From the New York Times bestselling author of the continuation James Bond novels comes a new novel of suspense about coming-of-age in the 1960s, and the neighborhood street where first love, a child abduction, and abuse collide. Sixty-one-year-old Shelby Truman, a romance novelist, has received a request to visit her childhood friend, Eddie, who is on Death Row. Though mentally ill, Eddie is … mentally ill, Eddie is scheduled to be executed for the disturbing, brutal murders of his wife and unborn child.
As Shelby travels home to Texas for the unnerving reunion, she steps back into memories of her past, recalling her five-decade-long relationship with Eddie in order to understand what led the beautiful but troubled boy who lived across the street to become a murderer. Shelby and Eddie used to visit an abandoned fallout shelter in his backyard, their “secret hiding place” where they could escape Eddie’s abusive father, enjoy innocent playtime, and, later, adolescent explorations. As they grow increasingly close, a tragedy occurs one July fourth, an event that sets in motion a lifelong struggle against an Evil—with a capital “E”—that has corrupted their all-American neighborhood.
With only a few days left for Eddie to live, Shelby braces herself for a reunion that promises to shed light on the traumatic events that transpired on her street, changing everything Shelby thought she knew about the boy on Chicory Lane.
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In a bold move away from the thrillers for which he’s best known, Raymond Benson offers readers a heartfelt and tragic tale. Across decades, the dark secrets on Chicory Lane shape and misshape the lives of all who live there. Benson, a master of suspense, has crafted a story as compelling as any thriller but with a depth of feeling few thrillers achieve. And the ending, I guarantee, will leave you breathless.
This was one weird story and creepy but I couldn’t put it down.
Really kept me interested from page one. I absolutely hate books that don’t grab me right from the 1st chapter at the most. I can usually tell from the first few paragraphs if I’m going to like it. You won’t be sorry with this one!
An interesting comment on mental health, or lack of it, in America today.
Interesting characters. Wanted to find out the conclusion. Held my interest. Thought provoking.
Just not very good. I didn’t like the characters much.
It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that the author is a man trying to write as if he’s a woman. The book started out ok, then quickly devolved. The lists of songs, albums, etc only added to the length of the story but had no value nor insight as to what was going on. I don’t recommend this book to anyone.
Really dumb and totally nonrealistic.
KG
Too creepy.
Predictable ending but you hang in there to see if you are right.
A totally twisted plot. OMG.
Was an interesting read. Kept your interest with a few surprise along the way.
Had to sit up all night to finish …How one tragedy can shape the rest of your life
This book provided a solid backdrop to the era when the children were growing up. However, it seemed to drag on for an exceptionally long time and did not get to the point.
After plodding along for an extended period (almost 3/4 of the book), there was a move towards discussing the court case which was supposed to be the core of the story.
The “surprise” in the story was more a ho-hum moment (I was able to guess earlier than 1/2 way through the book what happened).
After reading such impressive reviews, I was disappointed with the actual content and probably won’t read anything more from this author.
I found this to be a good book with an interesting premise. At times I had to make sure that it was fiction because I read a lot of true crime and this seemed to be real at so many points. Although you know the end at the beginning of the story, it still drew me in and I was hoping it would end differently. I would recommend this book to others for sure.
I was not overly fond of this book. It is well-written but I wasn’t fond of the whole concept.
Book was decent and a pretty fast paced, easy read, but too predictable. Author could have framed the story so it’d be much harder to guess the ending. Of course, I read a TON of mystery books and I’m not easily fooled.
I loved this book and could hardly put it down. I’ve never read anything from this author, but I will be now.
It was… okay. Characters were a little shallow and/or formulaic. Plot was less then interesting.
BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN! I could not put this book down. This author did a wonderful job of keeping you moving forward to the very end of the book. The book is believable, even though the author is writing with the voice of a woman. Excellent work. Just couldn’t wait to see what would unfold next. Just can’t say enough about this book and author. Now I will read his other books.