by Christopher Greyson
This is a perfect book for when you want to escape everyday reality. It has drama and suspense, a school of red herrings and likeable characters.
It’s the perfect beach, airplane, vacation, or wait-in-the-dentist’s office kind of book.
The book opens with our heroine, Faith Winter, locked in a mental hospital. By Chapter 2, Faith is reliving the horrifying blood bath in which two never-identified men murdered her father, her best friend, her best friend’s mother and her beloved older sister on her 13th birthday.
Then just a week before the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, Faith is released from the hospital with a strict schedule of survivors group and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to attend. She is also mandated to meet regularly with a probation officer because of the violent behavior she exhibited trying to track down a man she believes is involved in the murders.
Even after 10 years, the local police have not been able to solve the crime. There is much speculation that Faith’s father was the killer and then committed suicide. Other rumors — that he cheated on Faith’s mother with several women — continue to haunt the case. Faith herself, due to her abuse of alcohol and drugs and her violent, irrational behavior, has virtually discredited herself as a viable witness.
There are plenty of suspects in this story. Faith is a vulnerable and virtually friendless person as she starts life over on her own after her hospitalization. She has been her own worst enemy at various points in her life and desperately needs closure. You want her to succeed and have a future.
That said, this is a flawed book. It suffers somewhat from what I call “Midsomer-itis.” (“Midsomer Murders” is a British detective television series that has been on the air since 1997. Set in rural England, each episode features multiple murders that would long ago have decimated the county of Midsomer if it weren’t fictional.)
The Author: Christopher Greyson
Christopher Greyson is the author of the Detective Jack Stratton mystery and thriller series. The Girl Who Lived is his first venture into psychological thrillers.
Greyson has a mixed background of degrees in theater, communications and computer science, but one constant in his life is his love of stories of mystery and adventure. His grandfather, a decorated World War I hero, and a companion of his grandfather’s who was a World War I pilot who flew at the same time as the German pilot, The Red Baron, helped inspire him.
He his married to romance writer Katherine Greyson and lives in Massachusetts.
