Red Leaves
by Thomas Cook
Eric is a common citizen with common dreams who owns a common framing business. But he struggles with memories of a broken
childhood and suffering that he tries to silence with his common life. His son, Keith, is about as normal as any fifteen-year-old
boy can be. That is, he is quiet, withdrawn and insecure.
However, these common lives are thrust into chaotic disarray when Keith agrees to babysit the neighbor’s daughter, Amy,
only to find the next morning that she has vanished. Suddenly, the quiet, withdrawn and insecure teenager no longer seems
as normal as he once was in the eyes of a small town as they begin to look upon him with growing suspicion. Fighting
this same impulse, along with the skeletons of his childhood, is Eric, who now questions whether he ever knew his son
personally or knew him only as an acquaintance. As an entire community searches for the missing girl, Eric searches for
the truth, the truth about himself, his family, and -most importantly- his son.
What can you say about Thomas Cook? There are talented writers, those who can keep your attention and interest enough
to continue turning pages. And then there is another class, a step above the talented. There are those who write like a
genius painter, where even the most nonchalant brush strokes become a masterpiece. In my opinion, Thomas Cook fits that
category. This is the first novel of his that I have read, and it won’t be the last. He has a way with words that I -as
a writer- can only dream of having. Like anyone at the top of his field, his ability seems effortless. With just a few
of his brush strokes, he can conjure an image in the reader’s mind that only a photograph could duplicate. He describes
expression and emotion that we have all experienced, but could never accurately detail. He is a novelist whose work should
be on the shelf of anyone who enjoys fiction; if not for the story that he tells, then simply for the pleasure of reading
his work. Red Leaves is a winner in every sense of the word. |
The Book |
Harcourt |
June 13, 2005 |
Hardcover |
0151012504 |
Suspense |
More
at Amazon.com |
Excerpt |
NOTE: |
The Reviewer |
John Washburn |
Reviewed 2006 |
NOTE: Reviewer John Washburn
is the author of When Evil Prospers. |
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