Just Jennifer

Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey  (Blue Rider Press, February, 2014)

When Danny, a simple-minded resident of rural Wyalusing, Pennsylvania finds the body of Mindy, the one woman who has been his friend his entire life, he becomes the main suspect in her murder and sets off a manhunt that has irrevocable implications for the small town.  The town turning on the kindhearted Danny is reflected in a cold, harsh winter night.  An evil has been festering in the town for many years and will all come out on this one night.  It is hard to see the people of Wyalusing turn on Danny, and maybe even a little unbelievable, as they shrug their shoulders and say “it was bound to happen”.  More tragedy and death occurs as it becomes obvious there is only one way to stop what has held the town in its grips for so many years.  Effective plotting, the manhunt occurs over the course of one night, keeps the tension high and propels the narrative forward.