Customer Reviews

Shards of Summer

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Kelly Jameson's Shards of Summer is a study in contrasts, with strong characters and a racing plot.

There is no peace after war for three soldiers who are unable to shake the maddening memories of military imprisonment. They remain friends, living in the same town postwar. Their personal and professional lives as cops and a professor are thoroughly complicated by the erotic dancer Alison, who could be a victim or a murderer.

Jameson's multi-faceted and intricate writing style strikes chords of both dissonance and harmony on many levels. The author's love of language and command of the written word are abundantly evident. Many of the passages could stand alone as essays; poetry plays a binding role in the chapters and plot lines.

(This is not your typical inspirational, happy-ending novel. Also, contains sexually explicit language.)

Jameson's prose urges you to read fast and furiously until you reach the final chapter, where disturbing truths collide to make a thought-arresting impact long after the last page.

Shards of Summer takes you on a trip to the beach that you won't soon forget. Flashing back to the mid-1940s--the perfect decade for a gritty noir--Shards immerses you in that era's prevailing feeling of postwar disillusionment, a sense of female dominance, and a sultry atmosphere. Shards of Summer invokes the great pulp dramatists of the day, like James M. Cain, but Kelly Jameson brings a fresh perspective to a well-worn, male-dominated genre, going beyond character archetypes and revealing layer upon layer of female (and male) desires and fears. Sexy and smart, Shards of Summer shows flashes of brilliance.

Jameson is a truly gifted writer. Her depth of knowledge on the war, religion, poetry, and the Italian language is evidenced throughout the book. Jameson is one author to keep your eye on.