Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A KIND OF HUSH by JoDee Neathery on this Black Coffee Book Tour.
Below you can find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
A Kind of Hush examines how life is seldom a tidy affair exploring whether there is a gray area between right and wrong.
The Mackie family, after enduring an unthinkable tragedy with the death of their young son, finally moved toward a new life until one June day while enjoying an outing at a nearby rugged park, their lives again turned upside down. A plunge off a shale cliff left one parent dead and the other solely responsible for their teenage daughter and seven-year-old son. Was this an accident or something more heinous, and if so whodunnit and whydunit? The heart of the novel centers on how each survivor deals with the circumstances and subsequent revelations surrounding the incident while a mantle of ambiguity – a kind of hush – hangs between them like a live grenade without its pin.
Awards
- 2024 FINALIST AMERICAN LEGACY BOOK AWARDS, Literary Fiction
- 2022 SILVER MEDAL WINNER, READERS’ FAVORITE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, Literary Fiction
- 2022 WINNER INTERNATIONAL FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS, Literary Fiction
- 2022 FINALIST, NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS, Mystery
- 2022 MILLENNIUM BOOK AWARDS SHORTLISTED CANDIDATE AND CATEGORY WINNER, Literary Fiction
Universal link for the book on Amazon
***
My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
A KIND OF HUSH by JoDee Neathery is a fictional family drama and suspense story that follows a family through tragedy, family drama, healing, and compassion while trying to determine the correct choices and consequences of their actions. There are a lot of gray areas and complex circumstances throughout this standalone fictional story that kept me questioning what I would have done in the same situations.
This story starts awhile after a family tragedy. The Mackie family loses their middle son, Boo, to a choking accident while his older ten-year-old sister, Willa, is babysitting. The family is just starting to come back together, but there is still deep-rooted blame from mother to daughter and back from daughter to mother.
The family goes to a local park and waterfall where another tragedy occurs. Both parents and their teenage daughter, Willa fall down a shale drop. Their youngest seven-year-old son, Gabe, is hiding by a tree. Was this an accident? If not, who did it and why?
Each character in this story is given a voice. They discuss and react to the circumstances of the fall and the revelations surrounding the fall. There are other players involved in the family’s lives that work to help them heal and find justice for the dead parent. I have to say that the character I truly loved was Gabe. His sense of love, wonder, and innocence even throughout all the upheaval of the other characters gave me moments of laughter and a feeling of wonder. He is one of those children that is young but has an old soul and he was a good break from all the others. This book will keep you questioning decisions made and if you would make the same.
I highly recommend this fictional drama and suspense, and the conclusion still has me waffling.
***
About the Author
East Texas author, JoDee Neathery, has written two award-winning novels, Life in a Box, published 2017, and A Kind of Hush released July 2021. Both have won the International Firebird Book Awards for literary fiction and were awarded Readers’ Favorite 5-Star designations. A Kind of Hush received critical acclaim as one of five finalists in the highly contested mystery category of the 16th annual 2022 National Indie Excellence Awards, the 2022 Silver Medal Winner, Readers’ Favorite Annual International Book Awards, Literary Fiction, and was a shortlisted finalist in the 11th annual 2022 Millennium Book Awards and Winner in the literary fiction category
Her journey to publication followed an unconventional path void of author credentials, but with the encouragement of her book club, a passion for the written word, a vivid imagination, a sense of humor, and a story to tell she plucked a few personalities off the family tree and Life in a Box debuted asking the question, how much would you sacrifice to hide a secret. “One of those all too rare literary gems.” Midwest Book Review and a 5-Star review posted on Amazon UK offered this assessment, “There is an understated audacity to her style of writing which I find quite spellbinding.”
A Kind of Hush was born in the middle of the night when the first sentence, the ending, and a profile of a young boy appeared. “I didn’t know the whole story but knew Gabriel Edward Mackie had to be in whatever I wrote next.” Praise followed. “This family drama is steeped in suspense, but its likable cast of characters is its main draw,” Kirkus Reviews. “Witty, warm, uplifting, and utterly heartbreaking.” Book Viral Review. “Poignant and emotionally rich.” Book View Gold Medallion. “Intelligent, crisp prose.” The Prairies Book Review.
JoDee chairs her community book club, is writing another novel, Dust in the Wind, and contributes a lighthearted look at life with her byline, Back Porch Musings, to a local newspaper.
Social Media Links
Website: https://jodeeneathery.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoDeeNeatheryAuthor
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-kind-of-hush-by-jodee-neathery
Sounds sad.
It was, but it also had moments of all the other feelings.