Threading the Needle (Sandhill Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Clay Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0896724980 | ISBN-13: 978-0896724983

In a chilling mixture of the nostalgic and the supernatural, Clay Reynolds adds to his Sandhill Chronicles this story of Faustian bargains, drag racing, old-time rock and roll, and a sister's love for a brother who dies tragically young. Sherry Littlefield, heroine of this tale of high speed and certain death, finds out a horrible truth about the senseless accident that took the life of her older brother, Keith. By piecing together clues, she learns that her brother discovered a ghostly drag race that takes place every spring on the Old Loop, an antique stretch of highway that leads to an impassable tunnel called the Needle. Long before Sherry and Keith were born, a local tough and street hood, Bobby Dean, made himself legendary for his prowess behind the wheel of Black Sabbath, his powerful and souped-up '57 Chevy. Taking on and defeating all comers, he evolved a deadly race that terminated at the Needle, a contest wherein only the winner was left alive. Eventually, Bobby Dean's evil caught up with him. His and Black Sabbath's fatal crash ended an era. Or so everyone thought. Now returned as a spirit, Bobby Dean emerges on warm spring nights to take on new challengers. On the line are the souls of the living and the dead—the stakes of beating a demon at his own game. Keith's soul has joined the defeated, but Sherry, finding and rebuilding her brother's demolished '66 Mustang, determines to finish what he started. Hell-bent to meet the demonic Bobby Dean in one last challenge, Sherry vows to thread the Needle and free Keith's soul. A steadily building suspense follows Sherry's systematic search for weakness in her ghostly adversary and her obsessive honing of her skills under the hood and behind the wheel. Despite her obsession, when the showdown is imminent, only a wellspring of faith can enable Sherry to pit herself against the dark legacy that haunts her small town.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 301 pages
• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press (May 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896724980
• ISBN-13: 978-0896724983
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,488,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Threading the Needle, May 11, 2004

By 

Stacey Flowers (Gainesville, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Threading the Needle (Sandhill Chronicles) (Hardcover)

I can not adequately relate in words just how much I enjoyed this book. Mr. Reynolds has always been able to captivate me with his writing, but never before has he given me such delicious shivers. As I read this book, I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn't reading something from Stephen King. I was haunted by the characters, wondering if I would have the same courage to face such demons were I in such a position as the heroine of the story. I read the first half of the book in one day, and actually had to force myself to draw the completion of the other half of the book out to two days. I could no more have waited longer to finish the book than I could make myself invisible. I was drawn into this book, held hostage by the talents of Mr. Reynolds, shivering everytime I turned the page. I read the last page with a mixture of relief that I was freed, and regret that my captivity was over. I have since read the book twice more, and highly recommend it to old and new fans of Mr. Reynolds. If you've never read his work, by all means, begin with this one, you WON'T regret it.