Tuesday 18 October 2011

The Crossing - Serita Jakes

Imprisoned by memories, Claudia Campbell lives each day in the shadow of a ten year old murder. Who can set her free?

What an amazing story. Fraught with tension and curiosities, Jakes' characters are a myriad of emotions; all of whom are battling with demons which arose from one fatal night.

With the best intentions and unbeknown to his wife Claudia, ADA Victor Campbell re-opens the murder of the high school teacher, BJ Remington. Slain whilst escorting the football team and cheerleaders home after an away match, a lone gunman enters the bus whilst it waited at the train crossing and fires off rounds hitting BJ four times. Caught up in the shooting was quarterback Casio Hightower, who lost his football dreams that night.

Although teacher and student, Claudia and BJ were best friends and the reopening of the case means a secret is about to be undiscovered. Casio, now a cop insists on helping Victor uncover what happened that night. Claudia, however, is against it even more so as a recent miscarriage opens up the painful memories for her. She soon finds herself turning away from Victor and her daughter, knowing that she would have to deal with the panic attacks on her own.

Told through mainly Victor, Claudia and Casio, the lives of these people and that night are unraveled in a captivating way. From the first page, Jakes has written a brilliant page turner. A poignant touch to the tragic murder is the flashback interjections of BJ as she is taking her last few breaths; her realization of her affair, the life she felt that she should have lived and most importantly her faith in God - has she been a disappointment to Him? As she lays there slowly slipping away, will she be welcomed into his arms?

This is a heartfelt story, told with sympathy and understanding. Its a book about loss, suffering and forgiveness and ultimately unconditional love. Definitely worth reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for their Blogging for Books program - the opinions expressed here are my own.

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