Book Review - A Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins

Synopsis: A Rip in Heaven is Jeanine Cummins' story of a night in April 1991, when her two cousins Julie & Robin Kerry & her brother, Tom, were assaulted on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River just outside of St. Louis. When, after a harrowing ordeal, Tom managed to escape the attackers & flag down help, he thought the nightmare would soon be over. He couldn't have been more wrong.

First Line: "In 1991, I was a sixteen-year-old high-school kid living on the outskirts of the nation's capital & I thought I was invincible."

Random Quote: "There was just light enough to see & Tom could make out the shape of Julie stretched out to the right of her sister Robin, both lying on their backs with their eyes closed. Julie was chanting softly, almost inaudibly, a continuing stream of quiet & comforting words to her sister. A lullaby for Robin."

Review: I applaud the author's courage in wanting to tell the story of her murdered

Image by Marcin Wichary via Flickr

cousins & her brother & the way the horrible tragedy of the murders impacted her family. The story is well-told & plainly written, but the author's decision to write in third person (even when writing about herself) is clumsy & tends to distance the reader in ways that feel counterproductive. A much better read in this vein is Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz which blew me away with both the author's courage & her skill as a writer.