Long Hill Home

Kelly Malloy a young successful lawyer is viciously raped when she goes for her regular run in the woods near her home. Bound and gagged Kelly is found by a young socially deprived youth Chad McCloskey shortly after the attack. Chad is identified by an onlooker and finds himself charged and held in goal while awaiting trial. Being an illegal immigrant the witness is reluctant to be involved.
Kelly struggles through the aftermath of such a cruel crime at the expense of her husband and two daughters after the true assailant is identified and brought before the court. This is a story showing the dark side of rape and the courage shown by the victim.

An enjoyable book that I read in one sitting. This was an interesting page turner that surprised me in how much I enjoyed it. The story itself is based around the brutal rape of the main character but is actually more about how she and the two main witnesses deal with the aftermath. The characters were interesting: I didn’t at first feel any empathy for Chad as his actions seemed so strange but by the end was really intrigued by his story and rooting for a good outcome for him. Maria’s story and the risk she took to do the right thing was heat-warming. This, I think is the main strength of the book. The rape investigation almost becomes a secondary to the story of how the characters deal with the impact on their lives, but there was also enough of it to remain interesting as a crime procedural. There were parts where I felt more detail was needed and I didn’t really get to grips with the timeline, so at some points I felt that it was all being tied up very quickly. However, when I reached the end I realised that I did actually care about the characters. Nicely written, engaging and quite pacey, it is a really enjoyable read.

OH MY GRACIOUS! This incredible book looks at the victim of a sexual attack during the whole process of hospital, legal, psychological. We see two witnesses who are reluctant to come forward for two very understandable reasons. We see a perpetrator who is cocky and sure of himself and almost feels himself entitled. We see what the prison system is like for a young man who is wrongly accused. We ache for a husband who just does not know what to do to help his broken wife. And through it all, we suffer with Kelly Malloy, wife, mother, lawyer, who seems powerless to overcome the memory of this brutal attack until a wonderful rape counselor and Blind Justice help her get back on track. A truly remarkable book.