Salem Falls by Jodi Piccoult

In my last post I said I was reading completely different books.  Well. . . that hasn't happened.  I went to the library to find one of the books I was going to read and couldn't find it.  And then I got distracted with some other books so I postponed reading Timeline.  But I'm working on it now :)

Over my Christmas vacation I actually finished 3 books.  2 of those books are in a series that I will  blog about all at once, so keep  checking back to see that.  The other book was this one.  I absolutely love all of Jodi Piccoult's books that I have read so far.  She is a fantastic author that really knows how to draw her audience into the story she is telling.  Salem Falls was no different.

Salem Falls is about a man, Jack, that has just been released from prison after 8 months serving a plea bargained sentence for rape.  He entered the plea bargain on the advice from his lawyer, although he swears up and down that he was innocent of all charges.  Jack finds himself in the small town of Salem Falls.  He is trying to escape the life he left behind.  He walks into a diner with a "help wanted' sign in the window and asks for a job as a dishwasher.  Addie, the owner of the diner, hires him on, although she is a bit hesitant to do so.  Jack and Addie fall in love and start a relationship.  A local police officer, who happens to have feelings for Addie, reveals Jack's past to Addie, causing a strain in the relationship.  Addie was a victim of rape herself in high school, but she decides to trust Jack when he says we was wrongfully accused.  Their relationship continues to blossom until Jack is arrested one night from Addie's house after again being accused of raping a local teenage girl.  Jack again claims he is innocent and is being framed by this teenager and her group of friends.  The trial reveals a lot of secrets and history as Jack's lawyer fights against the entire town to prove that Jack is the good man he claims to be, not a serial rapist.

I absolutely loved this book.  It has a lot of interesting nuances that are a bit unexpected.  All of the characters have intriguing pasts that make you want to learn more about them.  The one thing I didn't absolutely love in the book was the very end.  It left me with more questions than answers, especially in regards to the relationship between the teenage girl that accused Jack of rape and her father.  But other than that I loved the book, as I do most of Piccoult's work.

Like I said, up next is Timeline, for real this time.  My boyfriend is insisting that I read it. In fact he was upset that I read this before reading Timeline, so I HAVE to finish it before I read anything else.

Happy Reading!

~Tara