Customer Reviews

Mounds

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Mounds grabbed my attention from the first paragraph and didn't let go until I was finished with the book. Even then, I still couldn't get the book and the characters and their lives out of my mind!!! I won't spoil the ending for any future readers, but I must say I keep running the story over and over in my head!

As a frequent business traveller I read 2 or 3 books a week and I must say Mr. Starr has created a great form of story. It is a quick, interesting read that requires some thought and attention. Just exactly what I needed to pass the time on the red-eye to Amsterdam!!!!

The first part of the book grabbed my attention because it focused on the 1900 Storm and more specifically St. Mary's Orphanage which was destroyed when that horrific hurricane struck Galveston, Texas. My grandfather was a storm survivor and I work for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the same Congregation of nuns who cared for the children in that orphanage. Starr identifies two Sisters, Elizabeth and Lillian. I am sure he chose Elizabeth because she was there and Lillian because that was the name of his aunt who was a Sister in another Congregation. His fictional account of what happened at the orphanage captures the terror of that night, but at the same time the strength of the Sisters, who keep their faith to the very end in his book. He portrayed them exactly as I would have imagined in my loftiest ideals. I enjoyed reading the fictional details of conversations at the orphanage....it made the Sisters and children all the more real. But, the storm is only the first small part of the book. From there we go on to investigate other storms in other places through the eyes of two aging archeology detectives in more current times. We also meet other sets of characters who eventually come together. In the book there are supernatural good and evil entities in the clouds; the evil one attaches itself to storms and thrives on destruction and killing. That entity builds mounds of the dead as monuments. I didn't want to put the book down. I don't want to give away the very powerful ending, but it was a classic fight of good verses evil. Despite the supernatural theme of the book, it never questions or diminishes a belief in the One True God. God and faith in God continued throughout the book. I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who has ever heard of the Great 1900 Storm.--------