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A River of Crows

by Shanessa Gluhm

April 17-28, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

MY REVIEW

I have become a super fan of books with crows in them. The cover and title for A River Of Crows by Shanesa Gluhm are fabulous and fit the book perfectly. The mother is an ornithologist and her son, Ridge, picks up her passion.

Shanessa Gluhm set me up from the beginning and led me on a wild goose chase through the entire story. I twisted and I turned, and I twisted again. I was very lackadaisical, thinking I knew what was happening. By the mid mark of the book, I knew that I knew nothing.

Sloan. Bad things happened to her, time and time again. Her brother vanished. After her father’s conviction for the murder of Ridge, her mother goes into a downward spiral. When Sloan is given an opportunity to leave town and go to college, she takes it. She returns when her mother comes home after being in a private facility. Sloan takes it on herself to take care of her mother. With the help of friends, she makes ends meet.

Now dad is being released from prison and the secrets begin to leech out from the rocks they had been kept hidden under. Blow after blow comes to Sloan, and I am right there with her. We, pretty much, find out together and I never saw the convoluted tale that Shanessa Gluhm created.

Easthead River was known as Crow’s Head Creek because they had one of the biggest colony of crows. They were everyone, covering fence posts, telephone wires and trees. I have grown a fascination with crows and will grab any book that makes them a character in their story.

I love damaged, complex characters with secrets and we have our share. The psychological damage done to Sloan makes me wonder how she will piece her life back together. Betrayal, murder, kidnapping, lies, lies, and more lies.

I’m trying to figure out how to say how much A River Of Crows by Shanessa Gluhm surprise me, stunned me, and led me down a torturous path that filled me with surprise and satisfaction for a job well done. I want to share so much, but I would rather you find out for yourself. This may be my first book by Shanessa Gluhm, but I doubt it will be my last.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

Synopsis:

In 1988, Sloan Hadfield’s brother Ridge went fishing with their father and never came home. Their father, a good-natured Vietnam veteran prone to violent outbursts, was arrested and charged with murder. Ridge’s body was never recovered, and Sloan’s mother— a brilliant ornithologist— slowly descended into madness, insisting her son was still alive.

Now twenty years later, Sloan’s life is unraveling. In the middle of a bitter divorce, she’s forced to return to her rural Texas hometown when her mother is discharged from a mental health facility.

Overwhelmed by memories and unanswered questions, Sloan returns to the last place her brother was seen all those years ago: Crow’s Nest Creek. There, she is shocked to hear a crow murmuring the same syllable over and over: Ridge, Ridge, Ridge.

When the body of another boy is found, Sloan begins to question what really happened to her brother all those years ago. What she discovers will shock her small community and turn her family upside down.

Praise for A River of Crows:

“In A River of Crows, Shanessa Gluhm spins a complex web of murder and family revelation that propels the reader forward at a breakneck pace. Just when you think you know where the story is headed, she reveals another thread. If you haven’t yet read Shanessa Gluhm, you need to put her on your to-be-read list.”
~ Allen Eskens, USA Today bestselling author of The Life We Bury

“A twisted family dynamic and complex personal history combine with a touch of romance in Shanessa Gluhm’s knockout second novel. A River of Crows grabs on with the opening pages and holds a reader tight to the very end.”
~ Elena Taylor/Elena Hartwell, author of All We Buried and the Wait, Wait, Don’t Query (Yet) series

“A River of Crows is a superb second novel that shows Shanessa Gluhm is a naturally gifted storyteller and writer, on a par with all the greats.”
~ Rob Samborn, author of The Prisoner of Paradise and Painter of the Damned

“Shanessa Gluhm crafts a thought-provoking story of revelation, family ties, discovery, and murder… Readers who choose A River of Crows for its mystery will find an unexpected draw and value in the emotional components which keep the plot action-packed and charged with transformation.”
~ D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Gluhm peels away layers of family secrets in this dual timeline narrative, right up until the climactic final reveal, a twist that truly surprised me. Well done!”
~ Laura Kemp, award-winning author of the Lantern Creek Series

A River of Crows Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller
Published by: TouchPoint Press
Publication Date: April 2023
Number of Pages: 427
ISBN: 978-1956851588
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Mud squished under Sloan’s brown Doc Martens as she climbed the steep ridge. She had run up this incline ten thousand times but wasn’t as surefooted now.

Sloan’s shirt clung to her back and her hair was already frizzing. “We’re in for another hot summer,” the friendly postal worker told her yesterday. As if there was a different kind of summer here in East Texas.

The water moved slowly today, trickling around massive boulders in the middle of the wide river. It was the kind of sound that soothed people, the peaceful noises they played when getting a massage or trying to fall asleep. In a few more months it would be difficult to even hear the water over the sound of the crows. That was a sound nobody could fall asleep to.

Not much about the river had changed. Sloan’s favorite climbing tree still stood; its limbs just as gnarled as she remembered them. If she closed her eyes, she could still see a pink glittery Easter egg in the crook of a branch, the last one she’d found the year they hunted eggs here.

A moss-covered fallen tree trunk she remembered was still here too. How many times had she, Ridge, and Noah balanced on it? The same trail still cut through the tall, pinecone-littered grass— the one made by animals visiting the water’s edge. Bits of tinfoil and leftover plastic baggies from picnics still littered the bank.

Sloan peered into the creek. Minnows flashed beneath the surface and brought back a memory. She was a toddler wading in the ford of the river, holding hands with both her parents, splashing and singing “Ring Around the Rosie.” They were laughing. They were happy.

Hard to believe this peaceful place was the site of her brother’s death. Of course, the water hadn’t been peaceful that day. It had rained for weeks and the creek raged. But it hadn’t been the creek that took Ridge’s life. It was their father.

Sloan closed her eyes to stop her tears. She inhaled, breathing in wet earth and rotting bark. Now was no time for a panic attack.

She sat down and touched the water. They’d never found her brother’s body, just a shoe, a piece of his torn t-shirt, and the god-awful green beanie he loved so much. And, of course, his blood. “Where did you go, Ridge?” Sloan asked her reflection.

A crow cawed loudly from a tree. Sloan wondered if her mom had been out here yet to look for nests, wondered if she even cared to anymore. Sloan stood. Only one way to find out, and she couldn’t put it off any longer.

***

Author Bio:

Shanessa Gluhm works as a librarian at an elementary school in New Mexico where she lives with her husband and children. It was during her own elementary days when a teacher encouraged Shanessa to share a story she wrote called, “Piggy the Kid” with the class. They asked for a sequel and she hasn’t stopped writing since.

Her debut novel, Enemies of Doves was an IAN Book of the Year Finalist in the category of first novel, an NIEA Finalist for cross-genre fiction, and first place winner in the Chanticleer Clue Awards for mystery, suspense, and thriller fiction.

When Shanessa is not writing she enjoys bird-watching, reading, and watching true crime documentaries. Shanessa loves to hear from her readers and the best way to connect is via e-mail or her Facebook page.