Blind Turn

This is a work of fiction. However, the story rings too true. This could my story. This could be yours. The events are very real. You will come to know the characters and their friends like they were your neighbors.

This is a story of how quickly lives can be changed by tragedy and how difficult it can be to rebuild those lives and return to a place of normalcy, especially in Small Town, USA. It is also a story about forgiveness, building relationships and finding out who your true friends are and what matters most in life.

Achterberg is a superb storyteller and you will not want to put this book down. ( )

'Blind Turn' describes that unthinkable, horrifying event that could really happen to anyone driving a car. A glance away from the road to a phone and tragedy occurs. Jess Johnson is driving her best friend Sheila home from school when her phone lights up with a text. Jess is a careful driver and never drives and texts but somehow the car leaves the road and a beloved football coach and his dog who happened to be walking on the road are killed. Even though Jess does not remember any of the 'accident' she is charged with homicide.

So begins the tale of a small Texas towns vilification of a young girl, an honor student and athlete and how she and her family navigate through their inner demons, self doubts and finally to a path of forgiveness on the other side. The author does a magnificent job of bringing the characters to life. She speaks for them in a true and totally believable narrative. Jess is a teenage girl with hopes and dreams that have been side railed by this tragedy. Liz, her mother is desperate to protect her daughter. She is fiercely independent as a single mother but must reach out for help from a lawyer she knows is interested in her romantically, not something she is comfortable with. Jess’s dad is the perpetual Peter Pan who is still occasionally around as a father figure, but he is not of much help. The path of these characters is difficult and heartbreaking but in the end so very fufilling. I loved these characters with all their doubts and flaws, they were all so very human. My take away from this book is that forgiveness, while so hard to give to ones self, is the bigger part of love. Very highly recommended. ( )