The Stone Forest [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

Stone County, Indiana -- a stunning landscape of rock quarries, caves and underground rivers -- is a place of unique beauty . . . and a place marked by an unsolved tragedy.

One warm night sixteen years ago, sisters Jenna and Amanda Kirk disappeared. Days later, Jenna was found wandering alone, with no memory of what happened . . . and no knowledge of her sister's fate.While the girls' mother spun the tragedy into political victory by becoming the state's first female lieutenant governor, Jenna became overwhelmed by nightmares and guilt. Now, desperate to uncover the truth about what happened that night, Jenna returns to Stone County.

But the family's Victorian home seems more of a haunting ground than a haven as Jenna begins to suspect someone is trying to frighten her away.To hurt her. And as memories begin to surface, Jenna is gripped by a growing fear about the place and about the people closest to her.

Because the labyrinthine caves of her childhood are hiding old secrets . . . dangerous, deadly secrets.And Jenna must face her own darkest terrors to expose a legacy of murder carved in stone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On Jenna Kirk's 16th birthday the day of her first kiss from her longtime crush, Mace MacCamon, her charismatic older sister's boyfriend Jenna and her sister, Mandi, are abducted from the yard of their home in a Midwestern quarry town. Several days later, Jenna alone is found wandering in her grandfather's stone forest of eerie carvings, drugged, with her memory gone. Fifteen years later, Jenna returns to uncover the truth. But as she regains her memory, someone tries to scare her off, and the culprit may be someone she trusts most: Mace, who was the prime suspect in Mandi's presumed death; Jenna's driven mother, who's utilized the tragedy to become Indiana's first female lieutenant governor; a psychiatrist who has urged Jenna to repress rather than work through her past; or a stalker who's either a Norman Bates¤type psycho in women's clothes or Mandi back from the dead. While ex-English teacher Harper's style suffers at times from a tendency toward unnecessary explanation (a treetop scene where Mace puns to Jenna, Me Tarzan, you Jen does not require the clarification, You mean Jane ), her deft juxtaposition of the cast of creepy characters and a smalltown setting oozing Brady Bunch wholesomeness makes for a haunting read.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

" . . . as many twists and turns as a deep limestone cave . . . an exciting, chilling puzzle, a real page turner." -- Lisa Jackson

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Mira; 1st edition (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551669099
• ISBN-13: 978-1551669090
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,728,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should be called suspense, not romantic suspense!, July 21, 2002

By 

Faith Freewoman "free woman" (Trinidad, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stone Forest (Mass Market Paperback)

Of the things I consider important in books, Karen Harper does two things very well, one fairly well, and two poorly (in my opinion).

Both Stone Forest and Shaker Run (an earlier book of hers) are fabulously rich and vivid in terms of atmosphere and environment, and both environments are quite unusual as well. The other thing I've really liked about these two books are her descriptions of wierd mental processes: as an example, in both books you're in a person's point of view when they are drugged by the bad guys, and both times I felt myself fuzzing out and getting really disoriented along with the heroine before I realized what was happening. Very effective!

What Karen Harper did *fairly* well in both books was develop an interesting plot with interesting character concepts. However, the concepts never really caught fire or came to life in either book, particularly not the romance portions. I just never felt a spark between the h/h in either book, and never really got interested in the main characters either time. It actually says a lot for her ability to create unusual and interesting environments that I kept reading, because I usually put a book down when I am so unaffected by the characters.

So, if you want an interesting suspense plot, with fabulous atmosphere and very unusual and interesting situations and locations, Karen Harper's one to watch, but I hope that, even though she's a part of a romance publishing line, she stops trying to sell her books as romantic suspense.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exhilarating romantic suspense, June 8, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stone Forest (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1985 Ridgeview, Indiana, following her sweet sixteen bash, Jenna Kirk relishes the memory of Mace Macaman's kiss even if he is the boy friend of Mandi, her older sister. That night, Mandi gets Jenna to help her reenter their home after she returns from her tryst with Mace. However, someone abducts both siblings holding the sisters for ransom inside the town's extensive caverns. Jenna manages to escape, but remembers little of her ordeal. Mandi vanishes. Jenna and Mace separately flee the town with its now nightmarish memories while her mother successfully runs for state office.

Fifteen years of nightmares and therapy propel Jenna to come home to confront what happened. From the start of her return, she receives packages and notes from apparently Mandi. Though most townsfolk believe he killed Mandi, Mace returns to town because of his father's illness. He joins forces with Jenna to learn the truth. However Jenna begins to recall what happened on that fateful evening; she wonders if she can trust Mace even if he has her heart.

THE STONE FOREST is an exhilarating romantic suspense that never eases off the throttle until the final page is completed. The story line is loaded with non stop action, but it is the lead couple that hooks the reader. As Jenna climbs out of the labyrinth of the pits of hell, she struggles between love and trust. Mace is a wonderful "victim" condemned by most of the townsfolk. Though the final twist seems too bizarre, the audience will read Karen Harper's taut tale in one sitting to learn what happened to Mandi.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Book Put Me To Sleep, November 3, 2002

By 

K. Grant (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stone Forest (Mass Market Paperback)

I've never read Karen Harper before and when I saw the summary of
this one I thought it looked good. I was wrong. There is way
too much dialogue in some scenes of this book and the characters
don't show a lot of emotion. This book has a few parts that were
mysterious, the rest seemed dull and drawn out. I was happy that the author didn't include profanity or any brutal violence, but instead of a classic thriller she ended up writing a predictable story. I hope her other books are better.