Customer Reviews

Promises of Home

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the 3rd page turner in the Jordan Poteet series. I was thankful that I had the next in the series "Distant Blood" ready to go the minute I finished this one. "Promises of Home" came from a slightly different angle than the first two, but kept me guessing all the way. I love the way Abbott writes!-just the right mixture of suspense, thrills, romance, nostalgia & humor.

I never expected a series to "keep" me as much as this one. Secrets from the past, characters you actually care about (Imagine that!), and a plot that never lets up. I read this in two nights (It would've been one if I hadn't need some sleep) and started the fourth in the series after finishing the third. If you're looking for a series that will make you laugh, cry, guess, sympathize, and empathize, Jeff Abbott is the one for you!

Twelve-year-old Jordan Poteet and his best friends decide to ride out a hurricane in a tree house. When high winds frighten them down from their perch, they run for home and discover a dead body on the way. It is presumed that the young girl died as a result of the storm, but later events cast some doubt on this conclusion.
The story continues in the present with the 12-year-olds now in their 30's. One of them is returning home after deserting his wife and son. Upon his return, his buddies begin to show up dead. Concern grows as the killer seems to get closer to Jordan and his remaining friends. Abbott's conclusions are never simple, and the dysfunctional family lives of Jordan's friends are exposed during the course of his investigation. This is another well-written book by a talented author.

Anyone who's done it knows that coming back to a childhood home after being away and reconnecting with old friends and family can be rewarding as well as disappointing. Throw murder and blackmail into the mix and you have a multi-layered thriller-story.
Abbott's characters are real and just complex enough to be interesting. The story is told through the main character Jordan Poteet and pulls you right in. This is a believable and fun mystery with a dose of humor.

Jordan Poteet is the exception to the rule that small town librarians lead dull lives. In this third installment, (I suggest reading this series in chronological order), Jordan's childhood friends are turning up dead and the murders seem to tie back to an evening 20 years earlier during a hurricane. So once again Jordan puts on his sleuthing hat. The author does a good job going back and forth in time while holding together the thread of the story/mystery. All of the characters from the earlier books are here with a few new ones - "Sister's" ex-husband shows up. And small town Texas is proudly on display - although at times as I followed Jordan around I flashed back to Opie. This is a perfect book for the pool or dentist's office with no excessive violence, sex or language - a nice tight PG-13 mystery. One observation on character development - the women in this series who were strong-willed and independent in the first book have now seemingly progressed to actually terrorizing the men - Jordan included.

Lost love, dark family secrets, coming to grips with the past, murder -- and a tornado to boot! Mr. Abbott would get my vote for an Edgar award, if I could vote..

The story is great - a real page turner... however, I have never seen so many spell-os in one single text! I guess OCR did not work... and nobody reviewed... what a shame!