Bit by bit, the secrets simmering beneath the surface of the lives of the families in Springdale Illinois come to light in this story. There is the Pastor of Springdale church, Clayton Loverage, and his rebellious teenaged daughter Ellen. What begins as a quest to escape from her oppresive father turns out for Ellen to be a journey full of unexpected discoveries. Why does her neighbor have a picture of her father on her nightstand? That's also what Jack Brandt, the local police chief and meddling church member would like to know.
The tension in this story takes a while to build up, but once the reader is sucked into knowing the Loverage's and their problems they will want to read on and to find the answers to how they got that way. The author is great at creating complex characters who aren't purely good or bad. ( )