Kim

I loved this author's book We Begin at the End, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. I am currently not quite halfway through this one, and am enjoying it, but two issues jump out at me. One is the frequent omission of function words such as 'a' and 'to'. I can't tell if this is intentional or poor editing. The other is a major geographical error on page 258. The protagonist Patch is walking with another man in the shade of palmetto trees, with the "backdrop of mountains roll(ing) toward Virginia". Further down the page, you discover they are at Middleton Place, which is a plantation near Charleston, SC. There are no mountains anywhere near Charleston, and SC does not border on Virginia. Not to mention palmetto trees are a coastal tree, again, not anywhere near mountains. You would think this author would have done his geographical homework, or again, a decent editor would have caught this error.

I intensely dislike the main character Conley. She is a journalist with no moral compass whatsoever, wanting to further her journalism career by writing about a local Congressman's affair from 30 years ago after he is killed in a car accident, rather than focusing on his military service and what he has done for his district. Even though he was a less than admirable man, I still don't like Conley for profiting from what she uncovers. I also hate the nickname she calls her grandmother -'G'mama'! What a ridiculous nickname! Also can't help but wonder what editor thought 'openmouthedly' (p. 133) is a word. It is 'openmouthed', no 'ly' on the end! I wonder where the author took English 101! She also uses the phrase "in the church where Dad was buried from"! Huh??? You are not 'buried from' a church. She needed to say the church where her Dad's funeral service was held. Again, who edited this book? At another point, she called a hymn "A Mighty God is Our God". I recall the hymn in my church being "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" (can't find a hymn with the title she used). Not to mention the numerous times throughout the book that she contradicts herself in the story. I have since read the author used to be a newspaper reporter - seriously? Hope her news editor was better than her book editor! And if her degree from UGA was in journalism, her mistakes in this book indicate she was far from the top of her class!