BOOK OF THE DAY: River Ghosts by B. R. Robb

River Ghosts

by B. R. Robb

(Click here for UK purchase)

BOOK DESCRIPTION

From the author of The Widow's Son - a Kirkus Starred Review Literary Mystery: 

Which is right: the eyewitness testimony of an eight-year-old boy or exculpatory DNA evidence?

Sixteen years after Richard Hill testified in court that he crouched under the kitchen tablecloth and saw Henry Clayton rape his white momma and murder her and his black poppa, a DNA swab earns the prisoner a pardon and his freedom. Returning to Red River Falls, Clayton claims that he has been reborn and offers to help Hill, now a patrol officer, identify who really killed his parents. Hill, who relives the family horrors every day, doesn't believe him. But how can he prove DNA evidence wrong? An ingrained distrust of everyone except Doria, the aunt who raised him, has led Hill to distance himself from his squad-car partner Jack Harter, and his mixed parentage has alienated him from members of both races. When he leans on radio reporter Sydney Brey for help, the search for truth puts Sydney on the railroad tracks as a train heads for her, leaves Auntie Doria bleeding on her bedroom floor and makes Hill the target of bands of good old boys with swastika tattoos. Ultimately, his childhood memories hold true but bring the disturbing possibility that the perfect science can be corrupted while racial enmity festers undercover.
The pseudonymous Robb, an attorney, writes with the chilling clarity of Alice Sebold. Read it and weep. (Kirkus starred review March 2008)


AUTHOR BIO

Bruce Steinberg wrote his first novel, The Widow's Son, using his real name, as B.R. Robb for his next, River Ghosts, and now as Bee Robb for My Occasional Torment. The reason for these varied author names has to do with a decision made by his father at his birth, and a reminder by his mother of this decision years later when River Ghosts was under preparation for release. Bruce, B.R., or Bee, under any name, has achieved success writing literary fiction (FirstNovelFest Grand Prize 2000), Mystery (star reviews), and now My Occasional Torment. This latest title dares to ask - and answer - What makes a woman a woman and how in the world would a man know the answer? My Occasional Torment is now a stage play adaptation under the same title picked up and produced by Nigg Media Productions, Harmony Productions and Center Stage Theater that premieres in February 2011. Bruce also writes a humor / human-interest page as a regular columnist for the monthly print and online sports magazine Silent Sports. A freelance writer at times, cross-country skier, runner and, by day, a criminal defense attorney noted for his drug defense work including 4th Amendment issues as well as treatment options. But the husband and father part? - that's the best part of all.

REVIEW OF RIVER GHOSTS

From ForeWord Magazine Reviews (May 2008) - Its frightening insight into the best and worst of men and their institutions, thoughtful intrigue, and superb attack upon preconceptions make River Ghosts a mystery devoid of coincidences or tidy endings, that will grip readers from the stunning opening to its powerful last page.