding. In a flash, her combat-related PTSD resurges–and in her dreams, the hanging boy merges with a young soldier whose eerily similar death still haunts her. The case hits home when Sophie reveals that the victim was her ex-boyfriend–and as Camille investigates, she uncovers a tangled trail that leads to his jealous younger brother and her own daughter, wild, defiant, and ensnared.
The closer Camille gets to the truth, the closer she is driven to the edge. Her home is broken into. Her truck is blown up. Evidence and witnesses she remembers clearly are erased. And when Sophie disappears, Camille’s hunt for justice becomes a hunt for her child. At a remote compound where the terrifying truth is finally revealed, Camille has one last chance to save her daughter–and redeem her own shattered soul.
My Review:
4.75/5 stars
** I received this book from Mindbuck Media in exchange for an honest review**
The quality of writing for this book was impeccable. Elizabeth Lewes spent her time researching and interviewing veterans who have served the country, including those who shared their experiences of being diagnosed with PTSD. Lewes also interviewed doctors whom have worked with those suffering from PTSD.
The book is written in first person from the perspective of Sergeant Camille Waresch and her experience coming back from Iraq to her small town of Little Falls, population 75. The author is able to cause you to feel the immense emotion that Camille feels throughout the book. You get a sense of Camille’s struggle within herself as she tries to block out her memories from serving in Iraq and outward as she tries to lead a normal life with her daughter.
In Camille’s attempt to live a normal life, she works as a tax property assessor for the town and runs her own small mart. Upon checking out a property, Camille discover’s the body of a teenager that causes her to relive memories when she served in Iraq throughout the book. This discovery leads Camille to do her own investigation to solve who killed this teen and how it relates to her memories serving in Iraq.
There was so much tension and suspense throughout this book. Camille has to cope with her PTSD, the shock of discovering the body, and being reunited with her rebellious 15 year old daughter. This book does a great job shedding light on how difficult it is to go from active duty to becoming a civilian again. Camille is unsure of what and who to trust. From her flashbacks and memories to people wanting her to stop pursuing her own investigation of the teens death.
The only reason I gave this book a 4.75 was because there were certain scenes that I did have to re-read. I realize it is silly to say, but I think it is because there was too much detailed in her surroundings that I had a difficult time following. It could also be that I just got caught up with the detail that I was not focusing on what Camille was really seeing.
All in all, for someone who mainly reads young adult books, I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this book (heck, I even sat for 6+ hours straight reading it). I even hope in the near future that this be made into a Netflix or Hulu original movie, it was that good.
I also hope in the near future that the author, Elizabeth Lewes, writes more books. Thank you again to Mindbuck Media for contacting me to review this book and thank you to Elizabeth Lewes for writing this incredible thought provoking book.
**Stay tuned for my interview with Elizabeth Lewes**
Author Websites:
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