A Reason To Tremble
Ten year-old Emily Shane is struck by a hit and run driver on a darkened street in the Georgia town of Hope. There are witnesses, but the reports are conflicting.
Pat Shane, Emily's father, deepens the town's shock by accusing local businessman Phil Agee of the crime. Police Chief Davis Anderson investigates, but not with the zeal the
Shane family expects. Pat challenges the investigation. He's jailed and brother Jason reluctantly takes over the family's separate investigation. As he gropes toward a resolution,
Hope is upended by more deaths, leaving loose ends to be tied up within both the Shane family and the town of Hope.
Read The Kirkus Review of A Reason To Tremble:
KIRKUS REVIEW
After the small town of Hope, Ga., is rocked by the hit-and-run death of a 10-year-old girl, two brothers set out to find her murderer in Mustin’s debut thriller.
When Emily Shane is killed by a hit-and-run driver, her father, Pat, begins to obsess over the idea that known-alcoholic Phil Agee is the culprit. It was Agee’s vehicle that was seen ricocheting away from the crime scene, after all. But Agee’s close involvement with prominent liberal Sen. Alan Baxter leads Pat to suspect that the police and Baxter are withholding evidence and not interested in pursuing justice. Pat’s increasingly violent mood swings and volatile outbursts are driving a wedge between him and his wife, Yvonne; the town; and his brother Jason, a Vietnam War vet who lives with the couple. In order to save his family, Jason agrees to investigate the case with old war buddy and private detective Wilton Byrd—as long as Pat lays low. As the case enfolds, more tragedy ensues and Jason and Wilton uncover secrets and lies that shatter the family and town. Author Mustin has created a rich, layered and believable character study of Hope and its people; these are fundamentally decent people who struggle against a greater machine. Some lose their souls and lives trying to make a difference. The corrupting nature of power (the enormity of which is the title’s “reason to tremble”), the damaging effects of war and personal loss, and issues of trust and betrayal are explored with intelligence and depth as two men risk everything to uncover the truth. Filled with complex characters and relationships, this novel is moving and compulsively readable. Ultimately, readers may ask whether holding onto ideals and integrity is really worth this high a price.
An absorbing thriller wrapped in a sharp, biting critique of corruption.
Another great review for A Reason To Tremble:
A Reason to Tremble by Bob Mustin tells a chilling story of the Shane family, who is determined to bring justice to the hit and run driver that killed their ten-year-old daughter Emily one fateful night in their fictional town of Hope, Georgia. Unsatisfied with police performance, the Shane family takes the investigation into their own hands, eventually exposing secrets that even the police have not uncovered.
When Emily’s father Pat gets thrown into jail for interfering with a capital case, her uncle Jason, a Vietnam War veteran, grudgingly takes over. Jason, already burdened with fighting his own post-traumatic battles, gets confronted with even more struggles, leaving both the Shane family and town of Hope with untied emotional loose ends.
A Reason to Tremble sets emotions running high from page one: from the death of a beloved daughter to the depressing crises of an injured war veteran, Mustin truly gives the reader a reason to tremble. Written from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Mustin delivers an unexpected plot strung with real-life issues.
From family drama to legal woes, the Shane family is challenged to overcome smaller battles while striving to uncover the real truth: who was responsible for the tragedy that left their family and town in shambles?
Disclaimer: Mom Central Consulting received a copy of A Reason to Tremble facilitate this review.
See Press Release:
On a darkened street in the fictional town of Hope, Ga., 10-year-old Emily Shane is killed by a hit-and-run driver. Bob Mustin’s “A Reason to Tremble” (ISBN 1469908972) explores the fallout of this tragic crime in this small Southern town. Several witnesses saw the collision, but their reports are conflicting. Was it a stranger passing through? Was it a resident trying to cover his tracks?
Emily’s grieving father Pat shocks the town by accusing prominent local businessman Phil Agee of the hit-and-run. Phil goes into hiding with help of a powerful political friend. Police chief Davis Anderson opens an investigation but he doesn’t pursue leads the way the Shane family would expect. Adding insult to injury, the police chief has Pat jailed on charges of interfering with a capital case.
Reluctantly, Emily’s uncle Jason Shane is tasked with the family’s pursuit of Emily’s killer. A Vietnam War veteran, Jason teams up with an old military buddy to uncover new evidence the police have not revealed. As these hardened investigators lumber towards a break in the case, the small town is rocked by even more deaths.
A political murder mystery, “A Reason to Tremble” is a chilling book that shows how power corrupts even the most well-meaning of men. Written in a taut, page-turning style, the novel will leave readers on the edge of their seats till the very end.
“A Reason to Tremble” is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.
About the Author: Bob Mustin grew up in a military family, spending time throughout the United States and even in Japan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Louisiana Tech University and a master’s in liberal arts and creative writing from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. His work has appeared in several literary journals, and he has been a writer-in-residence at Peace College in Raleigh, N.C. He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
MEDIA CONTACT
Bob Mustin
E-mail: gridleyfires@gmail.com
Phone: (828) 768-1966
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/gridleyfires/
REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE
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