Direct Strike

by Lorelei Buckley

[Cocktails and Books]

Zoey Hawthorne, in hopes of escaping the sadness that weighs her down in Chicago, moved to Colorado to take possession of the ranch left to her now deceased son by her great-uncle. Dependent on prescription medicine, hostile to the world because he son was killed in a freak accident she thinks this ranch will be the one place where she can connect with her deceased son.

In a stupor after a nightmare, Zoey wanders into the woods around the ranch during a storm. She's struck by lightning, which leaves her with a gift she didn't want...the ability to hear spirits roaming her ranch.

To keep her sanity, Zoey tries to solve the mystery surrounding the voices she hears with the help of hot, younger man, Luke. His free spirited thinking is just what she needs to solve what happened at her ranch and to ease her battered soul.

Zoey was a very interesting character. She was a woman on the edge and that tightrope she walked was almost tangible to the reader. You felt her devastation, her anger and her inability to deal with the loss of her son, her marriage and the joy in her work as a photographer. You knew as she continued to down pills it was the only way to numb the pain that was her constant companion. You also knew that part of what was driving her to this point was her ex-husband. He hovered, he criticized, and almost minimized what Zoey was feeling.

What helped Zoey out of her downward spiral was Luke's belief in her. No matter what craziness she spouted or the rage that flowed out of her, he was there for her. It was that belief and faith that made it possible for Zoey to believe in herself, open up to her gift and to release her grief.

A different sort of read, but still very entertaining.