Danny Boyle was the son of a mine worker and a mentally I’ll mother that had been convicted of killing her one week old daughter. He left that mining town in Pennsylvania. That mining town also had a dark, famous history involving the Nellies who were executed by hanging. Danny goes back to that town to check on his grandfather who had been sick.

Walker Dawes owns the mine and the original Walker Dawes was the one to have the Nellies executed. His daughter Scarlett shows up and murder happens in that small mine town. Eventually, the truth about what really happened to Danny’s baby sister comes out.

The only problem I had was the switching between Scarlett and Danny’s point of view though it was necessary. It wasn’t thriller quality to me but it was very engaging and the characters believable though some very superficial and seemed to exist as means of moving the plot.

A recommend ( )

4.5 stars.

Set in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania, Tawni O'Dell's One of Us is a riveting and complex psychological thriller. This spellbinding story has a richly drawn cast of colorful characters, a very intriguing mystery and a compelling storyline.

Dr. Sheridan "Danny" Doyle might have escaped his small home town of Lost Creek but the memories of his youth still haunt him. The legacy of his childhood is not one that can be easily forgotten (his mother's battle with mental illness and subsequent conviction for killing her baby girl) or forgiven (the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father). The bright spots in his dysfunctional past are the relationships he enjoys with his maternal grandfather, Tommy, and local police officer Rafe Malloy. After learning that his now ninety-six year old grandfather has recently been seriously ill, Danny returns to Lost Creek, where he is immediately caught up in events that lead to some startling revelations about long ago events.

One of Us is written in first person and alternates between two very different points of view. Both narrators have escaped Lost Creek but each have returned at around the same time, but for very different reasons. It is also interesting to note that they come from completely diverse socio-economic backgrounds but they both have deep roots in the local community and their families lives are inexplicably linked through the local mine.

Danny's family has worked in the Dawes' coal mine since his ancestors immigrated from Ireland and until Danny, they were unable to escape their hardscrabble life as coal miners. Danny's success is hard won and his fascination with the human mind has resulted in a very successful career as a forensic psychologist. He delves deep into the psyche of serial killers but interestingly enough, Danny's expertise is lost on himself as he continues to battle the demons of his past.

Lost Creek is bleak and poverty stricken, but it is the perfect setting for the somewhat dark atmosphere of the unfolding story. The townspeople are hardworking but fighting to make ends meet. It is a town where families are deeply entrenched in a class struggle of sorts with the wealthy Dawes' family and the memory of the long ago hangings of their descendants are never forgotten.

One of Us unfolds slowly but steadily and the seemingly unrelated storylines gradually combine into a dramatic and shocking climax. It is a somber story but brief snatches of humor lighten the tone. Tawni O'Dell masterfully combines the past and present into an incredibly fascinating mystery that is sure to be a hit with fans of the crime solving genre. ( )

[One of Us] by Tawni O'Dell
2.5★'s

From The Book:
Dr. Sheridan Doyle—a fastidiously groomed and TV-friendly forensic psychologist—is the go-to shrink for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office whenever a twisted killer’s mind eludes other experts. But beneath his Armani pinstripes, he’s still Danny Doyle, the awkward, terrified, bullied boy from a blue-collar mining family, plagued by panic attacks and haunted by the tragic death of his little sister and mental unraveling of his mother years ago.

Returning to a hometown grappling with its own ghosts, Danny finds a dead body at the infamous Lost Creek gallows where a band of rebellious Irish miners was once executed. Strangely, the body is connected to the wealthy family responsible for the miners’ deaths. Teaming up with veteran detective Rafe, a father-like figure from his youth, Danny—in pursuit of a killer—comes dangerously close to startling truths about his family, his past, and himself.

My Thoughts:
If any story proves the old saying "You can't go home again", this one certainly does. The main problem was that the mystery had no mystery. From the book description the reader would expect more to the story. It started out to be interesting. The story of a little boy's relationship with his almost /sometimes abusive father and the grandfather that was always there to save him...and then it started a giant roll down hill. The characters were like stand-up silhouettes cut from cardboard. I think the author lost interest in portraying anyone that was remotely likable about the 3rd chapter. I have read other books by this author and I really have to say that based on that I was expecting a lot more. ( )

READ IN ENGLISH

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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

Publication date: August 19th 2014

Dr. Sheridan "Danny" Doyle is now a famous psychologist in Philadelphia, but used to be an outcast with his irresponsible father and mentally ill mother who's in jail. Raised by his grandfather, who's grandfather was executed before the eyes of his father as one of the Nellies, a group of rebellious Irish miners. However, the past is far from dead in Lost Creek.

It started off very good. I could immediately feel that this was a community that's - almost with every step they take - still strung to the past. The gallows were never torn down, there are the NONs, there's a museum, and most of people believe the whole place is haunted.There are few people in Lost Creek that are not somehow related to the men, the Nellies, that died there in the 19th century. The mines still run, and are still in the hands of the same family, the Dawes. Thus everyone in the village is still dependent on them. Danny has freed himself from this, but gets drawn back into it when he returns to Lost Creek to look after his sick grandfather Tommy, and stumbles upon a dead body near the gallows.

I was from the very beginning drawn into the story, but this somehow stopped after about 100 pages, when the POV switches between Danny and Scarlet (firstborn daughter of Dawes), who's a terribly unlike-able character. I don't mind reading about a psychopath, but she was just SO annoying, I found that I couldn't really care the same for the rest of the story. I still wanted to find out what happened (and what was written on that mysterious piece of paper), but mostly I just wanted to get rid of Scarlet. The writing was good and read fast, which would make this a perfect summer suspense had Scarlet not been such an annoying character...

A nice little touch of her lovely character

"I liked her well enough. She was no threat to me. My family had more money. I was prettier, smarter, and had a far superior wardrobe. I was better than her in every way that I wanted to be." *

* This was quoted from the reader's proof, and may have been corrected/changed in the final version, but I haven't been able to check. ( )

One of Us by Tawni O'Dell is a highly recommended psychological thriller that, although light on the suspense, is extremely well written.

Famous TV forensic psychologist, Dr. Sheridan Doyle is currently living in Philadelphia, but he grew up as an abused child in a dysfunctional family in a coal mining town. Lost Creek is famous for the gallows where some rebellious miners, the Nellie O'Neills, were hanged in the late 19th century. The mine is still in possession of the Dawes family, the same wealthy family who owned it years ago. Sheridan or Danny as he is known in Lost Creek, grew up hearing the stories from his beloved grandfather, Tommy, the one person who saved him from his father. When he was growing up, Danny's mother was in jail for murder.

Danny is back in Lost Creek to see 96 year old Tommy when he discovers a body at the gallows. This discovery leads the town to wonder if there is a paranormal explanation for the murder or is something else going on? As in any small town, everyone knows who is related and there are plenty of secrets people are hiding. It's also clear that the town of Lost Creek has obsessed over the story of the doomed miners for years.

The story is told from the viewpoints of Danny, a descendant of one of the miners, and Scarlet Dawes, daughter of the wealthy family who owns the mine. Clearly, Danny is as psychologically damaged as the killer.

The writing is excellent and O'Dell does a nice job developing her characters in this very much character driven story. Basically, there is no great mystery here regarding who the guilty party is and even much of the why is not that surprising. This is not a novel like Gone Girl or even one with a great deal of suspense. Rather is is more a novel of psychological insight into several damaged characters. It also brings to light the effects of poverty on the residents of the small coal mining town. It is an imminently readable and compelling novel.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Gallery Books for review purposes.
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