The Dead Tree by Lori L. Clark

Synopsis

"The town of Steele Grove, Missouri sits high along the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Legends run rampant around town about crazy Blythe Fountain, who discovered her beau hanging from the oak tree in the family's front yard. A short time later, two of her friends mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen, or heard from again.

Eighty years later, Ariel Fountain has inherited the property, and after catching her boyfriend cheating on her, decides she needs a change of scenery and runs headlong to a place shrouded in superstition and family mysteries which may be better off left unsolved.

Ariel sets out with the help of a local man, Grady, to uncover the truth behind the hanging and the girls' disappearances. What Ariel discovers is a secret so horrific she wishes she would have left it buried."


Donnas Thoughts

Ariel Fountain is twenty-three years old. She just graduated college and is getting ready to move in with her high school sweetheart. Ariel hasn’t had an easy life. She was raised by her grandparents after her mother, father and baby brother were killed in a fire when she was three. Life has a way of shifting directions in an instant. Ariel’s journey is about to get interesting.

OH MY . . . . WOW. This book is something else. I can’t say too much because I refuse to spoil the experience for anyone. I will say that the book is written from a number of characters points of view and I love when authors do that. It gives me a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding the plot. This story also goes back and forth between past and present which is wonderful and heart breaking. Also, Lori L. Clark really shows her writing skills in this book, just incredible. The story flowed; it picked me up and took me on a ride I never wanted to end. I have mixed feeling about the ending but I think that’s just because I didn’t really want the story to end. I would have liked more, but at the same time, I understand the reasons for it ending the way it did. I HIGHLY recommend this book and give it 5 stars!!