From one of America's best-loved storytellers - the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller WHERE THE HEART IS - comes a tale of a smal...
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reviews
Oct 19, 2007
korey
rated it: 
Although not as good as "Where the Heart Is", this book should be on your must read list. Billie Letts is an incredible writer. Her characters are so well defined they just bounce off the pages. You can actually "see" them, and what's fun in this book, is that she holds off on giving you all the details of some characters, you make assumptions of what they might look like, and you're wrong. I love when she does that.
This book is a crime mystery, but in a very pers More...
This book is a crime mystery, but in a very pers More...
Nov 25, 2007
Crystal
rated it: 
It was a smooth read with some great unexpected turns along the way. Teaches the importance of motherhood and the special role a mother has in a child's life, no matter what. Also a little brutal in parts.
Summary:
This book was based on an adopted child that searches for his biological mother as an adult. It was unexpected to the Californian Veterinarian to find back in Oklahoma, that his mother was murdered, the adoption clearly beyond her control. Get to know the town per More...
Summary:
This book was based on an adopted child that searches for his biological mother as an adult. It was unexpected to the Californian Veterinarian to find back in Oklahoma, that his mother was murdered, the adoption clearly beyond her control. Get to know the town per More...
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Apr 11, 2011
BarkLessWagMore
rated it:
read this as an unabridged audiobook and though the reader did a great job with all of the voices (and there sure were a heck of a lot of characters!) and kept up a nice casual pace which didn't put me to sleep, I found the book to be disappointingly average.
Shoot The Moon starts out describing life and gossiping about the inhabitants of a small town that is shocked when a young boy goes missing and his mother is found dead. The boy "Nicky Jack" is never found but his paj More...
Shoot The Moon starts out describing life and gossiping about the inhabitants of a small town that is shocked when a young boy goes missing and his mother is found dead. The boy "Nicky Jack" is never found but his paj More...
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Feb 06, 2011
Melinda
rated it: 
Waiting for my book order to arrive, knowing I had another few days, and a blizzard that made traveling to the nearest bookstore more than I wanted to take on, I found this book in the back of my bookcase. After reading "Where the Heart Is", I had followed up with "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon". Ms. Letts' characters charmed me in the first book, but by the second, they began to wear thin and even border on annoying, so this third aquisition had gone unread. I forced m
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Mar 06, 2010
Stacy
rated it:
This was a great after-work, getaway book. The story line was unique and interesting to me (Veterinarian, my father; adopted, me).
Dr. Mark Albright, Hollywood Veterinarian complete with fancy car and uptight clothing, mourns the loss of his parents and soon discovers he has a 'past' that he can not remember. He was adopted at 10 months old, never being told, and he begins his search with the only piece of information he has... His original birth cert. listing Gaylene Hjaro as his bir More...
Dr. Mark Albright, Hollywood Veterinarian complete with fancy car and uptight clothing, mourns the loss of his parents and soon discovers he has a 'past' that he can not remember. He was adopted at 10 months old, never being told, and he begins his search with the only piece of information he has... His original birth cert. listing Gaylene Hjaro as his bir More...
Aug 27, 2008
L
rated it: 
This is a sort of Hallmark card of a story. The cover promises "a little bit of mystery, a small piece of romance" and that's what you get. It's the sort of thing you're gonna like if you like that sort of thing. It's not a great story, but it's a story. If you like absurdly happy endings, don't mind absurdities & reading about Wal-Mart as THE place to shop, and can deal with simplistic characters grab some Billie Letts.
Feb 21, 2010
"In 1972, the town of DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by the terrifying murder of Gaylene Harjo and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky Jack. When the child's pajama bottoms were found on the banks of Willow Creek, everyone feared Nicky Jack was dead, although his body was never found." Nearly thirty years later, Nicky Jack mysteriously returns to DeClare. His sudden reappearance will stun the people of DeClare and stir up long-buried emotions and memories. But what Nicky Jack discove
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Apr 10, 2009
Louise
rated it:
I loved Billie Letts' first two novels: Where The Heart Is and The Honk and Holler and this one was just as good!! I hope she continues to write.
"In 1972, the town of DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by the terrifying murder of Gaylene Harjo and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky Jack. When the child's pajama bottoms were found on the banks of Willow Creek, everyone feared Nicky Jack was dead, although his body was never found.
Nearly thirty years later, Nicky Jack m More...
"In 1972, the town of DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by the terrifying murder of Gaylene Harjo and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky Jack. When the child's pajama bottoms were found on the banks of Willow Creek, everyone feared Nicky Jack was dead, although his body was never found.
Nearly thirty years later, Nicky Jack m More...
Mar 18, 2009
Susan
rated it:
This is an interesting combination of mystery and romance. The main character is a successful veterinarian to the stars in LA and he discovers that he is adopted. He goes to find his birth mother, only to find out that she was murdered when he was an infant and he was presumed dead as well. He joins forces with a less than ethical journalist to find out the truth, and falls in love with a woman in his "hometown" along the way. I really like the character development in this book. I wan
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Jan 27, 2009
Rosa
rated it:
Found this on the book shelf of the place where we're staying at the beach on the Pacific side near Zihuatanejo. Both of the books I brought with me were too intense, just not a beach book. But this one certainly was. The setting is a small town in Oklahoma where there is a death and a child disappears. Thirty years later the child returns to find that his mother was murdered and he's the missing child. Through a period of discovery by talking to the towns' people the mystery surrounding this i
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Jul 22, 2011
Monica
rated it:
Billie Letts is an awesome author! I have read one other of hers, Made in the U.S.A., and both books were so powerfully written. I definitely felt lots of emotions while reading this book; you could tell what each of the characters were feeling. I love that she included a little peek into the modern-day Cherokee culture - I have always respected Native American culture and find it mystical. I also love how Billie Letts built on the mystery - throughout the book, the reader gets more and more clu
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May 31, 2010
Winson
rated it:
This book is and will be one of my favorite books. It tells a story about a kid named Mark and he is in a family he doesn't quite fit in and he doesn't know why. He soons find out that he is actually Nick Harjo and he is now trying to find his identity. After searching and searching, he finds out that his mother is dead and he is trying to find who did it. So, he returns to her hometown to find out what has happened in those years.
Nick then meets his cousin and gets new friends. They More...
Nick then meets his cousin and gets new friends. They More...
Dec 16, 2010
Sam B
rated it:
Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts is a mystery that really captivates readers. The novel is about a man who journeys back to his home town to find out where he came from. The man discovers that there is a mystery in the town that he was born and the man cannot locate his parents that were from this town. Everyone he asks about his parents either shy away from the subject or skip town for a couple weeks. The man knows something is up and it is up to him to uncover the thirty year-old mystery. In my
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Jul 19, 2009
Wendy
rated it:
Hmm... The Honk and Holler Opening Soon was full of weird characters and dysfunctional functioning and just plain fun rollocking action.
The writing in this book is sweet and clear, but it's fairly predictable what's going to happen. Maybe she peaked with the second book. Dunno. The other books were more atmospheric too.
But I LIKE Billie Letts, the person/brand/writer. She has a nice feel, a decency, she doesn't try to impress with craft at the expense of clarity and she's More...
The writing in this book is sweet and clear, but it's fairly predictable what's going to happen. Maybe she peaked with the second book. Dunno. The other books were more atmospheric too.
But I LIKE Billie Letts, the person/brand/writer. She has a nice feel, a decency, she doesn't try to impress with craft at the expense of clarity and she's More...
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Apr 27, 2010
Heather
rated it:
I found this novel to be unpredictable. I loved the manner in which the author twisted her story so that one moment you would be so sure that you knew who the father was and who the murderer was only to turn the page and discover you are wrong. The two main characters falling in love was obvious from the start but ended up playing out nicely.
I also felt that the author did a terrific job of introducing her characters and creating emotions for the reader with them. She was even able t More...
I also felt that the author did a terrific job of introducing her characters and creating emotions for the reader with them. She was even able t More...
Jun 08, 2009
Jacki
rated it:
This book was exactly what I thought it was going to be: A quick, sweet little book about a quirky southern town. I've read Billie Letts' other 2 books and really enjoyed them for being all of those things. Sometimes I just need a book like that, and she always delivers.
This one was a little different because there was a little murder mystery mixed in, which I am always all for.
I figured out whodunit about halfway through the book, but that in no way ruined it for me.
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This one was a little different because there was a little murder mystery mixed in, which I am always all for.
I figured out whodunit about halfway through the book, but that in no way ruined it for me.
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Apr 07, 2009
Nely
rated it:
In 1972, the town of DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by a terrifying crime - Gaylene Harjo a teenaged single mother was brutally murdered and her 10 month old son Nicky Jack Harjo has disappeared. Nicky Jack’s pajama bottoms were found on the banks of Willow Creek and nothing was heard of him for nearly 30 years.
Shortly after his father’s death, Mark Albright finds documents revealing he was adopted. He always felt that he never fit in and was somewhat of an outcast, yet he fol More...
Shortly after his father’s death, Mark Albright finds documents revealing he was adopted. He always felt that he never fit in and was somewhat of an outcast, yet he fol More...
May 14, 2010
Victoria
rated it:
Oh, this was a good book! I really enjoyed it! It had a little bit of everything - intrigue, murder, romance, excitement. The characters were all interesting and the resolution, though bittersweet, was fairly satisfying. The plot twisted along in pretty unpredictable ways, too. I would definitely read something else by her. And it was a fast read, too! Though I must admit, the whole cousins thing was troublesome for a while. And while the whole end took me by surprise, the very end was pretty sa
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Mar 15, 2010
Jenn
rated it:
I liked the mystery part of this book and continued reading it, although it was quite slow, just to find out what had really happened to the main character's deceased mother. For me, the main problem with the book was the development of the characters. The author spent a chapter at the beginning introducing all of the characters and telling you about their personalities. I prefer to meet characters along the way and learn about their personalities through their thoughts and actions. I had tr
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Nov 20, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
this does not sound professional like yours, colleen, :) but i liked it. the author said she thought up her characters from people in tiny towns in oklahoma &that these people are different from big city people or anyone. so i have a little idea of what it might be like in kristin's tiny little town where there's only 2000. she also said big city people can hide out there from the world at some time. maybe i would hide from the world over there in 15 years. if anthony retired there...& mo
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May 31, 2010
Billie Letts is an incredible writer. Her characters are so well defined it feels like you've met them before. You can actually see them, and what's fun in this book, is that she holds off on giving you all the details of some characters, you make assumptions of what they might look like, and you're wrong. I love when she does that.
An interesting story of a grown man looking for his mother to finding out she was murdered and slowly wanting to know his mother and her murderer. I More...
An interesting story of a grown man looking for his mother to finding out she was murdered and slowly wanting to know his mother and her murderer. I More...
Oct 05, 2009
Dyana
rated it:
This book was a fast read with interesting characters. A man, Mark Albright, turns up in Declare, Oklahoma to find his biological mother (Gaylene Harjo). He wants to know why she put him up for adoption 27 years ago as a 10 month old baby. He discovers that she was murdered and the baby, Nicky Jack, was never found and is presumed dead also. He stays in the small town to discover what his mother was like and who may have killed her. This shocks the town and stirs up old memories in quirky t
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Apr 06, 2009
Jill
rated it:
I liked this book quite a bit, and maybe should have rated it higher. It's just that they can't all be four stars. I read this because I wanted to see what else Billie Letts wrote besides....(I can't think of the name of the book. Natalie Portman played the main character in the movie- a pregnant girl who is stranded at a small town WalMart and becomes the common sense girl of the town.), and I liked the plot in this one more. I like the mystery of why someone disappears from their hometown
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Apr 09, 2010
Bobbi
rated it:
No one in sleepy DeClare, Oklahoma, has forgotten the 1972 murder of pretty Cherokee Gaylene Harjo and the abduction of her infant son, Nicky Jack. Hard-nosed deputy sheriff Oliver "O Boy" Daniels pinned the blame on local preacher Joe Dawson, but few in town believed the kindly Joe was capable of such an act. Powerful emotions resurface 30 years later, when Nicky Jack, adopted and raised by a rich couple in Beverly Hills, mysteriously reappears, determined to learn about his mother an
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Mar 03, 2010
Chandler
rated it:
I don't normally just pick a random book and read it without first knowing somthing about it or someone who recommends it. I did this with this book and realized why I do that. I was ok. I would probably give it 2.5 stars. The story flowed smoothly and the characters for the most part were likeable (aside from the villians of course) but it was just too predictable for a mystery. I had the thing figured out 3/4 through it. It had some bad language too which I can't handle but it wasn't som
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Jun 03, 2009
Sophia
rated it:
A little more disarming writing style than I am used to, this book was a good read. Written in local vernacular and customs,it has a lot more of Oklahoma in it than I was expecting but A nice surprise. The back story was interesting enough itself, a baby boy presumed to be dead some 27 yrs ago with his young mother, a crime the small town has not stopped rehashing. Then suddenly a grown man appears claiming to be the dead child. Lots of unexpected twist and an enjoyable enigma. This one was har
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Jan 02, 2011
Marisa
rated it:
I would give this a 3.5. This was a pretty quick, easy read. There were some unexpected twists that kept it interesting. It was a little bit of mystery with some quirky Oklahoman characters. The story is basically about a man who learns he is adopted after his parents pass away and comes back to Oklahoma to find his birth mom. He quickly finds out that his birth mom was murdered when he was 10 months old and he was also presumed to have been murdered. So he goes on a quest to figure out wha
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Jun 06, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
I picked this up because it was by the author of Where the Heart Is, and while I had never read the book, I liked the movie. Perhaps not the best reason for picking out a book, but it worked in my favor in this case. This was one of those books that I caught myself carrying around with me so I could sneak in some reading whenever I had a few spare moments. The characters seem very relatable, like you could walk into any small town America and find someone like them. The story wasn’t exactly susp
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Oct 07, 2009
Melissa
rated it:
I loved her first book, liked her second, and feel rather blah about this one. The author describes every person that ever lived in the town before the story starts. She lost my interest right there. Had this not been a book club read I would probably not have finished it. A character's back story would be better told as they are introduced to the story.
The book begins with description of "the players" in an incident that occurred thirty years ago. Then begins with Mark/Ni More...
The book begins with description of "the players" in an incident that occurred thirty years ago. Then begins with Mark/Ni More...
Aug 13, 2009
Amanda
rated it:
This is the perfect summer book. I whizzed through it in a day. Seriously. I mean it's not the best book ever but it's a great feel-good mystery story.
Here's the plot:
Small town Oklahoma, 1972: 18 year old single mom found stabbed to death and her 10 month old son, Nicky Jack, is missing. Unsolved case.
About 30 years later, a man shows up in town saying he just found out he was adopted. He wants to confront his biological mom and ask why he was put up for adop More...
Here's the plot:
Small town Oklahoma, 1972: 18 year old single mom found stabbed to death and her 10 month old son, Nicky Jack, is missing. Unsolved case.
About 30 years later, a man shows up in town saying he just found out he was adopted. He wants to confront his biological mom and ask why he was put up for adop More...
