Broken Boys

by Jill Kelly

Maggie Morehouse has a husband who ignores her and a grown son who doesn’t need her. When a mysterious stranger at a small-town parade offers her a life outside the box, she disappears with him, leaving her family to pick up the pieces. Caught between anger and fear, her husband involves the police. The search for Maggie and her companion leads two Pennsylvania detectives into the VFW halls and bingo parlors of rural Virginia where broken boys are at very dangerous play.

336 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2016

About the author

I am a child of the Pacific Northwest, born in a tiny village up the Columbia Gorge in a snowstorm. I grew up in and around Portland, Oregon, then lived for a number of years in California, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and France before settling into Portland again about 15 years ago.

For two decades I was a college professor of French, English as a Second Language, and writing. When I moved west, I reinvented my life, becoming a freelance editor and writer. Eventually I also developed myself into a visual artist (pastels) and an author (memoir, fiction). For some examples, visit my website.

Sober Truths was written over a 7-year period. I wanted to understand the patterns of my past and the various threads of my present. I wrote over 50 stories and included a bit fewer than half. Memoir can be tricky business as memories are unreliable. In the end, all we can do is tell about our own remembrances, our own realities. I hope you enjoy reading the book!

Reviews

[Barbara Gregorich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broken Boys is the story of Maggie Morehouse, a dissatisfied woman who, on impulse, leaves her husband and college-age son for sex and adventure with a stranger: a stranger who has "danger" written all over him. In the novel as in real life, Maggie's actions lead to consequences: for her, for her husband, for her son, and for the stranger.

I'm not really a fan of noir mystery/thrillers, but this noir novel is very well written, with a great plot and well-developed characters, and a story that satisfies because every element in it rings true. I highly recommend it. I may continue to avoid noir books as a whole, but I will definitely read more books by Jill Kelly.

[Suzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

a well written and interesting book

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply marvelous. This book is so well written it's amazing I haven't read her before this. It's about n affair gone horribly wrong. Try it, you'll like it.