Anna takes a temporary job as
Acting Chief Ranger at the Maine park but brings along her aunt Gwen, her
paraplegic friend Heath Jarrod and her daughter, Elizabeth, who’s lately been
the target of cyber-bullying. Anna hopes the move will give Elizabeth time to
recover from the brutal attacks and the group moves into a house on rugged Boar
Island, off the Maine coast.
The group has barely arrived when new
cyber-attacks happen, making them realize the stalker has followed them to
Maine. Then a murder occurs, which calls for Anna’s attention. By the end of
the story, the two tales conclude in a dramatic conclusion, with some pieces
intertwining.
The novel
brings to light the devastating impact cyber-bullying can cause, especially on
vulnerable young people. One of the reasons the group moves to the remote
island is because Heath found her daughter attempting suicide. There’s also a corresponding
thread of two identical twins finding one another.
Barr, who
lives in New Orleans, has worked as a ranger for the National Park Service and
brings that experience to her novels. A travel writer when not penning this
book column, I love her books because she sets each one in a new park, using
the setting as if it was another character. I was excited that she had set this
one in Acadia National Park, one of the most popular parks in the system but
one I had never visited. I was disappointed the park wasn’t used as prominent
as in her other books. The two parallel story threads also became tiring until
the action sped up in the second half of the book.
Barr will sign
“Boar Island” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Octavia Books of New Orleans.
Discovering authors
An ardent
science fiction fan and native of Lafayette, Michael Moreau has written several
book series, including “The Futureman Adventures,” “Rocket Riders of the 27th
Century” and as co-creator of “The Robert Carson Files.” His latest books are “Future
Tales and Other Such Rubbish” and “Sherlock Holmes: Monster Hunter.” Moreau is founder
of the small publisher Outworld Press as well as being a photographer,
filmmaker, costume designer, prop builder and artist. For more information,
visit www.mmoreau.net.
Louisiana’s
Rhonda R. Dennis started out in emergency medical care but after graduating
college as a non-traditional student felt compelled to write a short story. She
has since written several novels and short stories, including “The Green Bayou”
series, and has released a romantic comedy titled “Magnolia Blossoms” and a
contemporary romance “Yours Always.” She was a nominee in multiple categories
for the 2013 Indie Romance Convention Readers’ Choice Awards. For more
information, visit www.rhondadennis.net.
Louisiana native Jackie Shemwell earned
a degree in French and maintains a love of Francophone Cajun folklore. She
weaves personal experience and family history into her short stories, poetry
and her first novel, a circa-1957 Southern Gothic suspense tale titled “The
Devil in Canaan Parish.”
Elizabeth Sinclair hails from
Florida but she sets her paranormal time-traveling novel, “Garden of the Moon,”
at a Louisiana plantation named Harrogate that her main character Sara Wade has
inherited. Lauren Faulkenberry is also not a native but her latest novel,
“Bayou My Love,” is set in “Bayou Sabine, Louisiana,” where 30-year-old Enza
Parker is attempting to flip a house she inherited from her estranged
grandmother. When she arrives, she finds the house occupied by a cute
firefighter who agrees to help with repairs.
All of these books are available
online as ebooks.
Facebook discoveries
Just read on Facebook — where I get
my news because people have forgotten what email is — that UL’s Ernest J.
Gaines Center will host a one-month interdisciplinary NEH Summer Institute on
the work of Ernest J. Gaines, titled “Ernest J. Gaines and the Southern
Experience.” This program will be Monday through June 24 on the UL campus and
is open to any collegiate faculty and graduate students across the country. For
information, visit http://ernestgaines.louisiana.edu.
P.S. If you want to be in this
column, which reaches thousands, drop me an email.
Walker Percy Weekend
The third annual Walker Percy
Weekend, celebrating the life and work of one of Louisiana’s most acclaimed
writers, is Friday through Sunday in St. Francisville. There will be panel
discussions, scholar presentations, an art exhibition of photographs of Percy
and a series of social and culinary events inspired by the author’s most famous
works. In addition, there will be special events such as bourbon tastings and crawfish
and craft beer in Parker Park. For more information, visit
www.walkerpercyweekend.org.
Book events
An Author
Book Rally with several authors in attendance will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, June 4, at The Thensted Center in Grand Coteau.
The Writers
Guild of Acadiana meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Barnes & Noble Lafayette. The
speaker will be WGA Vice President Greg Foshee, author of “A Crown of Jewels,” “A
Crown of Thorns” and “Boudreaux’s Revenge.” The meeting is free and open
to the public.
The Bayou Writers Group meets at 10
a.m. the first Saturday of each month at the Carnegie Memorial Library in Lake
Charles. Sharyn Schmitz will speak on “Outlining and Publishing.” For
information, visit http://bayouwritersgroup.com/.
Cheré Coen is the author
of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette,
Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under
the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.
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