- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 3825 KB
- Print Length: 353 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1501118455
- Publisher: Atria Books (Sept. 26 2017)
- Sold by: Simon & Schuster Canada, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B01MD0SGHS
Book Description
Known for novels featuring “great pacing and true surprises” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) and “nerve-shattering suspense” (Heather Gudenkauf, New York Time bestselling author), New York Times bestselling author Kate Moretti’s latest is the story of a scandal-torn Pennsylvania town and the aftermath of a troubled girl gone missing.
“Where did they come from? Why did they fall? The question would be asked a thousand times…
Until, of course, more important question arose, at which time everyone promptly forgot that a thousand birds fell on the town of Mount Oanoke at all.”
In a quiet Pennsylvania town, a thousand dead starlings fall onto a high school baseball field, unleashing a horrifying and unexpected chain of events that will rock the close-knit community.
Beloved baseball coach and teacher Nate Winters and his wife, Alicia, are well respected throughout town. That is, until one of the many reporters investigating the bizarre bird phenomenon catches Nate embracing a wayward student, Lucia Hamm, in front of a sleazy motel. Lucia soon buoys the scandal by claiming that she and Nate are engaged in an affair, throwing the town into an uproar…and leaving Alicia to wonder if her husband has a second life.
And when Lucia suddenly disappears, the police only to have one suspect: Nate.
Nate’s coworker and sole supporter, Bridget Harris, Lucia’s creative writing teacher, is determined to prove his innocence. She has Lucia’s class journal, and while some of the entries appear particularly damning to Nate’s case, others just don’t add up. Bridget knows the key to Nate’s exoneration and the truth of Lucia’s disappearance lie within the walls of the school and in the pages of that journal.
Told from the alternating points of view of Alicia, Nate, Lucia, and Bridget, The Blackbird Season is a haunting, psychologically nuanced suspense, filled with Kate Moretti’s signature “chillingly satisfying” (Publishers Weekly) twists and turns.
PRAISE
FOR THE BLACKBIRD SEASON:
“Crime
fiction adores girls in trouble. Moretti's latest nail-biter (The Vanishing
Year, 2016, etc.) is no exception, but it is exceptional… Though Moretti's
emotionally astute tale can be heart-rending, readers won't be able to look
away. As slow, creeping dread sets in, so does the inevitability of the
terrible situation the town finds itself in, offering a deliciously sinister
glimpse into the duplicity of small-town lives and the ease with which people
turn on each other when tragedy comes calling. Moretti's tale of jealousy and
obsession is nothing less than dark magic. Witchery indeed.”
– Kirkus
Reviews (STARRED Review)
“A powerful story about a missing girl and an accused suspect that takes a haunting look into the characters and relationships you think you know. The Blackbird Season explores the fine line between guilt and innocence, truth and perception, the moments that break people apart—and those that bring them together. Riveting and insightful, this is a book that lingers long after you turn the final page.”
– Megan
Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of All the
Missing Girls
“Kate Moretti’s insightful, starkly human mystery about a girl they call 'witch' has that sit-down, gotta-cry eloquence readers long for. Mean girl alliances and small town loyalties collapse in unison on the day the blackbirds fall. This story will hold you tight to its pages well past your bedtime. The Blackbird Season is Moretti’s best yet.”
– Lisa
Turner, Edgar Award finalist author of The Gone Dead Train and Devil
Sent the Rain
“The
Blackbird Season pulls off a very difficult thing: it's nail-biting
and thought-provoking all at once. It's a rare that a book can make you turn
pages like your life depends on it, but also give you food for thought because the
characters are so perfectly drawn. A stunning achievement from an extremely
talented writer.”
– Gilly
Macmillan, New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew
“Moretti
spins a tale of suspicion, deceit, and dreams that die as suddenly as a flock of
starlings falling from the sky. A thrilling morality tale of the highest
order, The Blackbird Season will make you question the lines
between right and wrong, victim and criminal, and the unknowable intentions
that form our innocence and guilt.”
– Mindy
Mejia, author of Everything You Want Me to Be
“Moretti
begins The Blackbird Season with a sinister premise — a cloud
of birds fall from the sky on the same day a teenage girl people call ‘the
witch’ goes missing. A spellbinding tale of long-held secrets and small-town
scandal, The Blackbird Season is one of those stories that
sneaks up on you, each chapter building steadily to an ending that will haunt
you long after you turn the last page.”
–
Kimberly Belle, bestselling author of The Marriage Lie
“The characters
are authentically flawed and believable, and part of the mystery is the
unfolding of their motivations…The Blackbird Season is about how
people—teens and adults alike—get lost and disconnected. All that, plus a
suspenseful mystery—what more can you ask for?”
– Holly
Brown, author of Don't Try to Find Me
“When a
troubled teenaged girl goes missing in The Blackbird Season, the
town in which she lives is ripped apart by suspicion. As disturbing secrets
bubble to the surface, no one is safe. Kate Moretti’s trademark vivid
characterizations, surprising storyline, and heart-stopping suspense kept me
eagerly turning pages long into the night.”
– Carla
Buckley, author of The Good Goodbye
“The
Blackbird Season is more than a haunting mystery; it’s an intense
exploration of a family in crisis and a community rocked by scandal. How well
can you truly know the ones you love? How far can you trust them? I couldn’t
stop reading until I knew the whole and harrowing truth.”
– Laura
McHugh, award-winning author of The Weight of Blood and Arrowood
About the Author
Kate Moretti lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and a dog. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.
She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.
Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway.
Website: www.katemoretti.com
Twitter: @KateMoretti1
Instagram: @katemoretti1
My Review
The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti was a lovely surprise.This is the first book of Moretti's that I have read and I found it spellbinding!
A small town in Pennsylvania...troubled since the mill shut down 10 years ago...too many towns like that these days. A generation ago the world was a different place with father's having good industrial jobs. A thriving middle class. Now, things seem hopeless in a small town where the only way out is an education...or baseball scholarship. A sleepy town...until the birds started falling from the sky and everything changed.
Teacher and baseball coach Nate Winters is beloved by all. But how quickly that turns when everyone suspects him of having an affair with a troubled student Lucia. And she has disappeared...is she dead...has she run away...
I loved all the twists and turns and I enjoyed the layers being peeled away as the truth is revealed.
Great read. Highly recommend The Blackbird Season.
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