From bestselling author Debbie Herbert comes a chilling, fast-paced story about family tragedy and confronting what terrifies us most.In the eighteen years since her father went to prison for killing her mother and brother, Della Stallings has battled a crippling phobia. Her fear only grows when her father’s released. She still believes he killed her family, but the police don’t have enough … have enough evidence to arrest him again.
When new grisly murders occur—each bearing the telltale signs that seem to implicate her father—Della begins to wonder if the real murderer is still out there. Could her father have been framed?
To find the truth, Della must face her greatest fears and doubts—not only to find justice for her family but to ensure her own survival.
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What a stunner this is! Scorched Grounds by Debbie Herbert is a southern gothic thriller of devastating family drama that will have you on the edge of your seat. Della Stallings was eight when her father was sent to prison for setting the fire that killed her mother and brother. Eighteen years later, she has grown into a frightened and traumatized loner. Her fears worsen when her father is released from prison on insufficient evidence, and then more gruesome murders occur that seem to implicate him.
But is he really guilty, or has he been framed? Della is a wonderful character who fights her fears and starts looking for answers, both to find out the truth and to survive. I love this author. Her portrayal of small town southern life is vivid, and her language and descriptions are haunting. This is the second book of the Normal, Alabama series, and I can’t wait for the next! Five stars!
“The word that immediately comes to mind while reading SCORCHED GROUNDS by Debbie Herbert is I-N-T-E-N-S-E. Not the usual run of the mill white knuckle stuff, but the kind of heart-stopping intensity that only comes along every great once in a while. My jaw still aches from being in a state of perpetual drop throughout the entirety of the book. I highly recommend this compelling read!”
Ok so strap yourself in and buckle up tight, because you are in for one exciting ride. Once you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down! It’s a fantastic page turner! Thanks for writing such a great book Debbie!
Eighteen years ago, Della saw her little brother Jimmy and their mom be murdered in their home. Guilt, fear, confusion have left Della able to hold a job at a hospital in the at night to avoid people. She thinks her dad killed the family and chased her into the woods thst dark night. She survived that and school and living with her Aunt Sylvie as her dad was in prison.
But now Hunter is out as the trial was tainted. Her fear is he is out to finish the job and kill her.
Della never made friends, still lives with her aunt and barely lives a real life. Hunter is staying with his brother but manages to find Della at work, at her aunt’s home and anywhere he can. Hunter swears his innocence, he was having an affair at the time his wife and son were stabbed. Then there is the memory of the killer, all in black, face covered, why coverup if its her dad?
Della meets Nathan, a cop, that she sort of knew in school. Together, they form a bond trying to solve the case. Hunter is very wiley, unapologetic, scary mean to his daughter and feels justified in pushing her to help him. The characters of Nathan and Della and even Uncke Vic ring true. Her fear is real and the fear of the color red is interesting. The hospital is creepy as is the therapist Ira that eirks there.
What doesn’t work is the sudden change in Hunter at the end…at all. Also, the clues and dead bodies discovered all point to Ira and are so simple to connect BUT the real killer isn’t giving good clues at all..total misdirection except for a relationship between Ira and another. The fears people face and the cruel treatment and deaths was scary.
The author has written many terric books but this a disappointment and needed an editor to fix the problems …Hunter’s personality change wasn’t believable after all he did to Della after his release. Maybe skip this and try one of her others or read this and let me know if the ending was satisfying. 3.4 stars
In my younger years, I loved reading books by Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney and others who wrote in the Gothic romance genre. I am happy to have found a similar author in Debbie Herbert.
Della Stallings is traumatized at the age of 8 when her mother and younger brother, Jimmy, are brutally stabbed and the killer chases her through the woods. When her father is convicted of the heinous crime, Della goes to live with her Aunt Sylvie. Fast forward 20 years and Della’s father, Hunter, is released from death row because of infractions committed by a former policeman.
Della has issues (who wouldn’t!) and lives and works in solitude in order to avoid the stares of the people of Norman, Alabama. Under the care of a psychiatrist, Dr. Pennington, she tries to overcome her fear of the color red, also known as chromophobia. She soon finds herself becoming attracted to a policeman, Nathan Wilkes, who happens to be a classmate from high school.
The author does a great job in developing the story and the chapters are written from several of the characters POV. As the story unfolds, Della begins to wonder if her father was guilty of her mother’s murder or maybe even worse crimes. Is her father the serial killer loose in Normal, killing women who are patients at the hospital where she works? Or, is there another monster causing these crimes?
At first, Della seems to be a cringing mental case, but toward the end of the book, she redeems herself in spectacular fashion in a fight for her life. All of the loose ends are finally woven together in a very satisfactory manner and I found myself racing to reach the conclusion.
The narrators did a great job and added a lot to my enjoyment of the story. I look forward to many more hours of entertainment by Ms. Herbert and hope that she continues to write books in this series.
When Della Stallings was just a girl, both her mother and brother were killed by a masked man. 18 years later, her father’s conviction is overturned and he returns to their hometown of Normal, Alabama. Della has spent these last years suffering from a crippling phobia, one that has her working overnights in the same hospital her mother worked at before her death. That phobia is one that I’ve never heard of before, chromaphobia, the fear of a color. In Della’s case, that color’s red. The color she saw everywhere when she saw her mother and younger brother’s bodies lying on the floor, before she ran for her life.
But, now with the discovery of multiple women’s bodies in and near the lake, plus the current suspicious deaths that have been occurring, her father is once again a suspect. When she discovers a shocking secret, she flees the only comfort she’s known, but even then, she’s not safe from the phobia she’s tried to ignore for the past few years. Back in therapy with the head of the department, Della is determined to get her phobia under control and take control of her life.
Little does she know, she’s now the focus of the serial killer. One bent on correcting the fears of the women he’s focused on, even if it kills them.
I’ll admit, I didn’t figure out the killer. I was completely surprised, which is unusual to me. I usually figure out the killer early on, but this time I didn’t. It was interesting about reading about a phobia that has you afraid of a red light, a straight up panic attack inducing fear. I have the usual, snakes, heights, and a more rare one of fish in water, I can’t go swimming in rivers, lakes, oceans, etc. But I can’t imagine a fear of a particular color. I totally get her fear, it’s the color that haunts her nightmares, the color of the blood that was everywhere the night her brother and mother were brutally murdered at the hands of the unknown killer. The person she escaped from out her second story window. The killer she, and everyone else in town spent 18 years thinking was her own father.
This is the second book in the Normal, Alabama series, but I didn’t know that until I went to write this review. I haven’t read the first book, but I know I’m going to be one clicking that one.
With Ms. Herbert’s flair for storytelling, a cast of interesting characters, and a plot that’s to die for, you can’t go wrong with Scorched Grounds. It’s a definite must read for fans of mysteries/thrillers.
**I was provided with an ARC of this story by Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Della’s father was sent to prison for the murder of her mother and little brother 18 years ago. She still has to battle a phobia that cripples her and that is made worse when her father is released. She still believes he is guilty but the police don’t have enough evidence to arrest him again for it. Then new grisly murders with the same signs start to appear which suggests her father is responsible she starts to wonder if he is being framed. Can Della face her greatest fear and doubts in order to find real justice for her family?
OMG – this story drew me in an then surprised me over and over again as it worked through all the twists and turns in the story. Every time I thought I knew how it was going to develop it surprised me and went another way. Well written and easy to understand and feel, I definitely read this faster and faster as I desperately needed to know what was going to happen next. Recommended.
This book was a certainly very intense read….it put me on edge and with the winds blowing outside it could have been perfect in a halloween night really gripping, dark , twisted….an excellent thriller. While this is part of a series set in the same city this is a real stand alone i didn’t know there was another book but nothing felt like missing it’s a complete independent story.
The author uses different point of views to tell us what is happening and they blend together perfectly to create a very dark and stressful ambiance to have the reader on edge, fearing for Della and unable to have the feeling he knows who the culprit is as many twists and the different point have view have you doubting yourself after every chapter.
It’s really a great read but for me the ending wasn’t satisfactory enough…i can’t tell you a lot more if i don’t want to spoil it but justice wasn’t complete in my opinion but otherwise it’s a great really great thriller.
Scorched Grounds by author Debbie Herbert keeps the reader turning the pages without taking a break! Scorched Grounds is the second in the Normal. AL series and the suspense before the end of the book had me almost on the edge of my seat. Della Stallings is trying hard to live a somewhat normal life after witnessing the horrendous murder of her mother and younger brother. Her father was convicted of the murders and sent to prison. It is eighteen years later and Della has found out her father is being released. She wants nothing to do with him.but his scheming draws her into his new drama. A new murder occurs the week after he comes back to Normal, and Della must consider the possibility that he may have killed again. She begins a friendship with Det. Nathan Whitt.as the investigation into the recent murders heats up against her father.
Della has to fight for her life before all of the answers are uncovered along with more bodies!
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This was a very crafty story. I just love this author. She was able to weave mystery and suspense in and out of the lives of so many in the town of Normal, Alabama. I have to say, I didn’t see this ending this way. I sort of wondered about who the killer was but I never suspected the part of someone else. Shoot, I want to talk about it but it would spoil it. Goes to show you that some people aren’t always who you think they are. It kept me turning pages way into the night. I liked even better than the first one.
I was lucky to get an arc from this book by the author Debbie Herbert. I have really love this book.
Srorched Grounds is a chilling triller about a family tragedy. Della was only 8 when her mother and brother were killed. She barely herself escape the killer. Her father was the main suspect and was in prison for 18 years before being released. Which only worsen her phobia. She still believe that her father is responsible for the murder of her family but the police don’t have enough proof to keep him in jail.
When new murders occured in town, some evidence seems to point toward her father. But she begins to wonder if her dad might have being frame and that the real killer still out there.
Della will have to face her fears if she want to survive.
In Scorched Grounds, it’s now eighteen years after Della’s father went to prison for murdering Della’s mother and brother when Della was just a young child. Della was narrowly able to escape. As an adult, she continues to deal with trauma symptoms from that horrible event, including a serious phobia. When her father is released on a technicality, he returns to town and claims he was framed. When murders begin again and evidence suggests her father may be involved, Della begins investigating.
Della is a complex character and the depiction of her ongoing trauma symptoms seemed well done. The book moved at a nice pace and the author pulled together the story lines well at the end, answering questions and concerns I’d had throughout the book.
Content Warnings: SPOILER cross dressing (I think that was what was being depicted here though it involved only makeup) that seemed concerningly stereotypical with the character ultimately being depicted as crazy and dangerous; graphic depictions of blood, injuries and murder; physical and verbal abuse END SPOILER
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #ScorchedGrounds #mystery
Intense, emotionally thrilling, action packed edge of your seat journey filled with danger, mystery, engaging charters, witty dialog and heart racing twists. Was a roller-coaster of dramatic excitement from beginning to end. Love it!
Wow! What and interesting and suspenseful book. The characters were entertaining and the mystery kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.
Scorched Grounds by Debbie Herbert is the second in her Normal, AL series.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Note: this review contains spoilers!
I have to admit when I first started reading this book I didn’t like the main character, Della, very much. She just wasn’t very likable. But as I got to know her story, I learned that she made herself that way to protect herself. Anyone who as a child witnesses their mother and brother being stabbed to death is allowed to protect themselves.
The question is who killed them? Was it her father Hunter out for the insurance money? Someone else? But who? A dirty cop framed Hunter, but that doesn’t mean he was innocent.
As we delve into the story, there are more questions than answers. Who killed the other people and left bells, bells that belonged to Della’s mother, with their bodies? Will Della be able to overcome her fear of the color red in order to save her own life and others? Will the real killer be found? How many more are going to die?
This was one time when I regretted reading an e-book rather than a hardcopy. I was so shocked at one point I wanted to slam the book shut but you can’t do that with an e-book so I turned it off instead!
The characters were great, the story line fascinating, the action would grab you just as you thought things were slowing down. A truly great read!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Della Stallings has an almost insuperable phobia. Her father went to prison 18 years ago for killing her mother and brother. He’s now been released and her fear is growing by leaps and bounds. She still believes he is guilty of murder and now that he has been released on a technicality, similar murders are occurring that seem to implicate him.
Has her father resumed his killing … or is he being framed?
To find the truth, Della must face her greatest fears and doubts—not only to find justice for her family but to ensure her own survival.
This is billed as a Gothic Thriller, although this can cover any number of genres or combined genres. Usually there is an element of horror … but I did not find that in this story. What I found was a well written crime fiction, that grabbed me from the very first chapters to the surprising unpredictable ending. The characters were deftly defined, and most were likeable.
Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
What an suspenseful book, it kept me wondering until almost the end whom the guilty party was. I actually had picked the wrong person in my mind. I have never read this author before, but I will definitely be trying more of her books. I found the book very well written, a page turner from start to finish. I would certainly recommend this book to those that enjoy reading pyschological suspense books.
I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my fair and honest review.