Whisper Mountain

By Vivian Higginbotham Nichols

There's a reason why we have the saying "truth is stranger than fiction".  If Whisper Mountain was a fiction book, I might have come away saying that it is a great story, but some parts just seemed too extreme to happen in real life.  Since Whisper Mountain IS a true story and these things really DID happen, I walked away saying, "WOW! What a story, and what a life!"

It seemed more common than not that people of "older generations" were more selective in sharing details of certain experiences that life dished out to them. I know my grandfather and father-in-law who were both in WWII barely spoke about the details of their war experiences be they tragic or heroic.  It seems the same for Ida Williams.  If it weren't for her granddaughter's discovery, Ida's important and heroic story might never have been told. What a blessing it was that Vivian found her grandmother's journals! 

Ida Williams and her siblings amazed me with their resilience and fortitude. Even when death was staring Ida in the face, she stared right back and didn't give up. Much of what their mother put them through was unimaginable, but Ida and her siblings fought hard to help each other to survive.  This is a story of hardship, love, murder, determination, greed, and forgiveness.  

I must confess, when I first saw that Whisper Mountain took place in the late 1800's and early 1900's, I thought, "Uh Oh, no TVs, no indoor plumbing, no telephones, no excitement."  Boy was I wrong!  I was so engrossed in Ida's story, that once I started reading it, I couldn't stop.  I also liked the fact that much of it took place in Arkansas, since I am somewhat familiar with that area already. 

This story is definitely worth the read!

 

Glimpse of Death

By Leslie Wolfe

A Glimpse of Death was a decent read but my least favorite in this three part series by Leslie Wolfe. 

It is a fact that crime never stops even for FBI Agent Tess Winnett who is convalescing in the hospital after her heroic and successful close to The Watson Girl Case (from Book 2 of the series).   She joins forces again with local detectives Michowsky and Fradella as they seek her help on their latest case.  Now that Winnett has worked a few cases with Michowsky and Fradella, she knows they are both capable detectives, yet through her frustration, she is still very critical of them at times.  She catches herself, but usually only after the fact.  This seemed a bit overdone since she was just as much at a loss as they were when it came to actually finding something concrete to help them solve the case.  That being said, little by little they pieced together some very important clues, most importantly that these serial killers have been at it for a much longer time than they realized. Yes, serial killers...plural!  What's worse than having one crazed unstable person on the loose committing heinous crimes?  Having at least two of them working together like a well-oiled machine. 

  

This case goes from bad to worse when the latest target is someone Agent Winnett knows personally.  As the clues come together ever-so- slowly, Winnett and the detectives race against the clock to find the killers before they do more than just show their latest victim a glimpse of her impending death.