Caroline Harper still thinks of him every day. For more than fifty years, not a day goes by when Caroline doesn’t think of her brother Andy. The last time she saw Andy was when he left home to spend thirty days at Florida’s largest reform school. Caroline’s family was told that Andy ran away in the middle of the night.
Fifty years later, Sean O’Brien receives a letter from a dead man. A year … man. A year earlier the man had hired Sean O’Brien and chartered his boat for a fishing trip. Now the man is reaching from the grave to hire him again. But this time it’s to find a killer.
Jackson County—the location of the old reform school, still carries smoldering baggage from the Civil War, and after a half-century, there are those who don’t want a forensics investigation on the property, because to do so will reveal one of the nation’s darkest secrets.
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A historical abomination in a Jackson County reform school for young boy and a segregationist criminal family, with mob-like control of the county and a top political member explode and implode when Sean is triggered to act by a letter from a former prisoner dying of cancer. Sean and friends, though bumped, bruised and hounded, expose the malevolence and the guilty in a fast-paced and highly entertaining story.
Love all the Sean O’Brien books. Some of the “impossible” situations he gets out of are kind of unbelievable, but that’s fiction. Very well written and I love the locale, having lived on the beach just a little south of Ponce inlet for 25 years.
I am actually still reading it. It is well written, great character development ( I knows what these people look like in real life ). Of course the story is sad, we need to know history so these cruel behaviors never ever happen again.
I think the book could be s good movie and am trying to pick the actors I would like to see in this.
( I am not a movie director).
Thank you for writing this story, it makes my blood boil at times, as justice needs to happen.
Kept me guessing!
Great read
I enjoyed this book
I could not put this book down!!
This was an interesting book with interesting twist
Great book based on a real place where awful things happened to young boys. If you enjoy this book read the books by Jefferson Bass based on the casework of Dr. Bill Bass, founder of the Body Farm in Knoxville, TN.
Wonderful read, sad story but redemptive outcome.
Lowe’s characters bring a sad chapter in the history of Florida’s juvenile justice system to light. It walks a fine line between fictional characters and accurately portraying the historical setting. Had I been the editor, I’d have recommended truncating the story to eliminate the happy ending. Not that I’m opposed to happy endings, but it moves the focus of the book away from the lives of the boys who were the victims of the system.
Interesting read. Unusual story line with lots of twists,
Excellent story. Well written. It’s sad that these things actually did happen at these schools.
I couldn’t put this book down and it was all I talked about …
Excellent book! Love Tom Lowe’s books!
I am adding Tom Lowe to my list of authors who rate my Read Everything They Write status. He joins Anne Perry, Charles Todd, Denis Lehane, Preston and Child, Jeffrey Deaver, John Irving, and Jeffrey Archer. This book was well-written. The plot was suspenseful and complex, the characters full and believable, the setting interesting, and the premise tragic. Best of all, the narrative voice elevated all the elements to a rich level. This is a book you can read multiple times with enjoyment. It is not a toss-away once you know the outcome. So happy to have another favorite author. I ordered another book by Lowe as soon as I finished it.
Loved the link to reality
This was difficult for me to read due to the abuse and cover up at the Florida school. It was well written and I definitely could picture all the horrible things that happened
Very good
A good mystery!
I generally like Sean O’Brien books, but this one seemed a little long. It could have been tighter