Oh my goodness, this is such a good read! At the confluence of traditional Latina myth and folklore with the realties of a small community beset by the disappearance of local girls, the author takes you on an emotional, harrowing journey into the depths of one such family’s anguish as they search for one of their own. History repeats itself as this is not the first time the Veracruz family has dealt with this matter.

This is an emotional roller coaster ride of hidden secrets, mixed emotions, and heart wrenching truths that all cumulates in a spectacular ending. I had to catch my breath on this one!

Highly recommended!

Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan is a hard to put down thriller about a family who lives on the edge of the Salton Sea in California. At one time, it was a Garden of Eden where people grew food and enjoyed their lives by the sea. Then the sea became hazardous over time and a bit poisonous, the air around it also. People started moving away from the water. Life became more difficult.

It was then that young women started disappearing. There were rumors about a horse headed woman who took them, she was made of nightmares. Families were ruined by their daughters and sisters never returning, just disappearing without a trace.

Mal’s sister Elena was one of those who disappeared one night when they were in high school and Mal never recovered from that. Twenty years later, she started having dreams, visions, nightmares about the horse headed woman and they became quite realistic. Shortly after that, her daughter went missing. It was all too much for Mal and she was going to get to the bottom of it because she was not going to have the same thing happen to her daughter that happened to her sister and other women.

The story is gripping and suspenseful. It is full of unexpected twists. It is a timely rumination about the time we live in, and the treatment of women and ethnic minorities. Bring your Spanish dictionary so you can get all the details, it is well worth it.