Search - The Bright Forever

This book was extremely touching for me. It really made me reflect on the "if only I had done or said this" moments we all have in our lives. The story is based on the disappearance of a 9 year old girl and it follows the actions and emotions of each of the characters involved in her disappearance. I loved the way it painted the pictures of these people. Even those responsible were not made out to be truly "evil" only misguided to a point that brough about a tragedy. This book is definately one of the best books I have read so far this year.

Lee Martin’s second novel, “The Bright Forever,� is a captivating story about the disappearance of nine-year-old Katie Mackey from a small town in Indiana thirty years ago. Like the comparable “Mystic River,� “Forever� is told from the points of view of the different townspeople and neighbors of the missing girl, each chapter being a first-person account from each person as to his or her version of the events that fateful night.

Martin has created an exquisite page-turner, filled with small-town sensibilities, with the requisite small-town atrocities. One does not expect a heartbreaking crime to happen to them, especially in such a trusting town. In a time when people slept with their front doors unlocked and kept a lazy eye on their children, Katie’s disappearance affects all who knew and knew of the young girl.

Each individual narrator of each first-person chapter has a distinct voice that comes alive on the page. The desperate loneliness of math teacher Mr. Dees, the young arrogance of Katie’s brother Gilley, and the unfamiliar fear the people in the town feel for newcomer Raymond R. Wright, are just a few examples of the vivid feelings Martin is able to capture without exception.

As the reader absorbs the eyewitness accounts, by default they are seeing into the hearts and minds of each witness. Each quirk, every feeling of uncertainty and all displays of moral outrage are placed in full view of the reader, as the character waits for judgment or redemption.

While the “Mystic River� comparisons may be unavoidable, “The Bright Forever� is, in it’s own right, a masterpiece that draws emotion from the reader like its literary counterpart, yet deserves its own category of individual praise. The reader will be entranced by the story from the get-go and held on until the end by a string of unnerving suspense and quiet disbelief.

A little girl disappears and the story is told from several points of view. Is it always the one you suspect? Maybe not...A quick read, great for vacation.

Outstanding. I was hooked from the very first chapter: "Raymond R: "I'm not saying I didn't do it. I don't know". Awesome writing. Great character delineation. Masterful buildup of suspense. I coudn't put it down. Had to read in the tub. Take with me to lunch with a friend, in case she was late. Read past my bedtime. Worthwhile. I read fast and read a lot of books. Lately, have been running into mediocre books, which I won't continue. They don't hook me. They don't interest me. This is definitely a thumbs up!

Wow, what a book. I was not expecting a story as haunting and gripping as this one. I was memorized from the first line to the last. It a gripping tale of lives inner twined and the results of greed, lust, anger and dare I say love all climaxing in one desperate moment of human failing. You suspect from the beginning who committed the crime but what you don't know is why and your not really sure you do know the answer. The story, told in a matter of fact manner, follows the books characters as they each reveal their secrets. Secrets that sometimes would be best left in the dark recesses of peoples minds. Like a scab on your knee that you just can't help but pick this book leaves you with that feeling. You want to put it down and walk away but you can't. It follows you until the last page and the last word has been read. It tugs at your mind and will leave an imprint on it forever.

I have never read a book by this author before. I enjoyed this book very much. It was written as if the main character in the book was talking to you and telling a story, and asking you "to stick with me" and you will get your answer to the the question of who-dun-it!