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- The Summerland
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- Authors: T.L. Schaefer and Christine DeLong Miller
- Reviewer: J.M. Cornwell
- Publisher: Atlantic Bridge Publishing
- Format: Adult, Fiction, Paperback, 278 Pages, 2001
- ISBN: 0970691300
- Rating: * * * Quills
- www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0970691300/scriquil
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- Bill Ashton, sheriff of Mariposa County, has his hands full. Five bodies have been found on his watch and on his turf, evidence to five years of ritual murders with a hint of the occult. In addition, a red Miata convertible is found broken down in a rest area with only a cell phone and a sports bag full of a fortune in unmarked bills, but without its beautiful blonde driver Samantha Henning, who was obviously running away from someone or something and ran right into the arms of a serial killer.
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- As if that isn’t enough, Sheriff Ashton must deal with Samantha's sister Arden Jones, an Air Force captain on the Public Relations staff in Los Angeles, and she isn't about to stay out of his hair or his mind. Add Special Agent Frank Drebin of the FBI, and Sheriff Ashton's troubles are just beginning, troubles that may cost him his job and whatever peace he has been able to carve out of the blistering but quiet Mariposa County summer.
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- Blending a solid background in Wiccan philosophy and practices, an intimate knowledge of Mariposa County, and the workings of a sleepy mountain town and its denizens, T.L. Schaefer has crafted an intricate and interesting page turner. Schaefer juggles the various plot points, moving easily from the unknown murderer and his latest victim at the center of the tale, to the investigation surrounding the ritual murder scene, to the overwhelming attraction between the main characters, like a shark maneuvering for a kill.
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- The only clunker in the plot is how Schaefer chooses to reveal her murderer and bring him into the mix, almost as an anticlimax: That could have been done much better. The hints surrounding his identity and his running commentary while he watches the central characters are red herrings that aren't red herrings at all. They do, however, add a creepiness to the story that is otherwise straightforward and clear, or so it seems. Nothing like a wolf in sheep's clothing to stir up the flock.
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- Despite the fascinating plot and interesting characters, Schaefer's prose is uneven, poetic and clear one moment, ham-handed and dull the next, with jarring and incomprehensible word choices. The book could have used the deft hand of a good editor, which is obviously and sorely lacking. However, among the dross is a captivating gem of a tale that still manages to shine.
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