When I find a new author that I haven't read before, I often find myself immersing in all of their works over a short amount of time. I did it years ago with Jonathan Kellerman and James Patterson, then again a while ago with Jodi Picoult. Last year, I did it with Alice Hoffman, who I started reading because it was Picoult's favorite author. I purchased a lot of her books at once, and am slowly making my way through that cache. I just knocked another Hoffman book off, as well as adding a book to my 2009 list. That book was Turtle Moon.
Turtle Moon tells the interwoven story of two single mothers, a cop with a haunted past, and a boy called the meanest in all of the town. When one of the mothers is murdered, the one left behind, Lucy, takes it upon herself to figure out who this person was, and why she was dead, to clear her son Keith, who was at the scene of the crime and runs away with the now orphaned baby. With the help of the cop, Julian, the past of everyone involved is unraveled, and answers come out of the woodworks.
Initially, I wasn't drawn in by the book like I normally am with her stories. I struggled through the first 50 pages or so. I almost set it down, but I knew that Hoffman always comes through, so I kept going. I was rewarded, and by the end of the book I was connecting with characters and their motives.
I give this book a 3 out of 5. The ending was redeeming, not just for the characters but also the doubt that I felt when I started the book. If I would have been sucked in right away, like I have been with Hoffman's writing in the past, this book would have ranked higher.
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