Five Stars for
Shady Cross James Hankins
A crime
thriller
Summary
In one hand,
small-time crook Stokes holds a backpack stuffed with someone else’s money - three
hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it.
In the other
hand, Stokes has a cell phone, which he found with the money. On the line, a
little girl he doesn’t know asks, “Daddy? Are you coming to get me? They say if
you give them money they’ll let you take me home.”
From
bestselling author James Hankins comes a wrenching story of an unscrupulous man
torn between his survival instincts and the plight of a true innocent. Faced
with the choice, Stokes discovers his conscience might not be as corroded as he
thought.
Review
This is the
third book I’ve read by James Hankins and it is the best one. Obviously, this
writer gets better the more he writes. I prefer a book that’s character driven,
and Shady Cross is
entirely dictated by the actions of the main character, Stokes, a guy down on
his luck and a complete loser. Stokes is a guy you don’t expect to be heroic
saving a little girl from some ruthless kidnappers willing to do anything to
get their money - even hurting the girl in bits and pieces.
Shady Cross is a terrific example of how a great
story can be developed from well-done characterization. Stoke’s character
peeled away like an onion, revealing him first as the loser he’d become, then
the motives that made him that way, and finally the choices he was trying to
make to change. Every other character in the book developed through their
relationship to Stokes, highlighting his actions past and present.
The biggest
characteristic I liked about Stokes was deciding quickly to save/or not save
the girl. Don’t get me wrong, the inner struggle to do the complete opposite
was a constant conflict. In Techniques of the Selling Writer, quick decision making by the main
character is a must…
“The issue is
the moment of commitment. True suspense only comes when you establish the story
question. And the story question moves into focus only when your character,
desiring, looks danger full in the face and then takes up the challenge that
the situation offers. Implicitly or explicitly, he must say, ‘I’ll fight’,
before your story can begin.”
Shady Cross began right away and kept up an
intriguing fast pace all the way till the end. I read it in three days. This
book is loaded with suspense, conflict, and tension. Suspense on whether or not
the girl would be saved kept me reading, the constant conflict inner and outer
with Stokes kept me reading, and finally the tension beneath the suspense layer
kept me turning pages. The final
ending felt perfect to the events leading up to it. Although, the ending is not
necessarily the happiest ñ it works splendidly. A bold move from Mr. Hankins. I
highly recommend Shady Cross to mature readers looking for a good fast pace
thriller with an unlikely hero.
Shady Cross
comes out February 24th, but can be pre-ordered through Amazon.com and
Barnesandnoble.
You can find out more about Shady Cross at http://jameshankinsbooks.com/
