The Rumor - Lesley Kara

Written by Lesley Kara
Read by Karissa Vacker, Olivia Mackenzie-Smith
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Books on Tape
Release date: June 18, 2019
Duration: 09:26:53

Publishers Weekly—”In 1999, single mother Joanna Critchley, the narrator of Kara’s suspenseful debut, and her six-year-old son, Alfie, move from an unnamed city to her hometown of Flinstead, which appears to be on the coast of New England. Anxious to be accepted by the other parents, Joanna thoughtlessly repeats a rumor that Sally McGowan, who at age 10 stabbed a six-year-old playmate to death in Dearborn, Mich., in 1969 and was released from a juvenile detention center in 1981, lives in the town under a new name and that the convicted child killer could easily be anyone’s neighbor.

When the rumor mill starts to run rampant, a noose of suspicion begins to tighten around Flinstead, where the residents’ idyllic lives soon begin to crumble amid a firestorm of conjecture. Joanna, despite receiving warning messages from a well-meaning friend, is determined to find out whether the rumor is true. Meanwhile, As Joanna becomes obsessed with the case, her curiosity will expose her son and his father to the supposedly reformed murderer—who may be ready to kill again. She will learn how dangerous one rumor can become . . . and just how far she must go to protect those she loves. She is going to regret the day she ever said a word.
Well-developed characters and a twisty plot will keep readers turning the pages. Those who stay to the very last sentence will be doubly surprised. Kara is off to a promising start.”

“This mystery has an unusual and resonant theme—how a single rumor can morph into a completely unmanageable, deadly force. . . . [There’s] psychological acuity throughout and [an] astonishing ending.”—Booklist