From Publishers Weekly
Combining aspects of a suspense thriller and a romance, and including such surefire elements as an abandoned baby, a youngster on the verge of juvenile delinquency who is reformed, two dogs and a supernatural character who provides the requisite touch of fantasy, Hoffman's new novel has commercial success written all over it. But some readers will fail to find the enchantment provided in such previous works as Illumination Night and Seventh Heaven . The town of Verity, Fla., starts to steam up in May, when the humidity and temperature soar. (Among the things readers must accept is the dreadful, oppressive May heat; one is tempted to ask, if it's so unbearable in May, how do people live through the summer?) Verity is full of divorcees, and when one of them is murdered, Keith Rosen, "Verity's meanest 12-year-old," finds her baby, who was in fact the object of an aborted kidnapping, and runs away, instinctively hiding the threatened child. This development brings together Keith's divorced mother, Lucy, and the town's surly policeman, Julian Cash, a loner with a tragedy in his past. Despite the murder and a stalking assassin, this is really a fairy tale: Keith bonds with the baby and tames a vicious dog ("No one has ever known him the way this dog does"); a ghost/angel falls in love and brings redemption to Julian, and several people begin new lives. Hoffman lards her slick plot with ponderously sentimental observations, the kind of bromides that could be embroidered on a pillow. But she knows how to manipulate suspense and tug the heartstrings; with its cinematic flow and larger-than-life characters, her novel will make a wonderful movie. BOMC main selection; QPB alternate; film rights to Universal.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to KarenZero for the "Animal Insticts" relay on bookrelay.

Book arrived safely. Thanks for sharing it, tranq!

This was an entertaining book. It didn't particularly move me in any way but it held my attention. After reading several of Alice Hoffman's earlier books recently, I think I've come to prefer her later stuff, although I do enjoy it all for the most part.
This will be going to a new reader soon.

Thanks KarenZero! I'm looking forward to reading this - I will curl up with it over the weekend and relax. I've read several of Alice Hoffman's books recently (I only "discovered" her last year) so it's great to receive another. Thanks!

I enjoyed this. The plot kept me interested, and the characterisation - particularly of Julian, the K9 policeman - made me care. It would be easy to be picky as some of the writing is a little lazy and there is at least one coincidence too many. However, Turtle Moon is good fun, and adds some thought-provoking elements to the entertainment mix. I was pleased that the ending wasn't the traditional happy families one that could so easily have been manufactured.

I think, like KarenZero, I prefer Alice Hoffman's later work. It's a bit more multi-layered and nuanced, a little more character driven and a little less plot driven. But, the early books make for an entertaining read.

I will send this on as a wishlist RABCK as soon as I have the address of my chosen recipient. Thanks again for sharing, KarenZero, and for registering the book originally, tranq1.

I only discovered Alice Hoffman through Bookcrossing, and everything that I have read of hers so far I have enjoyed, so I'm really pleased to have received this as a RABCK.

Only other reading commitments prevent me from reading this right away, but it will be very near the top of Mt TBR. Thank you to Nell-Lu!

I'm in complete agreement with previous reviewers. This was written in 1992, and it does lack the mature creativity of the later works. I read The River King not long ago, and Julian Cash appears to be a not very sophisticated reworking of the character of Abel Grey, almost as if the character was too good to waste.

One of many things that puzzled me was why Bethany's in-laws didn't claim the baby? Wasn't the fact that they wanted to take her all along one of the reasons that Bethany ran away in the first place? Wouldn't they have wondered what had happened to her?

Having said that, it was a fairly good read, and one which I'm glad to have had the opportunity to come by.

Probably to be earmarked as a RABCK, or wild release if nobody speaks up for it.

RELEASE NOTES: