Shanessa Gluhm

A River of Crows by Shanessa Gluhm takes place in two different times. In 1988 and 2008. In 1988 Sloan Hadfield's brother went fishing with their dad and never returned because of certain clues, Sloan's father was charged and sentenced with Ridge's murder even though a body was never found. He was suffering from PTSD from the Vietnam War and would act out at times

In 2008, Sloan is 20 years older and soon to be divorced. Sloan has come back home to take care of her mother who has been in a mental facility and is being discharged. Her father will soon be released from prison and she never did believe that he had anything to do with Ridge disappearing. What she is upset about, is when her father was charged with murder, they found out that he had another family, a woman who he was married to with three children.

The river is known as Crow's Head Creek, where Ridge disappeared, where her mother often goes to study the crows that live there. She felt that there was a man who abducted children for many years may have been why Ridge disappeared, this man has just been apprehended and Sloan wants to talk to him to ask about her brother.

As time goes on, secrets are brought to light that enable Sloan to get a true understanding of her father and her brother and why her mother does crazy things. She forms relationships with people she never thought she would and the ones she trusted, she no longer does.

This is one of that kinds of books that really does hold your attention, plus things I never knew about crows, such that they have funerals for their deceased, and that they live up to 20 years in the wild and over 50 in captivity. Very interesting indeed.

I did enjoy this novel, I love a dual-time story, and I believe it takes a lot of research to be able to write this kind of story.

I give this novel 5 stars!… (más)

The short story: Dark, twisty and unexpectedly great!
My review:
Starting with a great cover this book sucked me in with a haunting prologue, the meaning of which is not fully understood until the last page. I could hardly put it down!
Facing a divorce, Sloan Hadfield returns to her East Texas hometown to sort out her mother, recently released from a psych hospital. Going home, a place she’d fled after high school, means facing her demons, owning up to her mistakes, and realizing the past is not all what it seemed.
Sloan’s happy life crumbled when her brother Ridge disappears, his body never found and her father accused of his murder. Little by little, the reader learns more about Sloan and her family as author Shanessa Gluhm takes us back and forth in time. Just when you think you have the story sorted, Gluhm hits you with another zinger. Sloan’s journey of discovery is painful as she peels back the layers of parent’s life, forcing her to consider her parent’s actions in a new light.
Gluhm fills the pages of this book with amazing characters and their motivations, machinations, deceptions and lies, and leave the reader with a shocking conclusion! Highly recommend this to readers of suspense/thrillers.… (más)

Wow! That drowning scene that started the book was quite intense and just yanked you right in also. I was hooked to the story right then and there. Sloan Hadfield had her hands full trying to keep her life together. Her family fell apart after her brother, Ridge, disappeared. Secrets and revenge abound in this story. The crows will hold their own secrets. This story is so intriguing that you find you can’t put it down. Sloan and the others feel kind of like family. You hurt for them and feel for them. I found myself going through every emotion reading this tory. It’s a story that will definitely be on my favorites list of 2023. I would give it more than 5 stars if I could. So well done… (más)

'Enemies of Doves' is one of the best debut mystery/suspense that I have read. You can feel the power coming off of it. Told between two timelines, the plot so perfectly intertwines itself that the twists and turns just flow with it. This is an emotional story that will take your breath away. The story of two brothers and the girl they loved as told by the possible grandson of one of the brothers many years later. I was glued right from the start. The story is so well-developed that the author just naturally engages you with the characters. Joel and Clancy grab you from the start. You can't put the book down because, like Garrison and Molly, you have to know what happened. This is a book so well-written that I hope there will be more from this author. I will be eagerly awaiting more. I am a new fan of hers. If you love suspense and mystery, you should read this one.… (más)