Perfect Outer Banks Reading
By Kip Tabb –
Joseph Terrell’s two novels for 2013.
It’s summer, it’s the Outer Banks and it’s the perfect time to grab a book and read on the beach, and local writer, Joseph Terrell has two books that just came out in the past few moths that are perfect for a lazy day by the sea.
Terrell’s Harrison Weaver mystery novels are just a great read. Not Our Kind of Killing continues the tradition. Interesting plot twists, believable characters and a descriptive eye for the Outer Banks that takes the reader right to the edge of the ocean. Here’s a description that seems almost flawless to me.
“Even though the tide was out and the light wind came from the west behind me, flattening the ocean, the surf’s audible power was constant, so constant that at times you forgot that its roar was there.”
What Terrell has done with Harrison Weaver is create a compelling story that explores more than the mystery of a bizarre killing. Weaver may be a master at following clues to their logical conclusion, but when it comes to solving the mystery of an adult relationship, he stumbles just like the rest of us.
Learning to Slow Dance is a beautifully written, almost lyrical novel of coming of age in Raleigh in the waning days of WWII. The first sentence in the prologue frames a tale of a growing knowledge of the world and the shedding of innocence. “Those were the years they learned to slow dance with girls who wore angora sweaters and smelled of perfume and a hint of promise.”
The novel, set in a place that is at a balance point of modern life and the patina of history, is filled with characters who are at once very much a part of their environment yet are instantly recognizable as kids anywhere struggling to master their first steps into adulthood.
So–two good novels, perfect reading for the Outer Banks by an Outer Banks author. Both books are available at local book stores.
