Greymoon River Road

By Ian Bradshaw

The book is a fictional mystery thriller. The plot revolves around an ongoing family law court case and a disputed land deal that happened many many years ago. The Lonsdale Magistrates Court and the Family Law Court in Lansborough become the battlegrounds for Alexis Smythe and her ex-partner Martin Thompson, as they try to sort out their differences surrounding their eight years twins, after their acrimonious separation. Alexis’s mother Danielle is a business partner in Greymoon Gardens Village, a future retirement village project being developed by the Foster Real Estate Agency in Greymoon River Road near Austenville. Martin’s brother Justin owns the Thompson Real Estate Agency in Austenville, after taking over the business from his parents Denis and Jean. Tensions have always simmered between the Foster and Thompson families since a disputed land deal two generations ago. The very same land where the retirement village is to be built. While Alexis and Martin are slugging out in the courts, Denis Thompson takes one of his grandsons, Jeremy, out to explore the disputed bushland. They use old maps from the local museum and discover something that now brings Alexis and Danielle into the ongoing feud between the two warring families.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadOnTime BV
• Release date: Sep 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781742845432

Book preview

Chapter One

Martin Thompson arrived home late Friday afternoon to his apartment in Hawksbourne. He had just finished work at the nearby Kraemers Hardware distribution centre where he is employed as a storeman. Just after he had turned sixteen he had dropped out of secondary college after failing his mid-year exams. He was rather big and strong for his age and he had no trouble finding work almost straight away in a factory as a laborer. Now in his early thirties, he had worked on construction sites for about ten years before getting his job at Kraemers two years ago. He had found working at Kraemers rather suited his lifestyle, particularly today, as he was nursing a hangover caused by a heavy drinking session the previous night at the Paravale Hotel. Then there were the games of golf after work in summer; often he was too tired after a day spent on a construction site to play after work, but at Kraemers he managed to conserve his energy for a round later in the day.

On reflection, his lifestyle had probably not helped his somewhat rocky relationship with his longtime partner Alexis Smythe; but that was over now. The breakup happened when he had become involved with one of the female staff at the Hawksbourne Golf Club, where he was a member. When Alexis discovered what was going on, she promptly ordered him out of the apartment they had shared in Paravale with their eight years old twins, Conor and Megan. The affair did not last long; and now he had lived alone for the past three months.

Alexis was very bitter and before long insults were being traded on Facebook between the two of them and their friends. Then her mother Danielle and her sister Linda had become involved. Alexis had been making it increasingly difficult for Martin to take the twins on weekend excursions. When he did, Alexis complained they had come home dirty and hungry; and on one occasion, sunburnt. He had had no contact with Alexis for about four weeks now; she refused to answer his phone calls and she ignored his text messages. The last time they had met was at a mutual friend’s wedding.

He had had too much to drink by the time they had come face to face that day. Alexis made a wisecrack about how fortunate she was they had never got married. He had retaliated with a torrent of abuse at her; and somehow managed to include references to the twins. The next day he could not remember what he had said. Alexis could certainly remember every word, which she relayed to her mother and sister.

He took two letters out of his mailbox and entered his apartment while glancing at the letters. One was a reminder for a dental appointment for his annual check-up; it had been redirected from Alexis’s address; the other was a telephone bill. Then suddenly he heard a loud knock on the front door; upon opening it he was confronted by a uniformed police officer who asked him to identify himself, and then was he was promptly served with paperwork from the Magistrates Court in Lonsdale.

As quickly as the police officer had arrived, he was gone, leaving Martin standing in the open doorway clutching the papers from the Court. This is strange he thought; what does the Magistrate’s Court in Lonsdale want with me? The odd speeding fine I pick up comes via the Traffic Infringements Authority, and I always pay them on time. He went to the refrigerator and got himself a can of beer, and then he sat at the kitchen table staring at the paperwork from the Magistrate’s Court.

What is this all about he thought to himself as he started to read the documents.

INTERIM INTERVENTION ORDER

It was just a blur, something about he was not able to have any contact with Alexis and the twins. It was only an interim order, which was in place until the Magistrates Court heard an application for an intervention order, at a date to be set.

He tried to study the document. I don’t know what to make of this he said to himself, I really need to get some legal advice.

Application for an INTERVENTION ORDER

Applicant: Alexis Danielle Smythe

Respondent: Martin Richard Thompson

The following persons to be protected by this order are:

Alexis Danielle Smythe

Conor Martin Thompson

Megan Jean Thompson.

The Court orders sought are that the respondent must not:

The document then listed a series of requirements, which effectively stopped him having any contact whatsoever with Alexis, he could wear that, but having Megan and Conor included was devastating.

State briefly why an Intervention Order is needed. Give a brief outline of each incident including the date and place where it happened.

He ran his eye down the page. Threatening text messages. Well I guess some of the messages I sent were a bit over the top. There again, what about some of the replies I got back from her. Rude and insulting comments about me put on Facebook by Martin and his friends. True, he did have to tell two of his friends to stop putting anything on Facebook, and what he put on himself was a bit rough, but it was all true. At the same time, her friends were not backward in joining in; she does not bother to mention that. He has threatened to take the twins away interstate and burn my apartment down. This must have been what I said that time at the wedding when I was too drunk to remember. When the twins return home from being with their father, they swear a lot, they say that is the way their father talks and he does not stop them talking that way. Probably true, but boy oh boy, does Alexis have a mouth on her when it suits her. The twins have arrived back home in dirty clothes, hungry, and on one occasion, they were sunburnt. It must have been that very hot day when I took them to the lake in Austenville. Luckily, Alexis never found out that I had dozed off while they were swimming.

I can’t see anything in here to suggest that I pose any real threat to the twin’s welfare; obviously the Court has viewed it differently. I’ll bet that mother and sister of hers are behind this. I had been told when I first started dating Alexis that her mother Danielle, almost controlled her life, and her elder sister Linda was not much better. I always thought Danielle considered I was not good enough for her daughter, though things did improve a bit after the twins arrived.

Alexis’s father had been long gone off the scene before he had met Alexis; if ever his name was mentioned Danielle would make a derogatory comment about him. Martin had never met him, he was not to be seen when the twins were born, and as far as Martin knew he had remarried and lived interstate. Danielle described herself as a commercial property investor; she appeared to generate a reasonable income from her business dealings. She was always buying new clothes and toys for the twins.

Martin felt guilty when he considered how little contact he had had with some of his own family since his bust-up with Alexis. Maree his sister, had been very sympathetic to his situation, and he had spent a lot of time at her house in Austenville at the time of the breakup. Maree’s three children, particularly Jeremy, adored the twins, and he got on well with Maree’s husband, John, who he occasionally played golf with.

He knew he should have gone to see his brother Justin and his wife Peta more often, particularly when he had the twins at the weekends. Despite them running the Thompson Real Estate agency in Austenville, they always found time for him and the twins. The Austenville museum further down the street was always the next stop after leaving his brother’s real estate agency. The twins would always race each other across the small park to meet up with their retired grandfather, Denis Thompson, who spent most of his spare time there as a volunteer. Then he would head off to see his mother Jean, who was rapt when he arrived with her two grandchildren.

The date set down for the Court hearing was in three weeks’ time.

Chapter Two

Arnold Weber and his partner Cindy Rust had lived together for the past three years in the upmarket part of town in Lansborough. Arnold was two years younger than Cindy, who was in her mid-thirties. They had met whilst attending a classical music concert, which was really the only common interest the two of them had. Arnold had told Cindy he was an only child, born in Germany, and that he and his parents had migrated to Australia when he was twelve, both his parents were now deceased.

Arnold was tall with blonde hair, blue eyes and boyish looks, and he spoke with a slight German accent. This prompted Cindy’s Aunt Deborah to compare him to the character of Rolfe, the messenger boy and boyfriend of Liesel, in The Sound of Music. Much to the annoyance of Cindy, her aunt always referred to Arnold, as Rolfe, though never in his presence. There were a few snide remarks made to Cindy, from her family and friends hinting that Arnold could even be an extended member of Hitler’s so-called master race.

Arnold displayed little interest when Cindy occasionally raised the issue of children and marriage. Cindy was not so much bothered about the idea of marriage, but she was very concerned about her fast diminishing timeframe of childbearing capability. Mister Right had never appeared on the scene for Cindy over the years, and now it seemed Arnold was the next best thing. She was aware that her elderly parents and her two sisters were rather dubious about her choice of Arnold as a partner. It also made her realize how conservative her whole family was when she became involved with someone like Arnold.

Their relationship was harmonious; they had few arguments, the only real issue being Arnold smoking pot in the apartment, and his idea of growing his own plants in the spare room. Cindy flatly refused to go along with both those ideas. She got her way; Arnold’s pot smoking was confined to the apartment balcony and there were no plants grown in the apartment. Cindy had never smoked pot, let alone cigarettes, but the two of them certainly enjoyed a good bottle of wine.

Arnold did not have a job; he seemed to spend most of his time wheeling and dealing on eBay and day trading on the share market. Cindy occasionally looked over his shoulder at the computer monitor but she could not grasp what he was doing. He had made a few vague attempts to explain, but she felt he didn’t really want her to get the full picture. If he went out on his own at night he would just say there was some business he had to attend to.

He did tell her that at one stage of his life he had partially completed a law course at university. Unfortunately he had lost both his parents during his stint at university and at the same time he had become somewhat disenchanted with what he saw of the legal profession. Therefore, for whatever reason it was, maybe a combination of both, he had quit university and managed to eke out a living with his online buying and selling and his share trading.

Cindy had attended a girls only catholic secondary college in Lansborough with her two sisters. She had then commenced her working life in the accounting section at the Kraemer Hardware distribution centre, which was located in the nearby suburb of Hawksbourne. There were times when she looked online at other career opportunities, but her parents encouraged her to stay at Kraemers. Job security, that is what you need, her father always told her, and Kraemers have been there for over sixty years.

At times Cindy and Arnold had discussed the idea of buying some acreage, possibly with an old house on it, something to use as a weekend escape. Cindy was keen on the idea as it would give her an opportunity to do some gardening. Arnold agreed, as there would be a chance for him to grow his own plants, strictly for medicinal purposes he told a very dubious Cindy. They were looking for something in the low budget range, so if they ever split up, one could then readily buy the other out if need be.

Arnold had found a fifteen-acre property on the internet about thirty kilometres past the rural town of Austenville, somewhere near Hopetown. The photo showed the property as being almost completely covered in trees and thick bushes. The description of the house, or whatever it was, seemed rather vague and it appeared to be still under construction. There was no mention of water, power, or telephone, being available to the site. Arnold had rung a man by the name of Ross Hudson who had given him details of the location. It’s not too easy to find, Ross had warned him. They decided to go and have a look the following Friday which was a rostered day off from work for Cindy.

Cindy was the navigator, and as she guided Arnold, he was wondering where the hell they were going to end up at. Despite his concerns, the instructions given by Ross proved to be spot on, even after a long series of left and right turns down gravel roads. They came to a stop outside a heavily treed property. As they looked through the trees they could see some sort of dwelling in a small cleared area. There was a metal container nailed to a tree, presumably it was a letterbox, on it was painted, Ross Hudson Lot 44. Just past the letterbox a late model Ford sedan was parked.

They got out of their car and the first thing they noticed was the fresh smell of the forest. They walked past the Ford sedan to find two other cars that were in obvious need of repair. There was a small pile of branches and leaves burning on the ground, creating a small plume of smoke that was rising in front of what must be the house, dwelling, or whatever Ross had referred to it as. It soon became obvious; it was an old tramcar complete with wheels sitting on small sections of tram tracks, which were fixed on to wooden sleepers. The overhead trolley pole on the roof was locked down. They walked to the side of the tramcar and peered in through a doorway to see most of the original seating had been removed. There was a bed and a television set, together with two chairs, a small table and a wardrobe. Arnold called out.

‘Hello, is there anyone there? Ross, are you there?’

Cindy smiled at Arnold and said,

‘Why don’t you just call out, fares please?’

Arnold scowled at her, and was just about to say something, when a voice was heard coming from the direction of the road.

‘Hello there, Arnold is it?’

Arnold turned around to see a slightly built man, probably aged about thirty, with long dark hair and a goatee beard approaching him.

‘That’s right, and this is my partner Cindy. I take it you are Ross?’

‘Yep that’s me. I have just been up the road on top of the hill making a phone call; sometimes the reception is not the best here.’

Arnold immediately thought to himself, I must have good telephone reception; that issue alone would just about rule out buying this place.

Ross gestured towards the tramcar and asked, ‘How do you like the old tramcar? I have always had a fascination with them. Wherever I travel, both here and overseas, if I find myself in a city still running trams, I am straight on for a ride. I searched high and low to find one in such good condition as this one. It did have four electric motors; all of which were removed before it was transported here. It had a seating / crush load rating of 52 / 144. Can you imagine with all the obese people there are around today, what it would be like trying to get that many people in there now?’

Arnold said, ‘The conductor would have little hope of collecting fares in that situation?’

‘Yes, there is no doubt there would be plenty of passengers enjoying a free ride; and by the way, there is an original tram conductor’s leather bag hanging up in the tramcar. It was worn with a strap over the shoulder, so the conductor could have both hands free.’

Cindy looked at the wheels on the tramcar and asked Ross, ‘Is there any chance of it rolling off those tracks?’

‘No, believe me; those wheels are well and truly locked. I could have just welded a bar across the tracks at both ends, but I didn’t like that idea. In the online description of this place I have probably made a mistake not mentioning the tramcar; people are somewhat surprised when they see it. I think I will change the description to include the tramcar. What do you think of the concept of converting the tramcar into a home?’

Cindy said, ‘Quite honestly, I don’t know what to make of it.’

‘We have had a bit of a look around; there is still a lot of work to do,’ said Arnold.

‘As I said on the internet; I am looking for somebody to continue my dream.’

Cindy asked, ‘What toilet facilities do you have?’

‘There is a portable toilet behind the bushes over there; but you might say it has been out of service to some degree since a tree nearly flattened it in a storm a month ago. So I reckon at the moment, that’s about it for the main event,’ said Ross, pointing to a shovel leaning against the tramcar.’

‘What about cooking?’

‘Bottled gas for the stove, and of course there is the barbecue, there is no shortage of firewood around here for it.’

‘Power?’

‘There is a petrol driven generator.’

‘Water?’

‘There is the tank that collects water from the roof of the tramcar, and I usually pick up bottled drinking water in town, also there is a small creek about two hundred metres away. ’

Ross then gave them a five minute conducted tour of his property, which included showing them the makeshift shower that required firewood to heat the water. He was surprised Cindy had not quizzed him earlier about a facility for showering; but he felt her interest in the property was declining the more she saw of it.

‘Okay then Ross, I think we have seen enough,’ said Arnold, ‘We will chew it over and get back to you if we are interested.’

‘Thanks Arnold, you know you can’t beat the peace and quiet you get out here. I love this area, but my partner Skye would rather move in to Austenville.’

‘Bye Ross.’

As he watched them walking to their car, Ross said to himself, I won’t hear from them again. I am sure Arnold may have been interested if there was not the problem with the phone reception, and as for his partner, rather cute, but obviously not the adventurous type.

As Arnold and Cindy got in to their car they waved goodbye to Ross and started their trip back home to Lansborough. Arnold was the first to speak.

‘Go on say it, I told you it would be a waste of time looking at this place.’

Cindy was laughing aloud, when she managed to stop, she said.

‘I am looking for someone to continue my dream, should have read, I need someone to end my nightmare. By the sounds of it his partner Skye can’t wait to get out of the place.’

‘I wonder what his partner is like; I did find Ross a bit odd,’ said Arnold.

‘I thought he was rather strange, though maybe you have to be, to live in an old tramcar in the middle of nowhere.’

‘Alright, enough said, what say we stop in Austenville for some lunch?’ said Arnold.

‘Good idea. I need a toilet break; and if you value your life you won’t make any wisecracks about shovels.’

‘I dare not say a word. While we are in Austenville I want to enquire about another property for sale which I saw in The National Herald last week.’

Cindy thought to herself, I hope it is better than that tramcar place; I am starting to wonder if Arnold has any expertise in buying real estate. If he has, he did not show it this morning. I think I may have to get involved in searching these online real estate websites. Arnold always seems to get the jump on me whenever we are in the market for big-ticket items like furniture and cars, and this time they don’t come any bigger than the real estate we have in mind.

She said, ‘Arnold, maybe I should do some of the searching for properties rather than burden you with it all.’

‘Don’t you worry Cindy I know what I’m doing, that place this morning kind of got under my guard. Trust me, this next property that I have in mind should be far suited to what we are looking for; it’s being advertised by the Foster Real Estate Agency.’

Chapter Three

Denis Thompson and Sam Foster, who were now in their late sixties, had both grown up in Austenville. They had never got on well together at primary school, and by the time the two of them had commenced attending Austenville Secondary College, they were bitter enemies. This had led to a few fistfights at college; it was difficult to say who the victor was each time, it really depended on whom you listened to. What exactly started this animosity between Denis and Sam was unclear. Some people said it was a carryover from a bitter dispute between their respective families, two generations ago, over some government land for sale that both families wanted to buy. The Thompsons were the under bidders; they claimed the bidding process was corrupted by one of the Foster’s relatives.

After the two of them had graduated from Austenville Secondary College they had both gone on to university. Sam went to Castleton University, while Denis attended York University, which was considered to be the best in the country at the time. They had each obtained a degree in Business and Commerce. After graduating from their respective universities their lives continued to follow similar patterns with both of them going overseas on working holidays.

Denis Thompson had founded the Thompson Real Estate Agency in Austenville when he returned home to Australia from his overseas excursion, about the same time as Sam Foster. Denis’s girlfriend, Jean, had stayed at home and worked at the Austenville munitions factory when Denis went overseas. They were soon back together when he returned and were married fifteen months later, about the same time as the munitions factory closed down.

Sam Foster had worked in nearby Highcrest when he returned home. He met his future bride, Judy, at the real estate agency where they were both employed. They were married one year later, and shortly after that, they decided to leave Highcrest and set up their own real estate agency in Austenville.

The Foster’s decision to open their agency in Austenville prompted a hostile reception from the Thompsons, as there were already three other agencies in the town. Even though it was over forty years ago now, a few of the long-time residents of the town could still remember what happened on that particular Saturday morning in the main street. The talking point of that day was the confrontation between Denis Thompson and Sam Foster. Sam was standing with his wife Judy on the pavement outside the shop which was to be their newly established Foster Real Estate Agency. He was instructing the sign writer on what he wanted done. Denis and his wife Jean were walking down the street that was crowded with shoppers. Denis and Sam had not seen a great deal of each other since their school days in Austenville. Denis confronted Sam, oblivious to the passing shoppers.

‘Foster, you’re a bloody idiot, can’t you see this town won’t support another real estate agency, you’ll kill it for everybody.’

‘What’s the matter Denis? Can’t you stand a bit of competition? Are you scared we’ll put you out of business?’

‘You won’t last six months.’

‘Yeah, says who?’

‘What did you and your missus ever learn at that place in Highcrest? All they do is low cost rentals to bums on welfare. You should have stayed where you belong, in Highcrest.’

By this time, a crowd had gathered to watch, including a few of their old school mates. They decided to join in and urge the two of them on.

‘Knock some sense into him, Denis.’

‘Let him have it Sam, put the asshole back in his place.’

‘Don’t take shit from him, Denis.’

The two of them started rolling up their sleeves. Sam’s wife, Judy, took the open can of paint from the sign writer and threatened to throw it in the direction of Denis’s wife, Jean. Suddenly, Roy Keenan, the longtime Principal of Austenville Secondary College, pushed through the crowd and stood between the two of them.

‘Righto you two, that is enough. Going to university did nothing for both of you. You are just the same pair of bloody idiots that you were at college.’

He grabbed Sam by the arm and pushed him.

‘Foster; get into your shop and you Thompson, start marching in that direction.’ He said, as he swung Denis around.

‘The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves.’

The crowd cheered and whistled, and then a loud male voice was heard coming from within the crowd.

‘Attention please, Denis Thompson and Sam Foster, please report to the Principal’s office immediately.’

There was a roar of laughter from the crowd, and even Roy Keenan smiled, as the two protagonists shuffled off in different directions looking rather sheepish.

The antagonism between Denis and Sam continued for the next forty years with their rival real estate agencies. It even spilled over into their involvement as councilors with the Austenville Shire council, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Austenville Golf Club committee.

* * *

Sam and Judy Foster only had the one child, Kyron, who was married to Jemma; they did not have any children. Kyron and Jemma both worked with Sam in the Foster Real Estate Agency now. They had stepped in when Judy had to relinquish her position due to poor health. Kyron and Jemma were now the driving force behind the agency. Sam and Judy lived on a two hundred and forty acre property which they had inherited from Sam’s parents.

The land had recently been subdivided, one hundred and twenty acres, part of which Sam and Judy lived on, was sold to Kyron and Jemma and their business partners, Danielle Smythe and Terry Thornton. They intended to use the land for the future development of a retirement village. Sam and Judy would stay on in their house until the development got to the stage where their house had to demolished, then they would eventually move into one of the units in the future retirement village.

The remaining one hundred and twenty acres were subdivided into ten, twelve-acre lots. Sam was preparing to retire and told everybody he was just running the clock down. His only task in the agency now was looking after the sale of his land that he had subdivided.

When the last lot of his subdivision is sold I will be out the door in a flash; I will hand the business over to Kyron and Jemma, they have successfully completed their apprenticeship, Sam told everybody.

Kyron and Jemma would be sorry to see Sam go, but somewhat relieved, as he was getting very forgetful about the processes of running the business. Fortunately they were able to cover for him most of the time. The agency staff seemed oblivious to Sam’s increasing forgetfulness, or they politely turned a blind eye.

* * *

Denis and Jean Thompson, who had three children, Maree, Justin, and Martin, were retired now and had passed the agency on to Justin and his wife Peta about four years ago. They were disappointed that neither Maree nor Martin had ever shown much interest in their real estate business.

Chapter Four

Arnold and Cindy parked outside the Commercial Hotel in Austenville. They decided to have lunch before visiting the Foster Real Estate Agency. They entered the hotel dining room and ordered the special of the day, porterhouse steak with chips and salad. While they waited for their meals Cindy asked Arnold about the property he had seen in the newspaper.

‘Arnold, you haven’t really told me much about this property we are going to enquire about.’

‘I know; I was going to show you the advertisement in the newspaper, but the paper got thrown out by mistake, and the online ad doesn’t show too much. Anyhow, from what I gather, there is a subdivision about five kilometres out of Austenville with a number of twelve-acre lots for sale; it seems like it is hilly bushland. There are supposed to be some spectacular views from some of the higher lots. The Greymoon River runs alongside one of the lots on the lower part of the subdivision.’

‘What did you have in mind for living accommodation if we bought one?’

‘Maybe we could buy a tramcar and put it there. I still have Ross’s phone number; he should be able to give us some good advice.’

‘Arnold, if you want me to go with you to see this real estate agent you will need to quickly forget about any crazy tramcar ideas.’

‘Sorry love, I won’t mention tramcars again, and for that matter, toilet facilities, though I still can’t forget that look on your face when Ross pointed at the shovel. Seriously though, I have been fishing around on the internet. There are a variety of kit homes on the market.’

‘Kit homes?’

‘The house is delivered in kit form, then you put it together yourself onsite.’

‘Arnold, do you think you are up to doing that?’

‘Probably not, though maybe if I had someone with the right expertise helping me; someone like that fellow you work with, the one with

Reviews for Greymoon River Road

[hungrymonster-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, wow! This story elicited so many different emotions in me! Normally I’m strictly romance stories kind of girl, but I enjoyed reading this from start to finish. It was very well written. The characters all had depth and layers which are awesome. I felt bad for Martin having to go through that mess with his ex-wife Alexis and not being able to see his twins. That was horrible for him. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with that.

At first I thought Danielle was way too controlling and I couldn’t understand her intense hatred for Martin. The more I read the more I understood. I started to sympathize with her. It made sense why she was filled with such hatred. I would have probably reacted the same way. Betrayal eats at you like a poison. Though I had hoped she would come around if only to free herself of that hatred. Everyone deserves peace in their lives.

Arnold and Cindy’s love is what we all secretly want. To have someone love you for that long is amazing. To wake up knowing this person loves your flaws and all. Yeah, they struggled from time to time, but they stuck with each other through it all. What relationship doesn’t have its ups and downs? That’s how the strongest relationships are built. The situation between Jeremy and Nana was sad. I kept expecting him to mess up and say something.

The more I read and found out about the feuding between the Thompson family and the Fosters the more I was torn between siding with one or the other. They were both wronged. To keep it going for eighty years though was a little much. They put their own children through something that had nothing really to do with them. In a way, I get it and in a way I think it should have been settled. Just like Maree, Justin, and Martin did in the end. That gesture showed how they had grown as individuals. Something I feel their parents should have been able to do.

Overall I liked how each character was in some way, shape, or form intertwined with each other. The way they interacted was very believable. They acted just like a normal family or small town would. They had drama, suspense, murder, love, and family togetherness. Then add in an 80-year long family feud and it all makes for an amazing story.

The author, Ian Bradshaw, did an excellent job of pulling emotions from everywhere. With every turn of the page you discovered a new twist. When you thought you knew what was going to happen something changed that made you rethink. Just when you think this character is going to be the one you cannot stand something is revealed that makes you understand why they are the way the are. May not have started out as my normal read, but I am glad I read it.

Reviewed at The Hungry Monster Book Review