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Sheriff Lester P. Morrison #1
Fraidy Hole
County Sheriff Lester P. Morrison wasn’t buying the popular theory that a missing teenage girl was “just another runaway.” When his investigation revealed Melissa Parker was last seen in front of a roadside bar in the company of drunken men, the Sheriff’s suspicions soared to new heights.
In fact, Melissa couldn’t run anywhere. She’d been assaulted, locked in a tornado shelter—a fraidy hole—with no food, no water, and left to die. Her struggles to escape took on a new urgency as Melissa realized she was not alone in that terrifying darkness. The survival clock was ticking.
In fact, Melissa couldn’t run anywhere. She’d been assaulted, locked in a tornado shelter—a fraidy hole—with no food, no water, and left to die. Her struggles to escape took on a new urgency as Melissa realized she was not alone in that terrifying darkness. The survival clock was ticking.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 20, 2012
14 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 1, 2013
Okay, this was a fantastic read, but, it was also a massively long-winded book. It sometimes felt as though the story was never going to end.
Some of the issues I had with it is that I found the book description a little misleading. Due to the title of the book I was under the impression the reader is going to get a lot of the story from Melissa’s point view, her fears, her suffering, and her struggle to survive. Though this does happen, it is minimal and felt more like an afterthought. What we get instead is every miniscule detail of Sheriff Lester P. Morrison’s daily doings. Yes, he’s searching for the missing girl and all that, but geez louise, I really don’t care about his morning routine, his lengthy conversations with his very adorable dog, Harley, or Billy Ray’s time’s in Iraq. What I wanted was for Melissa to be found, without all the fluff in between. There were times I had to put the book down and read something else because I got bored with some of it.
Also, Melissa took being locked in the ‘fraidy hole’ very much in her stride. Or let me rather say she quickly accepted the situation she was in and hardly panicked about the fact that she was left in there to die.
Apart from these minor complaints, I found the writing to be excellent. Although I thought the story to be unnecessarily drawn out, I can’t argue that the writing is simply spectacular, and despite my complaints about Lester’s daily rituals, I have to admit that the author knows his characters exceptionally well.
At 40% I thought I knew who raped and assaulted Melissa, but luckily I was proven wrong. Overall I think this is a good read and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys small town crime novels.
Some of the issues I had with it is that I found the book description a little misleading. Due to the title of the book I was under the impression the reader is going to get a lot of the story from Melissa’s point view, her fears, her suffering, and her struggle to survive. Though this does happen, it is minimal and felt more like an afterthought. What we get instead is every miniscule detail of Sheriff Lester P. Morrison’s daily doings. Yes, he’s searching for the missing girl and all that, but geez louise, I really don’t care about his morning routine, his lengthy conversations with his very adorable dog, Harley, or Billy Ray’s time’s in Iraq. What I wanted was for Melissa to be found, without all the fluff in between. There were times I had to put the book down and read something else because I got bored with some of it.
Also, Melissa took being locked in the ‘fraidy hole’ very much in her stride. Or let me rather say she quickly accepted the situation she was in and hardly panicked about the fact that she was left in there to die.
Apart from these minor complaints, I found the writing to be excellent. Although I thought the story to be unnecessarily drawn out, I can’t argue that the writing is simply spectacular, and despite my complaints about Lester’s daily rituals, I have to admit that the author knows his characters exceptionally well.
At 40% I thought I knew who raped and assaulted Melissa, but luckily I was proven wrong. Overall I think this is a good read and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys small town crime novels.
July 23, 2012
Thrilling story, which flips between the experiences of Melissa, a teenage girl who has been assaulted and locked in a fraidy hole (tornado shelter) and left to die by her attacker, and Sheriff Lester P Morrison and his deputy, searching for Melissa when, unlike everyone else, they believe her disappearance is much more sinister than her being another teenage runaway. A thrilling tale of survival, cover-ups, deceit and a quaint little town that hasn’t seen crime in over 100 years, until this double murder, kidnap and suicide lands right in the middle of it with a bang. Excellent read – another I picked up for free, but would happily have paid the £2 that the kindle bookstore is now pricing it at – hard to believe it was 420 pages too, it is written in a style that makes it easy to read without being too simplistic and the pages just fly by of their own accord.
July 21, 2012
Good suspensful story telling. Loved the interaction between the old Sheriff and his dog the deputy and the dispatcher.
February 2, 2018
Great characters
Fiction isn't sually my cup of tea, but the characters in this novel made the story so interesting, that attempting to determine what happened to the "girl," became secondary to the main storyline. Loved Lester and Billy Ray, reminded me of True Grit, not in the story, but in the development of its characters. Well done.
Fiction isn't sually my cup of tea, but the characters in this novel made the story so interesting, that attempting to determine what happened to the "girl," became secondary to the main storyline. Loved Lester and Billy Ray, reminded me of True Grit, not in the story, but in the development of its characters. Well done.
November 13, 2017
Totally enjoyable read.
From start to finish this had me interested in the outcome and concerned for the girl's survival. Both lawmen are the types you would like to have on your side.
From start to finish this had me interested in the outcome and concerned for the girl's survival. Both lawmen are the types you would like to have on your side.
November 26, 2017
What a great story
This one was a winner from the first page. A well thought story with lots of suspects and scumbags for the sheriff to untangle. Melissa was a strong girl.
This one was a winner from the first page. A well thought story with lots of suspects and scumbags for the sheriff to untangle. Melissa was a strong girl.
March 24, 2018
A teenage girl is reported missing. Sheriff Lester is convinced she is no runaway, something bad has happened. Riveting, suspenseful crime novel.
July 10, 2024
Complex, thought-provoking, vivid language
September 14, 2025
I couldn't get into the story. The characters were fine, but it was just too slow-moving.
February 6, 2013
Well presented on the Kindle with good attention to Formatting, pagination and editing.
This is the second book to be selected by the new UK Kindle Forum Book Club - just normal Kindle readers reading for pleasure.
For the book club I'd surmise that this is about as "rich" as the general group want to go. It's not that greusome but it does touch on some pretty strong topics.
In terms of intensity and build up it actually goes backwards - I found the opening chapters quite extreme and after this "baptism of fire" the work undertaken by the sheriff to find her actually reduced the fire down to sparkling embers. And I liked it that way. You can only go so long at full throttle. The gentle building of the players and events worked well for this story and for me.
If you have watched the film "Fargo" you will appreciate the style of this book. Things happen, remarkable things for this quiet hamlet. But it's the people who live here that the story is really about.
If I'm being critical I have an issue with so few characters. It's a "who did what" and with so few people in there it's pretty clear who did do what.
As always, my advice to anyone who does something bad is to SHUT UP! The denouement of XX admitting the crime is Hollywood weak. I think we deserved a little better.
I'd have liked to learn more, a lot more about Morrison. I think his back and side story would have been interesting.
What I did like especially is that it's not one of those books that is going to keep you awake at night with terror. All in all an enjoyable read.
This is the second book to be selected by the new UK Kindle Forum Book Club - just normal Kindle readers reading for pleasure.
For the book club I'd surmise that this is about as "rich" as the general group want to go. It's not that greusome but it does touch on some pretty strong topics.
In terms of intensity and build up it actually goes backwards - I found the opening chapters quite extreme and after this "baptism of fire" the work undertaken by the sheriff to find her actually reduced the fire down to sparkling embers. And I liked it that way. You can only go so long at full throttle. The gentle building of the players and events worked well for this story and for me.
If you have watched the film "Fargo" you will appreciate the style of this book. Things happen, remarkable things for this quiet hamlet. But it's the people who live here that the story is really about.
If I'm being critical I have an issue with so few characters. It's a "who did what" and with so few people in there it's pretty clear who did do what.
As always, my advice to anyone who does something bad is to SHUT UP! The denouement of XX admitting the crime is Hollywood weak. I think we deserved a little better.
I'd have liked to learn more, a lot more about Morrison. I think his back and side story would have been interesting.
What I did like especially is that it's not one of those books that is going to keep you awake at night with terror. All in all an enjoyable read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2013
This books alternates between the investigation & the victim's predicament; also, it involves plenty of subplots of the people involved in the investigation & the one's being investigated.
I loved the story-line but almost gave up reading the book due to its slow investigative pace. Luckily I picked it up again out of curiosity & was rewarded with an amazing rush of adrenaline towards the end.
****SPOILER ALERT****
I loved Melissa's courage & resourcefulness. The writing was so well done, I could feel the terror in the fraidy hole, especially when the snake slithered in.
As far as the investigation went, I was a little disappointed, but the writing was excellent. The end, although unexpected was a little anticlimactic. IMHO, a serial abductor preying on helpless, innocent, under-aged girls would be more fitting to the terror built up in Melissa's situation.
June 17, 2013
This is not a 'high-action' mystery, it has the very authentic, small town law enforcement 'feel' to it. The main character, the sheriff, is an older, responsible law enforcement professional with no major traumas or vices to deal with, which is (anymore, it seems) a rarity and a pleasure to find.
The inserted sections from the viewpoint of the kidnapped victim, a teenager, are particularly vivid, building her as a strong character even though she has little part in the actual storyline.
Very much my type of mystery and a delight to find in a free download. I liked it well enough I immediately looked for the next book, sorry it isn't already out but glad a second book is coming in this series.
The inserted sections from the viewpoint of the kidnapped victim, a teenager, are particularly vivid, building her as a strong character even though she has little part in the actual storyline.
Very much my type of mystery and a delight to find in a free download. I liked it well enough I immediately looked for the next book, sorry it isn't already out but glad a second book is coming in this series.
January 17, 2016
There are so many good things to say about "Fraidy Hole"! As with most crime novels, this one is filled with drama and interesting twists in the plot. Where I find the biggest difference between this novel and others in the genre is the way Mr Williams uses the Oklahoman dialect and slang when writing the conversations among the characters. While a lot of authors fill their dialogue with stiff and generic English, Mr Williams' style immerses the reader in the setting of his story by making his characters real. A more in-depth look at the back-stories of the main characters adds even more interest to the storyline. This is a don't miss read when creating a list of books for your reading pleasure.
July 2, 2013
I downloaded this book for free. It was an interesting mystery/thriller. It did hold my interest from the beginning until the end. It was well written even though there were some typographical errors, missing words, misspelled words, wrong use of a word - for example drug was used instead of dragged. I did not want to stop reading because I wanted to know who could have done such a terrible thing to Melissa. And, of course, I wanted someone to rescue her! I would recommend it to someone who enjoys mystery/thriller books.
March 30, 2016
As one person who reviewed this book stated, it is a little long winded. But I think the author had to do this to set the tone for who the characters were in the book. There is one chapter that will leave you wondering why it was written so long, maybe two. But overall this is a great story. If you have the time you will find that you will not put the book down. Getting towards the end I thought I had it figured out, but then a last twist and you won't believe your reading eyes. This stands a chance of being a movie one day, who knows?
October 23, 2013
Well written thriller. I thought this was going to be a horror book, but it wasn't.
The Sheriff is a believable character who never gives up. His deputy is a bit of a whiner. The heroine is...amazing. She's young, but she never gives up.
I did truly enjoy this book. If you're looking for a blood and gore horror book, this isn't it. If you're looking for a thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat without scaring the crap out of you, this is it.
The Sheriff is a believable character who never gives up. His deputy is a bit of a whiner. The heroine is...amazing. She's young, but she never gives up.
I did truly enjoy this book. If you're looking for a blood and gore horror book, this isn't it. If you're looking for a thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat without scaring the crap out of you, this is it.
March 9, 2013
I found this book on Amazon for free. For a free book, it wasn't bad. There are some editing errors like spelling and randomly changing calling a character by a different (yet similar) name. Overall.. it was free and fun to read.
March 21, 2013
I really enjoyed this. I usually become impatient with thriller/mystery novels, wanting them to cut to the chase more quickly. This held my interest and really liked the main characters, especially Lester. A nice jewel in the sea of sub-par free Kindle books.
October 20, 2013
This was a great book I love the story line and it kept me interested. I really enjoy the sheriff and the main character I am so glad I have never had to go through what she did. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a great thriller.
November 10, 2013
This book itself wasn't bad, it's actually a pretty good story. The thing I didn't care for was every single character in this book. I found the banter of the main characters more annoying then witty.
July 24, 2012
Enjoyed this one and read it really fast.
March 3, 2013
An OK read. Bit dull in places but overall not too bad.
April 18, 2013
Excellent "who done it" mystery
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews