Audio Review: The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White

 From the New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street series comes a stunning new novel about a young single mother who discovers that the nature of friendship is never what it seems....

Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It's not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren't helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee--something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.

Sugar's stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother's seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world.

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee's house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

 Published April 11th 2017 

by Berkley Books 

15 hrs and 18 mins via Audible

****

Karen White is a relatively new author for me. I have read The Forgotten Room which she pinned with two other authors but it was her book The Sound of Glass that really made me pay attention to her work. That book was an audio read for me and I absolutely loved it, so it only stands to reason that I jumped at the chance to listen to the audio book for the night the lights went out when it became available from Audible.

This would be a perfect beach book in my opinion. Coming in at just over 400 pages there is enough time for the reader to get to know the characters and for the plot to really develop. While I could see where the story line was going I was waiting for that big event, that turning point, for lack of a better word the inciting incident that I knew was going to pop up at any moment. When it did it was something I totally did not expect and was rather speechless while I listened. I love it when an author does that, throws a curve ball with something believable but totally unexpected.

The author brings the south to life with unique saying and customs, the added feature of the blog postings left me wondering who the writer could be, the motives and how that fit with the story. Again there were some aspects that were predictable but the smooth writing, intricate detail and satisfactory ending made this a very enjoyable book to listen to.

Karen White is an author that I definitely recommend both in print and audiobook format.

This audio book was obtained from Audible and part of my personal library. 

Click on the covers below which will take you to my reviews of  The Forgotten Room and The Sound of Glass.