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Product Description
Review
“Pickard has the storytelling gift.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Nancy] Pickard writes richly textured fiction about families and relationships, about hatred and lust and love, about loyalty and betrayal, and most of all about the corrosive power of secrets.”—The Boston Globe
“A novel that simultaneously qualifies as a gripping read, a master character study and as literary . . . exceedingly rare.”—The Kansas City Star
“Pickard’s tales of Kansas life are filled with gravitas and small-town drama. . . . The Scent of Rain and Lightning seems certain to earn her a much-deserved larger audience.”—The Denver Post
“[Nancy] Pickard writes richly textured fiction about families and relationships, about hatred and lust and love, about loyalty and betrayal, and most of all about the corrosive power of secrets.”—The Boston Globe
“A novel that simultaneously qualifies as a gripping read, a master character study and as literary . . . exceedingly rare.”—The Kansas City Star
“Pickard’s tales of Kansas life are filled with gravitas and small-town drama. . . . The Scent of Rain and Lightning seems certain to earn her a much-deserved larger audience.”—The Denver Post
Product Description
One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder receives shocking news: The man convicted of murdering her father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-three years since that stormy night when her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody’s three uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents’ ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night.
Now Billy Crosby is free, thanks to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. Despite their long history of carefully avoiding each other in such an insular community, Jody and Collin find that they share an exclusive sense of loss.
As Jody revisits old wounds, startling truths emerge about her family’s tragic past. But even through struggle and hardship, she still dares to hope for a better future—and maybe even love.
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Now Billy Crosby is free, thanks to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. Despite their long history of carefully avoiding each other in such an insular community, Jody and Collin find that they share an exclusive sense of loss.
As Jody revisits old wounds, startling truths emerge about her family’s tragic past. But even through struggle and hardship, she still dares to hope for a better future—and maybe even love.
Look for special features inside.
Join the Circle for author chats and more.
RandomHouseReadersCircle.com
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Most helpful customer reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, effective and affecting,
By
This review is from: The Scent of Rain and Lightning: A Novel (Hardcover)
First Sentence: Until she was twenty-six, Jody Linder felt suspicious of happiness.In 1986, ranch hand Billy Crosby was known for being resentful, a drunk, and an abuser. Fired from working on the Linder family ranch, he is accused of killing a cow and tearing down fences, but the charges don't stick. Fearing retribution, 3-year-old Jody Lindner is taken from her parent's home in town to spend the night at her grandparent's ranch farmhouse. The next morning, her father is found murdered and her mother missing with only her blood-stained dress found in Billy's truck. Now, after serving 23 years on circumstantial evidence, Billy's sentence has been commuted and he is returning to town. Jody learns that not everyone, including his son, thought Billy was guilty. The past isn't always past. Ms. Pickard has a great voice. She draws you in from the first sentence and captivates you to the very last sentence. She brilliantly conveys the aftermath of murder and its impact on the lives of both the families of the victim and the accused. Yet even in tragedy, there is humor. When Jody's grandmother realizes Jody is afraid of God because of the prayer "...if I should die before I wake..." and mentally tells God, "...You ought to be ashamed of Yourself. She heard a deep voice in her mind retort: I never told anybody to say that stupid prayer." Pickard's skills with dialogue and story balance are only two aspects of her talent. Other areas in which she shines are character and sense of place. Her characters are alive, nuanced and real in that they are not all or always likable. The family is tight-knit but not perfect; the townspeople are representative of any small town. I felt connected to the principal characters and appreciated seeing them grow and change over time. The depiction of ranch life, the small towns around them, the impact of weather on the life and livelihood of both is so well done. This is a beautifully written book and a very good mystery with excellent twists and escalating tension. While it didn't have quite the "wow" factor of "The Virgin of Small Plains," it is powerful, effective and affecting. I highly recommend reading it. THE SCENT OF RAIN AND LIGHTNING (Mys-Jody Linder-Kansas-Cont) - VG+ Pickard, Nancy - Standalone Ballantine Books, ©2010, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780345471017
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (130 customer reviews) 135 of 141 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read book,
By Thomas - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Scent of Rain and Lightning: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard was the best novel I've read in a long time. The first couple of pages grabbed me--there was no reading half the book before I decided I liked it. Pickard writes in an easy style about people and life in Kansas, but it could be any rural/ranching setting. The characters were described so perfectly that I felt like I grew up with them. This is a murder mystery, but it's definitely not your typical who-done-it. The plot unfolds gently--no harsh, sharp twists and turns. It's also a love story and a story of a close-knit family. It has everything but nothing is contrived; it's all very natural and believable. I think the best way to describe the book is that it's a gentle, easy story about some ungentle events. I can understand why Pickard has received so many awards. She is a great American author; in my opinion on the same level as Twain and Steinbeck. This book is a MUST READ.
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Scent of Rain and Lightning,
By Isabelle Jolly - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Scent of Rain and Lightning: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
I recommend this book very highly.Jody Linder is shocked and horrified to find that Billy Crosby, the man convicted of killing her father and probably her mother, is out of prison and going to be retried. She was three when the murder happened and knows only what she has been told by her family. Billy's son, Collin, was seven at the time, and became an attorney when he grew up. He convinced a judge that Billy was unfairly convicted. Jody discovered that many people had thought that Billy was too drunk to do the murder, but were perfectly happy to see him go to prison. He was very hot-tempered, had a chip on his shoulder, was a drunkard and a nasty drunk at that, a wife abuser, and always felt that he didn't do anything wrong. The townspeople are uneasy that he is out of prison and back in town. A lot of history is uncovered, and you finally discover exactly what happened that night years earlier. Nancy Pickard writes great stories. I've never read one that disappointed me. 54 of 60 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well, at least I didn't see it coming,
By Just_Karen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Scent of Rain and Lightning: A Novel (Hardcover)
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
There was plenty to like in this book; the Linders, the family at the center of this story, are a large, lovable, humorous and real family, and I loved reading about them. Pickard does a flawless job with the landscape and the portrayal of cattle ranching. She has a terrific ear for dialog. But at about midway, it seemed the clues were being dropped so heavily that I could almost hear them landing. I decided I'd figured out the entire mystery. It turned out that I was absolutely wrong in what I'd thought, which should have been a good thing, yes? But near the end, the book veered off into a story that was so unlikely and melodramatic that I was rolling my eyes. I felt very let down by how the story developed and ended.
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