Publisher: Bella Books
Sometimes
an author steps out of the box and writes a book that is different from her
others. This can be stimulating to
creativity, but fans of the author may not appreciate what she does. They’ve come to expect a certain type of book
and they find something else disconcerting.
Gerri Hill did not follow her usual formula for Keepers of the Cave and
there have been readers who have panned the book for that reason. Different isn’t always bad though. Give it a chance before passing judgment.
When
a senator’s daughter disappears near Hoganville, Texas, FBI agents CJ Johnston
and Paige Riley are assigned to go undercover to see if there is any connection
between that case and others going back over fifty years. CJ and Paige go to work at a correctional school
near the town on what appears at first to be a useless mission. It takes on a new dimension when they realize
that the people in the town are just plain creepy. They appear to be dominated in a cultish manner
by the matriarch of the town, Mother Hogan, who is determined to block whatever
the agents are trying to do. As they
poke around and make friends with a townswoman who teaches at the school, two
things develop. A sense of foreboding develops about the case
and the women have to deal with a growing attraction between them. Eventually they find themselves in a death
race against an element that is the key to everything.
This
may be one of the best books Gerri Hill has written. It tells a fully comprehendible, if bizarre,
story while making the readers think at the same time. The characters are fully
drawn and complex. The secondary characters
are the ones that provide the real meat of the book. Mother Hogan, as despicable as she is, is
also fascinating as a study in extremism and of someone who will do whatever is
necessary to achieve her ends. The
complete obedience shown to her by the rest of the town sets the unique atmosphere
of the book. CJ and Paige provide the
romance in the book and the introduction to Hoganville, but they are pretty
standard characters. They are obviously
there to satisfy Hill’s romance readers.
It’s the rest of the book that is an unusual type of story for Hill,
which is probably why some of her usual readers have reacted poorly to it.
The
writing in Keepers of the Cave is tight and well-paced. There is a supernatural aspect to the story
that could be expanded or at least better explained, but this is a page
turner. The story stays interesting from
beginning to end and a reader can’t ask for much better than that. If you’re looking for a regular Gerri Hill
romance, this isn’t it. Hill may be
trying her hand at something new. If
that’s true, she should be encouraged.
Any writer should be applauded for expanding her abilities, especially
if she does a good job of it. In this
case, Hill did.
Give
Keepers
of the Cave a chance. If you
approach it knowing what to expect, you shouldn’t be disappointed.
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