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.
As an adult, Sloan returns to her hometown when she gets word that Caroline has left the mental institution where she’d been for several years. She’s dealing with the fallout from her divorce, and Caroline makes caring for her a real challenge. When Caroline insists that Ridge is still alive, Sloan doesn’t know what to think, other than that her mother’s grip on reality really is slipping. Then she encounters a crow by the river where Ridge’s life ended that speaks his name, and everything changes.
Y’all. This book. It is one of my favorite kinds of books – the kind that keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. How is the author going to untangle this knot? What waits on the next page?
Shanessa Gluhm has twists and turns in this tale like the Titan at Six Flags. The story is compelling, and it feels like with every page, some looming, as-yet-unknown danger draws nearer. There are plots within plots, secrets hidden, memories repressed. And then it all comes together in an absolute banger of a conclusion that had me picking my jaw up off the floor.
The crow imagery is used to good effect in the story, and I like the facts that Gluhm weaves throughout the tale. I knew crows were smart. But I didn’t know that they hold grudges, or that they hold funerals when one of their own dies, or any of the other tidbits scattered throughout the book.
A River of Crows is a mystery, a family drama, and a nail-biter of a suspenseful story all wrapped up into one. It may be on my list of best books for 2023. It’s that good. Shanessa Gluhm has firmly established herself as a must-read author for me. Five stars all the way.
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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 with the class. 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 birdwatching, reading, and watching true crime documentaries.
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04/18/23 |
Book Trailer |
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04/18/23 |
BONUS Promo |
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04/19/23 |
Review |
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04/19/23 |
BONUS Promo |
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04/20/23 |
Playlist |
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04/21/23 |
Review |
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04/22/23 |
Review |
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04/23/23 |
Guest Post |
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04/24/23 |
Review |
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04/25/23 |
Author Interview |
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04/26/23 |
Review |
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04/27/23 |
Review |
I love this review! Thank you so much for reading and for such an insightful review.
My pleasure! You keep writing, I’ll keep reading. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by my blog!
It’s THAT good?! Oh, I just can’t wait to escape into this book. Thanks for a fabulous, costs-me-money review (’cause I gotta buy the book now. print all the way.).
great review! I agree – that opening prologue had me immediately invested in this story.