Review: Redemption by Laurel Dewey

Genre: Suspense Thriller
Publisher: The Story Plant, 2009
381p

A Race Against Time!

After a series of life-changing events, detective Jane Perry has resigned from the Denver Police Department. Trying to make a living as a private investigator, she finds her past haunting her at every turn and old demons rising up to torment her.

Then Jane meets Kit Clark, a woman who wants Jane to drive with her from Colorado to Northern California in search of a man who matches the description of the killer who murdered her granddaughter many years before. Kit’s convinced that the man has started to kill again and she wants to stop him. Jane thinks the woman is crazy – especially when she discovers that she’s a New Age devotee – but Jane is desperate for work.

They head on the road, gathering critical information about the killer, and themselves, along the way. Jane has recently experienced several events in her life that seem to border on the paranormal, though she is a complete skeptic in that regard. Now, those experiences come with greater frequency. And when the trail of the killer leads to a fundamentalist church, the consequences of belief and faith propel her toward a deadly confrontation.

Jane Perry  is a tough cookie with a drinking problem, a smoking habit and an aggressive attitude and it took me a while to warm to her but from the moment she encounters Kit I was hooked on this story. Grandmothers with a 'New Age' philosophy and esoteric interests don't often feature as central characters so it was fantastic to be able to totally relate to Kit and her 'way out thoughts'.

Call it coincidence or synchronicity, it's the same beautiful magic. Life serves them up to everyone; the trick is understanding the messages they seek to deliver." Kit leaned towards Jane. "Forget about logically explaining them. They defy explanation! When you begin to realize how these coincidences weave in and out of your life, only then will you understand the governing power of a higher plan."

Travelling together Jane and Kit learn a lot about each other and themselves and their developing relationship brings both humour and sadness to the story.

There is a strong spiritual/religious theme throughout the book which is something else I really enjoyed. Kit's beliefs contrast with a  fundamentalist church to which the killer has ties and this theme provides the means to raise several thought-provoking issues and adds a depth that lifts the book out of the 'just another thriller' category.

Redemption is about finding a killer before a definite time. It's a race against the clock which really adds to the building of suspense.........the action is continuous and exciting with plenty of twists and turns to keep the pages turning and the final showdown had me reaching for the tissues. Crying is not something I normally do when reading thrillers and it shows how emotionally involved I'd become with Jane and Kit.

An excellent suspense thriller with a unique voice of it's own. I enjoyed it immensely.

Redemption is Laurel Dewey's second book featuring Jane Perry but not having read the first one ,Protector, wasn't a problem with just enough information being given to understand some of what happened to Jane previously.

About the Author

Laurel Dewey was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is the author of two nonfiction books on plant medicine, a Silver Spur nominated Western novella, hundreds of articles, and the first Jane Perry novel, Protector. She lives in Western Colorado with her husband.


To find out more about Laurel and her books visit: http://www.laureldewey.com/

I received a copy of Redemption to review from Pump Up Your Book.