Shiny Water [Paperback]

Anna Salter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

In the suspense-charged tradition of Patricia Cornwell, Anna Salter draws from her professional expertise to introduce forensic psychologist Michael Stone, a sharply witty, courageous heroine who champions the victims of the most devastating crimes.

Called to testify in a high-profile custody battle, Michael delivers a professional assessment that shocks her Vermont community: a prominent, well-respected surgeon likely has sexually abused his son and daughter. In the midst of a nightmarish trial, Michael's testimony is ignored, the case is abruptly closed, and two innocent children fail victim to an unjust system. Then a devastating murder sends the case spiraling in a new direction.... Desperate to sort fact from fiction, Michael taps the mind of jailed perp Alex B. Willy, whose unthinkable obsessions may help her unlock the motives behind the brutal crime. But in the eyes of a killer, she has crossed over the line: someone is closing in on Michael, invading her guarded private life with deadly intent....

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Michael Stone is a forensic psychologist, a specialist in court-related child abuse and domestic violence cases. A North Carolina native, she is an unusual figure in the Vermont town she now inhabits: a blond, blue-eyed loner who plays basketball obsessively to relieve stress and makes a game of never owning more than 250 things at any one time. Called to testify in a sensational custody case involving charges of sexual abuse, she advocates for the two small children only to be ignored. The abrupt closure of the case feels wrong to Michael, but she is powerless until the children are sadistically murdered. Pulled into the search for the killer, Michael is armed with only a clue involving Toni Morrison's classic novel Beloved. In this debut novel, forensic psychologist Salter has graced her protagonist with a compelling and likable voice in the tradition of Patricia Cornwell. Recommended for most public libraries.?Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Forensic psychologist Michael Stone is a supposedly neutral expert in child abuse who's just testifying in Sharon Southworth's custody suit against her husband. And it's a good thing she's not Sharon's hired gun, because Sharon is the client from hell--a paranoid hysteric who wouldn't stand a chance of getting her children away from their father, a successful thoracic surgeon, if both Adrienne and Andrew weren't clearly alleging that daddy had been playing doctor with them. Even that revelation, in fact, isn't enough to turn the tide: Dr. Nathan Southworth ends up getting custody of both kids just in time for them to get murdered, smothered, and laid out neatly on the beds Sharon's kept for them at her place. The cops tag Sharon for the killings when they find a highly pertinent leaf torn from Michael's copy of Toni Morrison's Beloved mounted in Sharon's diary, and Michael's reputation as an expert witness seems doomed--unless she teases another molester, a Hannibal Lecter wannabe named Alex B. Willy, into venturing out of his cell into a visiting room to give her creepy hints about what the few clues in the case really mean. Michael, a southerner transplanted to Vermont whose fetish is to own no more than 250 objects at once, is fascinating when she talks about the pitfalls of examining children. As the main detective in this thinly imagined debut, though, she poses no threat to Kay Scarpetta or Clarice Starling. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star; First Edition edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671003119
• ISBN-13: 978-0671003111
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,914,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As a therapist, I owe Anna Salter a big thank-you., July 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Shiny Water (Hardcover)

Anna Salter has been in the trenches, with all the psychotherapeutic babble and lunacy...yet she shows us that psychotherapy is an art form and that to survive the hard times we need humor and creativity. This is one of the best novels showing what a certain number of us do for a living and the frustrations that we face. She is realistic, funny, extremely educational (I actually learned clinical pointers) and very talented. Wow.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reality 101, October 12, 2000

By 

AZ SVP SW (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shiny Water (Paperback)

Having attended professional training by the author, I was curious about her books. Folks, the frightening thing is that she is describing the world and thought processes of sexual offenders. If you wonder "how could they do that"- this book is a fascinating and brilliant insight to their minds as well as the realities of "the system." To be honest, I didn't even notice any of the grammatical issues other reviewers found because I was too engrossed in the material! For me, it was validating to read of life through Dr.Michael Stones'eyes, and think,I've seen and thought that myself. I work with Willie and others like him on a daily basis, and I have a new appreciation of these residents, and why I continue to find them so fascinating. I can see myself going to visit Willie to be educated, and I have done this as well as had similar conversations with correctional types. I'm half way through the second book. and have the third waiting. Thank you Anna for going where few seem willing to go.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The horror of child abuse chillingly told in a strong novel., July 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Shiny Water (Hardcover)

"Shiny Water" by Anna Salter is not an easy book to read. The violence and horrow of child abuse is not as strongly protrayed as in Andrew Vachss' novels but it's all here. And is it very disquieting. I find the evil and terror or child abuse much more frightening than the horror of Stephen King. Anna Salter has given us a smart, lively character in Michael Stone. This is a tough lady who is easy to admire, retlate to and enjoy. An extremely diffcult job making a good novel out of this unsettling subject but Anna Salter has done so. I'm waiting for the next novel!