MAD RIVER ROAD by Joy Fielding
Joy Fielding has long been one of the best writers of mysteries. Many readers discovered her through her suspenseful novel KISS MOMMY GOODBYE and were hooked for the duration. Her latest novel MAD RIVER ROAD should keep those fans of hers happy as clams.
MAD RIVER ROAD starts off with a gruesome murder and moves right into one suspenseful situation after another. Three women are at the center of the story. They are Lily, a worker at a women's gym; Emma, a woman without any employment; and Jamie, a woman whose life is going nowhere so she is ripe for an adventure.
These three women's lives become interwoven due to a situation. A man was married to one of these women and went to jail because of her. Now he is out and is determined to find her and probably kill her. Two of the women live on Mad River Road in Dayton, Ohio and that is where he has heard his ex-wife resides.
The man is in Florida but he is willing to make the trip up north in order to get his revenge. He meets Jamie and immediately wins her over with his charm. Soon they are headed up Interstate 75 bound for Ohio. Along the way Jamie begins to have doubts about the sincerity of this man who calls himself Ralph, and that is a smart thing to do. She comes to believe he is a man with emotional problems and a trigger temper.
Readers who live in the South will have a great time visiting the towns along Interstate 75. Jamie and Ralph stop in Tifton, Atlanta and Dalton Georgia. They learn interesting facts about each city and pass this information on to the readers.
This book has more suspense per page than any other you have read in the past few months. It is gripping, thrilling, chilling and terrifying. It is also amazingly clever in that you aren't sure the man with Jamie is the killer from the first chapter. Also you don't know exactly how Emma fits into the picture or if she is the innocent you have been led to believe she is.
Fielding stirs the pot of this plot and lets the characters bob and weave with dizzying speed. One moment Jamie is a wimp, and the next she finds some courage. Emma is a dedicated mother but she also has some personality problems that make her weak. Lily is grieving over her dead husband but is also a little afraid of men - why?
The "joy" of reading a Joy Fielding book is that she is such a complex writer when it comes to plots. You can always expect a twist or a turn that will throw you for a loop. And in MAD RIVER ROAD she is at her most devious.
So open the pages of this book and get ready for a thrill ride and a half. But don't look over your shoulder or you might see murderers looming there. Joy Fielding weaves a spell of terror with a tale of fear. It is a book you will race through, but also a book you will thoroughly enjoy.
MAD RIVER ROAD is published by Atria Books. It contains 370 pages and sells for $25.00.