a storm of emotions

Geneva Cortiss came back home to run her family’s business when her mother fell ill. The Rosalie Inn had withstood several major storms through its history, and Geneva is just trying to keep it running in a difficult economy. But then she gets an email from a writer who is working on a book about a notorious local murder. He offers to pay her twice the going price for two rooms for at least a month, and Geneva immediately agrees. That alone might be enough to keep her going through the off season.

August Fletcher has been interested in writing about the murder of the governor’s son, Landon Fitzroy. He had been about to start his own political career when he was killed by his nineteen-year-old lover Lo Bailey, who had met Fitzroy when she served him drinks in a local bar. They were together for several months, despite his being a married man, but after one of those bad storms St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is known for, Fitzroy was found dead on the beach. The police thought his injuries were not consistent with the storm, and Lo went on trial for his murder. She was not convicted, and she moved away from the small town.

Now August is wanting to write a book about the decades-old murder, so he brings Lo with him back to the Rosalie Inn. Lo immediately recognizes Geneva, because she had been friends with Geneva’s mother. Geneva had no idea that her mother had known Lo, so she was surprised to find that out. Lo told her that there had been three of them that had grown up together there, and Geneva is even more surprised to find out that she also knows that third woman who had been friends with her mother.

But as Geneva learns more about the governor’s son, she discovers secrets her family had kept from her as she grew up. The more Lo tells her, the more Geneva puts together what happened. But the story is bigger then just Geneva and her mother, and with all those years of keeping secrets and telling lies, there will be consequences of the truth coming out. But will they all be able to survive the big reveal?

The Storm is the latest from thriller writer extraordinaire Rachel Hawkins. While the murder plot was well thought out and complicated, it was the cast of storms, all with women’s names, that added so much depth to this story. It was hard to keep them all straight, but it was such a fun ride to get to the truth. I loved this book and got sucked in from the start. Hawkins is a masterful writer, and this story is one of my favorites so far.

I listening to The Storm as an audio book, and it is stellar. There is a large cast of narrators, which made me nervous at first. I thought that many voices would be difficult to track, but the writing helped a lot. Each character had a strong voice, and most chapters tell who it is that’s speaking, so I worried for nothing. All the different voices brought the story to life, through all the storms, It is set in Alabama, and the characters maybe should have had southern accents, but I still loved the experience of listening to this book.

I have been a fan of Hawkins for many books now, and a new novel from her always feels to me like an event. I thought The Storm was beautifully layered, with the story bounding from the past to the present. There were occasional snippets from news articles and from the book August was working on as well as a memoir Lo tried to write herself. And as strong as any other character were the storms that raged through the town, did damage, and moved on. This story will stay in my thoughts for weeks, and in my feels for even longer.

Egalleys for The Storm were provided by St. Martin’s Press, and a copy of the audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.