Posts
Coming
of Age / Mystery / Humor
Date
Published: June 8, 2019
Publisher:
Acorn Publishing
When
attorney Cullen Molloy attends his fortieth high school reunion, he doesn’t
expect to be defending childhood friends against charges of murder…
In
a small town on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico, life and culture are
shaped by the farm roads defining the 640-acre sections of land homesteaders
claimed at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Cullen and Shelby Blaine explore
first love along these section roads during the 1960’s, forging a life-long
emotional bond.
As junior high school band nerds, Cullen
and Shelby fall under the protection of football player and loner, Buddy Boyd.
During their sophomore year of high school, Buddy is charged with killing a
classmate and is confined to a youth correctional facility. When he returns to
town facing the prospect of imprisonment as an adult, Cullen becomes Buddy’s
protector.
The case haunts the three friends into
adulthood, and it isn’t until their fortieth reunion, that they’re forced to
revisit that horrible night. When a new killing takes place, Cullen, Shelby and
Buddy find themselves reliving the nightmare.
Murder is an easy thing to hide along
old country section roads.
Advance
Praise
“An
ambitious, evocative small-town tale located somewhere between Peyton Place and
The Last Picture Show.” –Kirkus Review
Read
the Full Review
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mike-murphey/section-roads/
Review
Review
I enjoyed Cullen’s story. I liked how the author gave us time to spend with him and get to know him in both past and present, he was a very compelling lead. Because of this, I felt as if I were one of Cullen’s friends or classmates and I felt his need to protect those around him.
There is a lot of unknown with this book and from the synopsis you can tell you will be in the middle of a mystery. It was wonderful how the author was able to navigate the time changes and the way the characters were the same, yet grown up. A sense of protectiveness and owing someone something, loyalty, and trying to find the truth. There is just so much going on in this book, but above all, the relationships really shined through to me.
Mike Murphey has a wonderful voice and writing style. It is mysterious yet direct, if that makes any sense at all. I knew when he was trying to keep mysteries, but the characters personalities and motives always seemed cut and dry.
As the genre suggests, this is not all mysterious and deep. There are great moments of light-heartedness and laughter and the author really manages to balance the novel wonderfully!
About
the Author
Mike
Murphey is a native of eastern New Mexico and spent almost thirty years as an
award-winning newspaper journalist in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
Following his retirement from the newspaper business, he and his wife Nancy
entered in a seventeen-year partnership with the late Dave Henderson, all-star
centerfielder for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.
Their company produces the A’s and Mariners adult baseball Fantasy Camps. They
also have a partnership with the Roy Hobbs adult baseball organization in Fort
Myers, Florida. They love baseball, fiction, cats and sailing. They split their
time between Spokane, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona. Mike enjoys life as a
writer and old-man baseball player.
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sounds really interesting
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Thanks for sharing.
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