Closure
Unlike her psychic protagonist Kate Jeffers Rea is a good cook serving up this tasty tale of kidnapping and intrigue. The short juicy chapters of Closure are as easy to swallow as beef tri-tips marinated in tangy dialogue and served with a hefty side of motive.
When eight-year-old Eddie disappears from Wenn Park the Atlanta Metro Police must rescue him or failing that bring closure to his grieving upper-crust family. Enter former policewoman Kate who is still trying to discover the truth about her parents’ suspicious death in a car accident.
It isn’t easy to draw an eight-year-old believably at least for those of us no longer in the single digits but Eddie the real hero of the book comes off as a smart gutsy kid most readers would love to babysit or hang out with (Eddie gets indignant when he thinks his minders are calling him a baby.) as illustrated in this passage:
“ ‘Don’t worry kid’ [the man said.] ‘You won’t have to stay here much longer. What do you say we play a game of cards or something?’
Eddie peered through the opening in the doorway. ‘It’s kind of hard to play cards when you’re on that side of the door and I’m in here. And I don’t even know your name.’
Joey returned with drinks and cards. ‘I don’t know too many games’ he said hanging his head. ‘Just gin rummy and stuff like that.’
‘How about “Go Fish’ asked Eddie realizing that Joey probably wasn’t terribly smart.”
More moments of humor follow this scene and like pepper on a steak they are welcome but not overdone. Take for example a break-in at Kate’s loft after which her immediate reaction is annoyance at having to clean up an office-load of fingerprint dust; her photographic adventures with her willing but wobbly sidekick Gloria who is woefully underemployed as a parking garage attendant; Kate’s fastidious wealthy grandmother who insists on dressing for dinner even if the main course is just macaroni and cheese. Savory veins of romance also run through the plot some realized and some not.
Some parts of the narrative involving police procedure require a hefty suspension of disbelief (the cops show up at Eddie’s house half an hour after his parents think he may be missing) and readers searching for the unique flavor of Atlanta Georgia may find the place details somewhat generic. Despite this Rea a psychologist former teacher counselor and a longtime student of the human psyche keeps Closure’s pace crisp and its characters well-drawn. Fans of detective fiction should swallow this fun novel in quick delicious gulps.
Reviewed by
Holly Chase Williams
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
