Jill
Jones has come to Rainwater, Oklahoma, a rough and tumble oil town in 1929, to help her
Aunt Justine run the local hotel. Jill, in a town overcrowded with hard men eager for
female companionship, quickly learns to take care of herself against grabbing hands and
fast talking mashers.
She gets to know a
handful of the men in the town; among them a smooth lawyer named Lloyd Madison and an oil
tycoon named Hunter Westfall. She shows interest in neither, and is quite capable of
looking out for herself, until an old friend arrives in town insisting that he’s
there to look after her. Thad Taylor is a long time friend of Jill and her brother Joe,
and Thad takes it upon himself to watch out for his best friend’s little sister;
until he gets his first good look at her in years. While his intentions may have been
innocent before, his interest in her is piqued when he realizes she’s blossomed into
a feisty and thoroughly beautiful young woman.
A mystery soon
shrouds the town after Jill and Thad find the horribly mutilated body of a woman on its
outskirts, which provides the momentum that propels the book forward from that moment on.
Rumors abound and fingers are pointed while the search for the madman is on, and before
they know it, Hunter is suspected of the evil deed. At the same time, Jill’s aunt
grows increasingly frightened, but hesitates to explain why to those closest to her.
Filled with
endearing and well fleshed out characters, A Place Called Rainwater is a delight to
the senses and offers something for everyone. While the heart of this book is the romance
surrounding Jill and her boyhood friend, one man’s evil and a thirst for revenge
drives the plot. Every character is brought to glorious life beneath Ms. Garlock’s
talented pen. Each and every plot twist enhances the already excellent plotline to provide
a riveting read filled with countless surprises and riveting suspense. This one is indeed
one of Ms. Garlock’s best!
Reviewed by Denise M. Clark for The Road to
Romance
January 25, 2003 |
