From the first page you are hooked on this story, and it doesn't let you down through the entire book. The action just keeps going...I finished this one in a couple of hours.

The story is narrated by Alice Fendar, an 11 year old girl way too wise for her age, and is about her and her brother Boone, 13. Their family life is okay until their mom & dad split up, and mom (Meg) goes rigid and can't function. She stays this way until they are out on a family outing where she almost drowns in a lake. She is saved by a person fishing there, Simon, then Simon comes courting & eventually marries her.

The kids have mixed feelings about Simon. It isn't too long before his lack of feeling toward them shows itself. Where Alice hates & distrusts him, Boone, who is really into religious faith, sees things a different way.

Meanwhile, Boone is infatuated with a local legend, Persely Snow, a teen age girl committed to a mental hospital for poisoning her mother and attempting to kill her father. She boasts that no locks can hold her, and is the object of teenage affection by many boys Boone's age. Anyway, Alice is certain that Simon wants her and Boone out of the way, a fear that becomes even more sharpened when one night Meg comes to kiss them goodnight and tells them to run. This is so out of character for Meg, who has sat back and listened to Alice's concerns without taking any action for fear of losing Simon.

Admittedly, I guessed the main plot before it came unraveled, but whereas it normally bothers me to do so, the writing was so incredibly good that it didn't matter. I had to see the story through until the end.

Received today as part of the bookrelay. Thanks.

Donating to the friends of Russell library