AUTHOR: Lisa Wingate
PUBLISHER: Bethany House
STARS: *****
With love and loss tangled together, how was she to know where her life would lead?
Allie Kirkland has never been one to take wild risks. But when she’s offered a costuming assistant’s job on a docudrama in the hills near Moses Lake, she jumps at the chance. She’s always dreamed of following in her director-father’s footsteps, and the re-enactment of the legendary frontier settlement of Wildwood is a first step. The family expectations will have to wait.
But in 1861, the real Wildwood held dangerous realities. Town founder Harland Delevan held helpless residents, including young Irish schoolteacher Bonnie Rose, in an iron grip. Mysterious disappearances led to myths and legends still retold in the folk songs of Chinquapin Peaks. Eventually, the entire site was found abandoned.
When strange connections surface between Allie and the teacher who disappeared over a century ago, everyone in Wildwood, including Allie’s handsome neighbor on the film set, Blake Fulton, seems to be hiding secrets, and Allie doesn’t know who she can trust. If she can’t find the answers in time, history may repeat itself . . . with the most unthinkable results.
WILDWOOD CREEK is part of the author’s Moses Lake series, but it can stand alone without problem. This story grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let go. Lisa Wingate takes us back and forth from 1861 to the present, and before long, the past and present are inextricably tangled together. And I was caught in the web of the mystery of Wildwood Creek.
Superbly crafted, this story held me captive to the very end and continues to haunt me. This is one of the best books I have read this year. It easily earns five stars.