Michael Hiebert

This book is written in a clear Southern voice, from both the first-person perspective of young Abe Teal as an imaginative boy living in Alvin, Alabama and a third-person perspective of his mother, Detective Leah Teal - a style I found very interesting.

Abe's voice is so clear in its innocence and earnestness - he was delightful, and the kind of kid you hope yours would befriend.

It's beautifully written, and evokes a strong picture of place and the characters, and the theme of forgiveness is felt strongly throughout. I really enjoyed this book and will be looking for Hiebert's debut novel, Dream with Little Angels, as it also features Abe and Leah.

Comparisons have been made to Hiebert's stories to Harper Lee's "to Kill a Mockingbird", and as that is a favorite of mine, I thought it was a pretty serious claim - but I have found it holds up. Definitely worth a read. Enjoy!

My full review can be found on my website, Momma on the Rocks http://wp.me/p16nhR-1dV

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
All comments are mine only.… (meer)

Good storytelling with interesting characters. While I did not like all the characters, I thought they were well developed. The Stickman is a serial killer that has seemed to resurface in the small town of Alvin, Georgia. This is odd because Leah's father supposedly killed the Stickman years ago. Now she is a police detective and the killer seems to be stalking her. Leah and Dan are two detectives, and lovers, working on the new Stickman case. Carry and Jonathan are teens who have fallen in love and come in the path of the Stickman. Abe is the young boy who pulls out his old first forensic kit and finds an important clue in the case. I liked this story enough to pick up one of the other Alvin, Georgia stories.… (meer)

3.5. This was a good, fast read. It is more a character study rather than a mystery but the mystery thrown in there made it more interesting and helped to tie all the characters together. I don't usually read the reviews on GR before I start a book because I have found that I am very impressionable but I did happen to catch a few on this one before I began. I am not sure who or where the comparisons to [b:To Kill a Mockingbird|2657|To Kill a Mockingbird|Harper Lee|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361975680s/2657.jpg|3275794]started but personally I did not see any parallels - I find that to be a silly discussion. I did have a small problem with the ending of the book; I thought the last two chapters were unnecessary but other than that this book was worth the read and I would read this author again.… (meer)