MY REVIEW:
Random House Publishing Group|March 11, 2014|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-8129-9520-6
The town of Henbane sits deep in the Ozark Mountains. Folks there still whisper about Lucy Dane's mother, a bewitching stranger who appeared long enough to marry Carl Dane and then vanished when Lucy was just a child. Now on the brink of adulthood, Lucy experiences another loss when her friend Cheri disappears and is then found murdered, her body placed on display for all to see. Lucy's family has deep roots in the Ozarks, part of a community that is fiercely protective of its own. Yet despite her close ties to the land, and despite her family's influence, Lucy - darkly beautiful as her mother was - is always thought of by those around her as her mother's daughter. When Cheri disappears, Lucy is haunted by the two lost girls - the mother she never knew and the friend she couldn't save and sets out with the help of a local body, Daniel, to uncover the mystery behind Cheri's death.
What Lucy discovers is a secret that pervades the secluded Missouri hills, and beyond that horrific revelation is a more personal one concerning what happened to her mother more than a decade earlier.
THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD is an urgent look at the dark side of a bucolic landscape beyond the arm of the law, where a person can easily disappear without a trace. Laura McHugh proves herself a masterly storyteller who has created a harsh and tangled terrain as alive and unforgettable as the characters who inhabit it. Her mesmerizing debut is a compelling exploration of the meaning of family: the sacrifices we make, the secrets we keep, and the lengths to which we will go to protect the one we love.
Lucy, Lila, Crete, Carl, Daniel and Birdie are six of the main characters that you won't soon forget. This book had me pulled in from the first page right through until the last. For a debut novel it was an exceptional read and one I'll be highly recommending. I couldn't put it down and it didn't want it to end. I wish the author had continued on for a few more chapters at the end as there were a few items I would have liked to see resolved but I suppose I can make up my own version of how those things resolved themselves. Excellent read!!!
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