An accomplished first novel deserves an accomplished reading, which is precisely what Lamb receives from Earphones Award winner Tavia Gilbert. An experienced actor and producer Gilbert brings her estimable skills to the fore in this gripping, highly original story.
David Lamb seems an unlikely fellow to become involved with an underage girl, but life and provocative stories do have twists and turns. Things haven’t been going too well for David - his wife left him, his father died, and his work life seems to be on hold at nadir level. He comes across 11-year-old Tommie outside a strip mall. She’s unpopular, ill at ease, “a pale little freckled pig with eyelashes.” He talks Tommie into his car on the pretext of a pretend kidnaping which will frighten her friends. However, he simply drives her home.
It’s not over with that. David continues to see her, drive her to school, and become her friend. This eventually leads to a trip from where they are in Chicago to Colorado and an abandoned house belonging to David. They stay there while Tommie’s mother has no earthly idea where she is. Neighbors will be neighbors and those in Colorado become curious about the goings-on in this once deserted house as listeners wonder what is coming next. Is David friend or foe?
Enjoy!
- Gail Cooke
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