** IND’TALE RONE AWARD WINNER BEST THRILLER OF 2019 **Father’s Anthony’s devotion to God and His Church begins to unravel the moment Rita Wittier steps inside St. Catherine’s Cathedral in San Francisco. He struggles to control his feelings, but two years later, he is a man obsessed.In an attempt to rediscover the priest he intended to become, Anthony flies back to Delaware to visit Father … visit Father Timothy. If redemption can be found anywhere, surely it can be found in the church of his childhood and in the soothing Irish brogue of his former mentor.
The months pass, 60 Minutes does a special on Father Anthony and the Shepherd Academy—a school he started for disadvantaged children. He’s become a national hero— nicknamed the Good Shepherd. But he can’t get Rita out of his mind. He wants her more than anything—even God—and can no longer deny it. Six hours after he tell her how he feels, Rita is found dead in her car from an apparent suicide. Or is it murder?
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Forbidden love—a literary theme in all cultures and across all time periods. Susan Clayton-Goldner has chosen an apt title for her 2018 novel. Five characters suffer torment as a result of a priest’s love for a married parishioner and the homosexual love between the parishioner’s brother and husband. Set in 1971, the book reflects the social and religious censure toward these taboo relationships and toward people daring to break God’s laws. A compelling portrait emerges of characters tormented by their pasts, their current beliefs, and their longing to experience true love.
A wife of a defense attorney is found in her garage dead in her car from carbon monoxide poisoning. It is later determined to be a murder. Detective Stanwick is in charge of the investigation. This is a really good murder mystery that will keep you guessing about who did the murder. A number of suspects surface that lead you in different directions. A surprise conclusion to this novel. A real page turner.
A priest falls in love with one of his parishioners and decides to leave the church so that he can spend the rest of his life with her. After making his decision Father Anthony makes a trip to Rita’s home to tell her how he feels about her and of his plans to leave the church.
A little girl, nine years old comes home from school worried about getting mad at her mom before she left for school that morning she wants to tell her mother that she is sorry for their argument that morning but when she gets home something is off her mother is not there to meet her like she is every day when she returns from school something her mother would never do even if she was mad at her. Her mother loved her more than anything or anyone.
A few hours after Father Anthony leaves the home of woman he loves he gets a phone call from her nine year old daughter Connie telling him that her mother is hurt and can he come over and make her better.
Tormented is the perfect title for this novel as it fits more than one of the characters as they each have a past that haunts them all for different reasons.
Wow! I don’t know what to say but that Susan has gone and done it again, wrote another best seller. Susan knows how to write a book that is filled with action, mystery and, suspense from the first page and that will keep you hooked right up until the end and long after. Every time I read one of her books I follow all the clues and listen real close so that I can guess whodunit but guess what I have yet to accomplish that task. I don’t think that is even possible with her books anymore I have given up trying to figure out whodunit. But I will never give up on reading a book that she has wrote I don’t even need to read the summary any more. No they are that good.
If you love a good mystery then you are going to love Tormented as it is full of mystery and suspense. And while you are at it give Susan’s other books a try as well. But I give you fair warning set aside a few hours of your day before reading that first page as you won’t be able to put it down. No, once I picked up Tormented and read that first page that was it I was a goner. The next thing I knew I had devoured the whole book in a few hours.
You will not see the end coming. This story is fraught with drama and intrigue. Figuring out what happened is kept a tightly held secret by the author. She gives little bits at each time. There is no truly evil character that you want to hate. You just feel painfully sorry for all the hurt they are going through. A great story!
Wow, great story!
Tormented by Susan Clayton-Goldner
With exquisite attention to detail wordsmith Susan Clayton-Goldner has created a story that took me back to the 70’s, presented complex characters dealing with real life issues that I will hopefully never be faced with. Her ability to conjure images with words painted such realistic scenes that I felt I was there feeling what the characters were experiencing.
The main characters are:
FATHER ANTHONY: a priest in conflict dealing with his sudden love for a parishioner while in crisis over vows taken
RITA: a mother, wife, sister, musician, parishioner and woman betrayed then dead
CONNIE: the daughter of Rita and Konrad, niece of Gordy, nine years old and suddenly faced with the loss of her mother.
KONRAD: husband, lawyer, father, political candidate, lover
GORDY: brother, uncle, designer, gentle soul there for those he loves.
DETECTIVE STANWICK: In charge of the case to find out what happened to Rita
OTHERS: various supporting characters
This is a murder mystery, police procedural, story of betrayal, love story and oh so much more. I had trouble putting it down and wondered how an author is able to know characters and present them as fully as they were portrayed in this book. I am once again impressed by the craftsmanship of this author and am eager to read whatever she writes next.
Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars