Recent Read: Pray for the Girl

Within the first few pages of reading Joseph Souza’s latest thriller, Pray for the Girl, I knew I was in for a page-turner that would not stop churning. Having finished the book, I am happy to report I was right.

The story is set in the small town of Fawn Grove, Maine. It’s here we meet Lucy Abbott who has returned after 15 years, most of the time working as a sous chef in New York City. Before that, Lucy was stationed in Afghanistan as a medic where she lost both her legs after an IED went off. Lucy’s life has not been easy since. Physical and psychological problems have plagued her. Returning to her hometown of Fawn Grove she is living with her wheelchair-bound (MS) sister, Wendy, her husband Russ and their teenage daughter Brynn. Lucy suffers flashback nightmares due to an honor killing she did not attempt to stop during her time in Afghanistan. Now upon her return, a teenage high school age Afghan girl is buried up to her neck and stoned to death. The local town Detective in charge of the investigation is anti-immigrant, and Lucy soon becomes obsessed with the case.  Soon after, a second kid, a non-Afghani, turns up dead near the same field the girl was killed. While the first killing seemed like a ritual within the immigrant community, the question now arises as to why was a local boy killed. The deeper Lucy investigates, the more questions come up as to who is responsible.

In Lucy Abbott, Joseph Souza has created a character like no other. Pray for the Girl is a twisty, disturbing suspense thriller taking on issues of PTSD, bigotry, nationalism, and the continuing struggle of small-town America when the one local industry supporting most residents is on its last legs. The comfort and facade of peaceful small-town life hides dark, cruel secrets that are about to be exposed.

Pray for the Girl will be published on April 30th.