BENT ROAD by Lori Roy delves into the pain of family secrets and the fear of not being able to protect the ones we love with subtle and terrifying emotion. As each layer is pulled away to reveal another truth, another pain, readers will lose themselves in a world as harsh, unforgiving and fertile as Kansas farmland.

Arthur and Celia Scott pack up their belongings and their two children as they move to Kansas in order to escape the Detroit riots of '67. It's a move Celia never thought to make because for the last twenty years, Arthur has never taken Celia to the home he grew up in.

Within days of their return, a small girl goes missing, catapulting the family into a nightmare of rumors. The small girl bears a resemblance to Eve, Arthur's sister, whose mysterious death twenty-five years ago tore the family and the town apart.

Celia's only concern is protecting her children, Daniel and Evie, but here in Kansas, where their lives are in constant upheaval, she doesn't know how or what she should protect them from. Evie is dressing in her dead aunt's clothing. Daniel is on the verge of manhood without a clue how to get there, and Celia fears that Evie could be the next girl to disappear.

Clever and elegant in its simplicity BENT ROAD portrays the complexity of family with deft writing. Every scene is charged with suspense, tightening the fear until it culminates into a terrifyingly real choice.

The book is written in a third person present tense. Ex. Not once, in all their time together, has Arthur taken Celia back to his hometown, never even considered a visit. The first forty pages or so feel a little awkward as you adjust your mind to reading this verb tense, but do not put this book down. This point of view creates immediacy and a distance between the reader and character which serves to heighten the suspense.

The simplicity of this book, of the writing style, is a breath-taking achievement. So much pain and hope and fear are packed into these pages that I completely forgot the time as I lost myself to this story. BENT ROAD is an emotional roller coaster that has you saying a prayer even as you turn the pages a little faster.