Running From Mercy by Terra Little

By APOOO • Jul 5th, 2008 • Category: Book of the Week •

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Pam always said it would take an act of Congress to get her to go back home to Mercy, Georgia, but all that’s really called for is the death of her twin sister Paris. Suddenly she’s eating her words and sneaking back into town like a thief in the night, trying to lay low and not draw too much attention to herself.

When she left Mercy, she was an orphan with a wild and loose reputation that had as much truth to it as it did falsehood. Fast-forward eighteen years, and Pam is a celebrity recording artist with money to burn and a reputation for being curiously reclusive. Nothing about Mercy’s quiet tree-lined streets and old-fashioned way of life welcomes Pam home.

To her it isn’t just the dreary little town she grew up in; it’s also the place where she lived her worst nightmare. Like every other small town in the world, Mercy seems like a safe place to live, but Pam knows different. Things have changed, but then again they’ve remained the same, and the longer Pam stays in Mercy, the faster things spin out of control. The people she calls friends turn out to be her worst enemies, the people she considers family turn out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing, and the truth about the life she lives is exposed for the lie that it really is. Everyone wants to know why Pam ran from Mercy, and they’re about to find out…

Urban Books -January 2008, $14.95

ISBN: 1933967374

Terra’s Blog: http://www.terralittle.blogspot.com

Terra’s Website: http://www.terralittle.com

APOOO Review: Rhythm and Blues singer, Pamela Mayes, swore never to return to Mercy, Georgia when she stepped on that bus eighteen years ago. The death of her twin sister, Paris, made her renege on that vow. It was Pam’s intention to attend her sister’s funeral and return to California, but something kept her in Mercy, a little too long. The longer she stayed, secrets began to unravel. Terra Little delivers a story of reuniting love with some surprising unexpected discoveries in her novel Running from Mercy.

Pamela and Paris were inseparable as children growing up in Mercy, GA. Pamela, the yen to Paris’ yang. They were abandoned at birth and lived in an orphanage until they reached the age of eighteen. At age eighteen, Pamela was in love, looking forward to getting married to her high school sweetheart. Just days before graduation and her marriage, Pam got on a bus and disappeared without an explanation. Paris stayed in Mercy, went to college, married Chad Green and raised their daughter, Nikki. In the midst of clearing out Paris’ things, Pam gives Nikki Paris’ journal. What Nikki reads in the journal changes the lives of her family..

Pam’s return to Mercy also brings to town Miles Dixon, a writer intent on doing an unauthorized autobiography on Pam. He befriends her and the townspeople to get information for his book. Miles discovers a 35-year-old secret.

Little tells this story through journal entries written by Pam, Paris and Nikki and flashbacks of the twins teenage years. Some of the transitions between the past and present were abrupt and took this reader by surprise. However, I appreciated the flashbacks as they helped in the character’s development and explained the character’s motives and behaviors. I thought for a first time novelist, Ms Little did a good job. I look forward to more work from her in the future.

Jeanette
APOOO BookClub

CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of Running From Mercy today.

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