Pretty good. I thought the eventual solution to the murder of Travis's mother (I can't for the life of me remember her name) kind of came out of left field. Matt, a teenage boy and the main character, is full of angst and makes one bad choice after another. I mean, I get why, but it got tedious to see him make yet another mistake. I would have liked to see more of the detective character, Winston Radhauser. ( )

Redemption Lake by Susan Clayton-Goldner
Winston Radhauser Series #1

Dark and twisted story of friendship, family, betrayal, loss and murder while also being a coming of age story for Matt and perhaps his friend Travis this is also a debut detective series that will star Winston “Wind Radhauser, if I can go from what I read in the title.

Just about everyone in this book seems to have suffered loss and/or betrayal of some sort-I won’t list them but they are legion and impact the characters and the story in more ways than one.

The main character, Matt Garrison, seems to have the most to deal with in coming to terms with a cousin that died when he was twelve, the remarriage of his mother, his father’s affair, the death of his best friend’s mother, his best friend becoming involved with what seems to be a church that is almost cult-like and the seeming loss of himself or who he might have been if so much that happened in his life had not occurred. Every choice he makes is based on trying to do what is best for himself, his family and friends but each lie or lie by omission and many of his actions only makes his turmoil greater and the situation he finds himself in even more difficult to deal with.

The way the murder is solved is not direct or easy but instead is littered with false starts, twists and turns, withheld information and mistakes made by one character or another. Ultimately the correct villain is found and put away and the groundwork put in place for Radhauser to solve another crime in the future.

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4.5 Stars ( )

I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This is an awesome book. The main character is Matt, and 18-year-old boy who finds himself in a serious situation. While his best friend Travis is at a dance he goes to talk with Travis’s mother and ends up drunk. When he awakes in her bed he gets up only to find her dead in the bathtub. Matt’s father is arrested for the murder. Detective Radhauser is not satisfied that he has the right man. Things just don’t add up to Matt’s dad being the murderer. This book is full of twists and turns. It was like putting a puzzle together piece by piece. About the time I thought I knew who committed the murder I realized I was as wrong as the detective. This author did a great job fleshing out the characters. The setting made me feel like I’d been out west. I’ve never been in or seen a desert, but I was there in this book. This is the second book I’ve read this week that took me on an emotional ride. This is a fabulous author and this is another must read book. ( )