Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning

A Novel

ebook
3 of 3 copies available
3 of 3 copies available
One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder receives shocking news: The man convicted of murdering her father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-three years since that stormy night when her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody’s three uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents’ ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night.
Now Billy Crosby is free, thanks to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. Despite their long history of carefully avoiding each other in such an insular community, Jody and Collin find that they share an exclusive sense of loss. 
As Jody revisits old wounds, startling truths emerge about her family’s tragic past. But even through struggle and hardship, she still dares to hope for a better future—and maybe even love.
BONUS: This edition contains a The Scent of Rain and Lightning discussion guide.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 8, 2010
      With exquisite sensitivity, Edgar-finalist Pickard (The Virgin of Small Plains
      ) probes a smoldering cold case involving the Linders, a cattle ranching family that's ruled the small, tight-knit community of Rose, Kans., for generations. One stormy night in 1986, someone shoots Hugh-Jay Linder dead, and Laurie, his discontented young wife, disappears. The authorities arrest Billy Crosby, a disgruntled ex-employee of High Rock Ranch with a drunk-driving record, in whose abandoned truck Laurie's bloodied sundress is found. In 2009, Billy's lawyer son, Collin, who's certain of his dad's innocence, secures Billy's release from prison and a new trial. Father and son return to Rose, where 25-year-old Jody Linder, the victims' daughter, works as a teacher. Collin's pursuit of justice will force Jody and other members of her family, including her three uncles and her grandparents, to finally confront what really happened on that long ago fatal night and deal with the consequences.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from March 15, 2010
      A decades-old mystery is solved and a womans haunting questions put to rest in Pickards latest thriller. When she was just three years old, Jody Linder lost both parents in one night, when her father, Hugh Jayeldest son of the wealthiest rancher in the small town of Rose, Kansaswas killed and her mother, Laurie, vanished. Raised by grandparents, Hugh Senior and Annabelle Linder, and with loving support from three uncles, Jody spends years collecting human detritus around the areas towering Testament Rocks, where authorities once searched for clues to Lauries disappearance. Jodys world is rocked 23 years later when Billy Crosby, the vicious drunk convicted of her fathers murder on circumstantial evidence, is released for a new trial; his return to town brings events to a head. In her second stand-alone (after The Virgin of Small Plains, 2006), Pickard shows her storytelling skills, weaving elements of deception, revenge, and romance into a novel with full-bodied characters who deal with tragedy as best they can; Annabelle Linders encounter with Crosbys wife is particularly moving. From an award-winning author, this is engrossing fiction with an eminently satisfying denouement.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 30, 2010
      Tavia Gilbert demonstrates remarkable range in her narration of Pickard’s spine-tingling thriller set in a rural Kansas ranch community, where mysterious secrets surrounding the wealthy and prominent Linder family come to light in chilling detail. Gilbert’s performance as convicted murderer—and town pariah—Billy Crosby crackles with pentup rage. The scene in which protagonist Jody Linder—a 20-something woman who lost her parents in a crime spree for which Crosby was imprisoned two decades earlier—encounters the newly paroled Crosby in the parking lot of a local tavern demonstrates Gilbert’s remarkable ability to heighten the suspense through vocal nuances and pacing. Gilbert also delivers an especially winning turn in her portrayal of Jody as a little girl too young to understand the sordid events around her. An edge-of-your seat listen. A Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 8).

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading