AUTHOR: Buckley, Julia
TITLE: The Dark Backward
DATE READ: 04/04/14
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: Mystery/2006/Mignight Ink/217 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: S/A
TIME/PLACE: Early 2000's
CHARACTERS: Lily Caldwell/PI ; "Nob" Stevens/governor

FIRST LINES: Lily barely manager to hide her distaste for the man who sat across from her in the diner. He had hired her, & he was entitled to her time as long as she was billing him, but she didn't have to like him in the privacy of her own heart.

COMMENTS: Chosen for "book roulette" carpe librum swap. The roulette #'s were 3-3-23 So, go to your bookshelf. Start at the bottom right hand corner (3), then count up 3 shelves (3), then count 23 books over from the right (23). Got a book? Right, that is your challenge. The book was The Dark Backward by Julia Buckley. Yes, it had been on my shelf for several years -- I had heard of the author most likely on one of my on-line bookgroups. I don't recall if I purchased it or traded for it. I really didn't have pre-conceived opinion about the book except the cover. It is Not appealing -- it looks like an alien skull w/ a crack from the top of the head to between the pupil-less eyes & to me as nothing to do w/ the story. If I was to choose a book by the cover -- this would not be chosen. However, what was inside was very enjoyable to me. Lily used to work for the police dept as an officer until she was fired. She and her partner Danny were out on a call when they were both shot. Danny was killed and Lily almost died. When she is revived, she is sure she had seen her would-be murderer - a very well-know public figure. Her husband and co-workers are convinced that Lily is misunderstood & this is something she imagined while being technically dead. Lily is convinced that she is right and will not let go -- she is perceived as unstable & not herself anymore -- she is fired from her position as police officer & her husband moves out. About a year later, Lily is supposedly mugged -- only muggers don't usually know your names… this leads to her finding other ties to her partner's murder & Nob Stevens, the governor. There were a lot of twisted relationships that even if not surprising were still all part of a good story. ( )

http://dhamel.typepad.com/book_blog/2006/08/buckley_julia_t.html ( )