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All the Broken People

What's It About?

“Jasper is a beautiful little town, but we’re not immune to the uglier parts of life.”

All the Broken People (Compathy Press), a debut psychological suspense novel, could not be summed up any better. Author Amy Rivers tells the story of Alice Bennett who, despite her troubled past, now lives a life of idyllic happiness. So it seems.

Her husband Will is a successful lawyer. She is passionate about her writing career. But Alice lives a world apart from how her life looks from the outside. In reality, her marriage is tense and uncertain. Past secrets haunt everyone, including Alice. As we read, we wonder which characters aren’t broken and how they will manage to move on despite their wounds.

After a strange and suspicious fall leaves Alice’s mother-in-law needing extra care, she is more than happy to volunteer as caretaker. She travels to Will’s home town of Jasper, Georgia, to gain his affection. The more time she spends there, the more she realizes she may not have really known him at all.  Small towns, just like people, carry their own secrets even while presenting an air of openness and acceptability.

Enter Beth Simms, a fellow Jasper native who abruptly disappeared from town several years ago and now has just as suddenly reappeared.  Her and her brother, Larry Lee, had an abusive mother and a father who passed away too soon. Their relationship has always been strained, so when Beth returns, Larry Lee anxiously wants to skip town. His sister’s presence only gets him in worse trouble. But then he becomes obsessed with Alice Bennett.

The siblings watch Alice without her knowing, until she learns the history behind a long-lived grudge (think Hatfield vs. McCoy) between the Bennett’s and Simms’.   Alice starts to piece together the events of her mother-in-law’s fall, the recent reappearance of Beth and the seemingly always nearby Larry Lee. But how far will the people of Jasper go to preserve the illusions of their lives?

Rivers does an amazing job of intertwining a multitude of stories around Alice without confusing the reader.  Each character brings a unique twist to the storyline with just enough suspense and mystery that you’re puzzled trying to figure out which characters to root for (and, for me, that changed many times during the book).  From revenge to justice, grudges to forgiveness and hidden secrets to exposed truths, All the Broken People touches on familiar issues with a fresh, relateable perspective. I could envision myself right in the middle of Jasper as both sides of human nature come out. Despite being afraid of what we might uncover about our neighbors, we can’t help but look.

All the Broken People is available for purchase.

Learn more about Amy on her Author Profile page.

 

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All the Broken People by
Genre: Book Club Network, Thrillers
Publisher: Compathy Press, LLC.
ISBN: 9780578425310
Missi Gwartney

Missi is passionate about reading and is known for reading several books at a time with a never-ending “to be read” list. She does book reviewing/blogging with The Girly Book Club and is always on the hunt for her next great read. She lives in Oklahoma and works part-time as a pharmacist and cherishes quality time with her husband, 2 boys and 2 dogs. When not reading, you will find her exercising or enjoying dinner out with friends.

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