by Arthur Coburn
The Wild Rose Press
book review by Kat Kennedy
“You students are like our concrete, strong enough to weather troubles that would undo most people.”
In his farewell speech to graduating seniors in the small town of Concrete, the principal describes the graduates as “strong enough to weather troubles that would undo most people.” Charlie can’t fathom how she will have to put that theory to the test. But that same day, her panicked father tells her to immediately leave Concrete without going home. Charlie soon discovers her mother has been murdered. Then, her father’s body is pulled from a nearby river. After her parents’ horrible deaths, she suffers from PTSD, which causes hallucinations and disorientation. She decides to attend university, but her unnerving hallucinations cause her to shy away from others. It also seems she is being followed, and she fears whoever killed her parents is after her. By chance, she discovers her father is alive. Charlie’s search for answers lands her on a movie set, which begins a rollicking adventure with colorful characters.
This is one of those novels that has the reader invested from the first. Losing both parents in a matter of hours, the protagonist sets off on a dangerous quest for truth. Coburn’s handling of Charlie’s psychological problems brought on by her parents’ deaths is spot-on, with Charlie slipping from the present to the past in a frightening, and sometimes public, reaction to her delusions. Though struggling with the results of trauma, Charlie remains a strong character determined to find the truth regardless of the danger. This leads to some nail-biting scenes and unexpected plot twists. The author does a wonderful job of building the plot into a surprising ending. Many interesting details are included in the narrative about the movie business. This novel delivers on characterization as well as plot. Appropriate for both young adult and older readers, this one is excellent from start to finish.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
US Review of Books 