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The Reckoning Stones
by
After accusing the pastor of her close-knit religious community of molesting her, fourteen-year-old Mercy Asher is branded a liar and publicly humiliated. She runs away on the night someone beats the pastor into a coma and kills his wife.
Two decades later, Mercy has become Iris Dashwood, an emotionally troubled but brilliant jeweler. She thinks she's in control of her lif
...morePaperback, 360 pages
Published
September 8th 2015
by Midnight Ink
(first published September 1st 2015)
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This is a close knit religious community which has no local police force but an outside Sheriff that never gets involved.
Everyone goes to church and everyone knows each other.
Mercy is a 14 year old girl who gets raped by the Pastor Matt. No one believes her.
Someone has attacked Pastor Matt, he has been badly beaten near to death.
But who did it? No one believed her, did they?
Mercy runs.
Twenty years later, she is living far away from this community and trying to live her life. She creates Jewe ...more

Dollycas’s Thoughts
Lone Pine, Colorado is home to the Community. A religious group based out of the God’s Community of Believers and Disciples Church. Mercy Asher left Lone Pine and the Community behind after years of molestation by the pastor of the church. No one believed her when she confessed to her abuse and she was the one punished. She couldn’t stand to stay somewhere where it seemed even her own family thought she was lying. But someone must have knew she was telling the truth because on ...more

I have been a long-time fan of Laura DiSilverio's cozy mysteries, so I was excited when I won a copy of her new suspense novel, The Reckoning Stones, in a Facebook contest. Mercy Asher, the main character, grew up as part of a religious community located just outside of Colorado Springs. When Mercy was 14, she accused Pastor Matt, the leader of the community of sexual abusing her, but no one believes her. That same night, Mercy runs away, Pastor Matt is beaten into a coma, and his wife dies. Mer
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Mercy Asher, A.K.A Iris Dashwood, had been raped by Pastor Matt and no one believed her. The tight knit religious community just punished her when she told them what happened. She was stoned as a result of this by her community. So she ran. And, somebody beat the Pastor to death. Who? Mercy's father said he did it so as to keep Mercy [Iris] from taking the blame as her parents assumed she did it. Her father went to prison.
Twenty-three years later, Iris has made a life for herself as a jewelry de ...more
Twenty-three years later, Iris has made a life for herself as a jewelry de ...more

The Reckoning Stones by Laura DiSilverio is mystery novel that puts the mystery itself secondary to the tale, and the emotional and traumatic recovery of a victim of sexual abuse primary. In doing so Laura DiSilverio has created a tightly woven story of betrayal, isolation and the eventual survival of its main character Mercy Asher.
Lone Pine, Colorado is a close knit community that is held together by its deeply seeded religious beliefs. They have no local police force and are rarely visited by ...more
Lone Pine, Colorado is a close knit community that is held together by its deeply seeded religious beliefs. They have no local police force and are rarely visited by ...more

The Reckoning Stones is a tightly woven, compelling mystery set in a tiny community in Colorado. But Lone Pine isn't your average community. It's inhabitants are all deeply religious and must live within certain rules and strict codes of conduct.
Iris, hasn't been back to Lone Pine for twenty years, but she can't put it off any longer, she has to face the very thing she ran away from, she has to free herself of her past.
Initially, I wasn't sure about this book at all. I was intrigued by the synop ...more
Iris, hasn't been back to Lone Pine for twenty years, but she can't put it off any longer, she has to face the very thing she ran away from, she has to free herself of her past.
Initially, I wasn't sure about this book at all. I was intrigued by the synop ...more

Non-series. A far cry from author DiSilverio's prior novels - three cozy mystery series. Here is the story of Iris Dashwood, the jewelry designer who escaped from being teenage Mercy Asher member of a cultish community. I found the beginning of this novel slow going, with the locale switching back and forth from Oregon to Colorado and the time from 2014 to 1991. Even when the time was firmly set in 2014, there were flashbacks. Once the backstory was firmly established, the novel proceeded nicely
...more

Reckoning Stones is an insightful, suspense-filled novel that is hauntingly realistic in today's world. That makes it all the more frightening. I've lived in places where this could definitely happen and although it's fiction, shows that even the most tightly knit community must have critical thinking in its morality code. DiSilverio is fast becoming one of my favorite authors because of the insights she weaves on the human condition along with telling us a great tale. The classic novels have be
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Life in "The Community", a back woods religious congregation, isn't always what it seems to be. Pastor Matt uses his role as holy mighty spiritual leader to have his way with young women. When Mercy speaks out telling the truth everyone sides with Pastor Matt and they punish her with an ancient horrible ritual involving reckoning stones. Mercy is shunned by her family and the entire community. She runs away leaving that world behind struggling to find her way out of that oppressive upbringing. S
...more

Crime-drama might be a bit of a stretch from what I typically think of when I think of that genre, but I still think it fits. The majority of this story is very serious and deals with a lot of heavy subject matter. I won't lie that it was difficult to read and if you are sensitive to any type of abuse I would proceed with caution. It's especially hard to realize that stories just like this actually happen and are true. That communities (religious ones, at that) often have things like this taking
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The Reckoning Stones was very well written and a very easy read. The book flowed and you really wanted to know the outcome. I felt like I had read the ending from several previous books. Nothing really new there. But the characters were interesting. The author revealed the story at a good pace so you were never bored or frustrated. I would have given it one more star if it hadn't been so predictable at the end.
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I'm a big fan of Laura DiSilverio standalones, and this one did not disappoint. The protagonist's backstory is interesting considering the way young women from decades ago were treated when sexual abuse was reported as opposed to today's #MeToo movement. In The Reckoning Stones, however, the ongoing tragedy is the lie that landed Mercy Asher's father in prison. Now known as Iris Dashwood, new developments bring Mercy back home to a web of lies that she must untangle.
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This story grabs you and doesn't let go, it's a journey into darkness that's a hard nut to crack, but very interesting story, great narration, really enjoyed it. Very enthralling, gripping story of corruption, religion, and dirty deeds. I'd definitely recommend this to others :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. ...more
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. ...more

An excellent psychological suspense about a woman going back to her hometown to confront the man who sexually assaulted her as a teenager and the parents who didn't believe her. Disilverio keeps you guessing to the bitter end as to what really happened and who...
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Couldn't put it down!
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Redemption might come through some big selfless act, or through a series of small sacrifices, or it can come through a deliberate silence and a willingness to let go.
Iris once known as Mercy has come back home 23 years later to Colorado Springs. Will having a new perspective and a plan to claim her life back after losing it all those years ago, is she able to redeem all that she has lost? Her father is now in prison for 23 years for the brutal attack of the “community” pastor Matt whom Iris had ...more
Iris once known as Mercy has come back home 23 years later to Colorado Springs. Will having a new perspective and a plan to claim her life back after losing it all those years ago, is she able to redeem all that she has lost? Her father is now in prison for 23 years for the brutal attack of the “community” pastor Matt whom Iris had ...more

Title: The Reckoning Stones
Author: Laura DiSilverio
Published: 9-8-15
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Pages: 360
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense
Sub Genre: Literary Fiction;
ISBN: 9780738745114
ASIN: B013J68VZW
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating 5 Stars
.
Although known for her many cozy mysteries which are well received and liked; Reckoning Stones takes her into a deeper darker side of the mystery genre. The Reckoning Stones tell of the hidden crime in ...more
Author: Laura DiSilverio
Published: 9-8-15
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Pages: 360
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense
Sub Genre: Literary Fiction;
ISBN: 9780738745114
ASIN: B013J68VZW
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating 5 Stars
.
Although known for her many cozy mysteries which are well received and liked; Reckoning Stones takes her into a deeper darker side of the mystery genre. The Reckoning Stones tell of the hidden crime in ...more

There were several things to like about this book and one big flaw that made me not want to read anything else by this author. The careful, realistic presentation of sexual abuse of young people and the lifelong, psychological consequences of that circumstance is well handled and well done. I liked the idea of trying to reconstruct the crime 28 years later and I like the way that the author informs the reader of the discoveries as Iris discovers them. I like to follow the logic as a mystery unra
...more

I started this fascinating suspense novel Friday night on an airplane flight home and read it almost nonstop until I finished Saturday night, unable to put it down! The author has a lyrical touch with language even while dealing with serious and disturbing topics. The main character, Iris, is a fascinating woman who courageously escaped from an abusive religious community years before and now finds herself following a dangerous path to confront dark crimes from the past whose ugly tentacles have
...more

I received a beautiful paperback copy of this book with a very nice inscription from the author for free via the Goodreads Giveaways program and would like to thank everyone who made that possible - especially the author!
This is a very enjoyable mystery novel that broaches some difficult and disturbing subjects. It features a church community that borders on being cultish and centers on how that community deals with a pedophile in their midst. I loved the use of flashbacks and how they created s ...more
This is a very enjoyable mystery novel that broaches some difficult and disturbing subjects. It features a church community that borders on being cultish and centers on how that community deals with a pedophile in their midst. I loved the use of flashbacks and how they created s ...more

Iris Dashwood (formerly Mercy Asher) hears on the news that Pastor Matt, who molested her 23 years ago, has come out of his coma. She returns to her hometown to accomplish several things: see her Dad who is in prison for putting Pastor Matt in the coma, confront Pastor Matt, and hold her head high in the community that sided with Pastor Matt and didn't believe her. Iris is now an acclaimed jewelry designer but she's hit a block with making her designs. In confronting her past, she finds some peo
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Very quick read (read the whole thing on my train commute, lunch break, and then about an hour at home). Story is about a woman returning to her childhood home to confront the pastor of the extremely conservative church/community she grew up in about raping her as a young teen - he'd just awakened from a 23 year coma after having been beaten nearly to death the night she ran away. She goes to visit her father, in prison for the attack (which also apparently caused the pastor's wife to die from a
...more

I'm not quite sure why, but I could not put this book down. So I'm going to assume it was very well written, with compelling characters, a great plot, and subject matter that's enthralling. The author really knew how to keep the reader turning pages, which is good. I've never read this author before, but apparently she has a "cozy" mystery series and some other books out there. This is not a "cozy."
...more
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Goodreads Librari...: Misspelled author name | 3 | 19 | Sep 14, 2015 10:36AM |
I'm the author of the Swift Investigations, Mall Cop and Readaholics mystery series.
After twenty years as an Air Force intelligence officer – serving as a squadron commander, with the National Reconnaissance Office, and at a fighter wing – I retired to parenting and writing full-time.
Spying was easier.
(Laura DiSilverio is also Ella Barrick.) ...more
After twenty years as an Air Force intelligence officer – serving as a squadron commander, with the National Reconnaissance Office, and at a fighter wing – I retired to parenting and writing full-time.
Spying was easier.
(Laura DiSilverio is also Ella Barrick.) ...more
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