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“If you read for pleasure, there’s probably more pleasure per inch in Pickard’s work than almost any other current crime novelist.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer -
“Pickard has evolved into a novelist of substantial literary power.”
The Denver Post
From the Editor
Linda MarrowSenior Vice President
Editorial Director
Ballantine
Dear Reader:
One of author Nancy Pickard’s many talents is the immediacy she brings to her characterizations; there’s an instant intimacy between the reader and the people in her books. These characters don’t necessarily do what you expect, but you do not misunderstand their motives. For example, Jody, the smart young woman who we befriend on page one of The Scent of Rain and Lightning. She’s no shrinking violet; raised on a Kansas ranch, she’s as stubborn as a mule and quite sure of herself until she isn’t. When Jody grows to understand that the world is not ordered in quite the way she’d thought, she’s as confused as any of us would be. Because she writes about people we recognize, Nancy’s wonderful novels never fail to affect us profoundly. Her tragedies cut deeper, and her triumphs soar even higher.
Her last novel, The Virgin of Small Plains was chosen by the state of Kansas as their “Kansas Reads” selection for 2009. Given how fantastic this new novel is, I wonder if they shouldn’t just roll over the honor into 2019, and that goes for the other forty-nine states as well. This tender, moving, and at times shocking novel grabs you from its marvelous first page and doesn’t let go until the last. If that sounds like gushing, it’s because it is.
Happy Reading!