We’ve been waiting for Margaret’s second book for many months. If you haven’t read Fogs in August, you will have the pleasure of a discovering a new voice in suspense. If you have enjoyed that novel, now you can experience something new with The Fifth Stage.
Ms. Helms’s website. Go here for a preview of both her novels.
You could read this book in one sitting. But after the first page, you probably won't be able to, since you'll be making sure the doors are locked and the curtains are drawn. Fogs in August is at once a suspense-thriller in the "stalker" genre and a romance with fully realized and likeable characters, including the one who turns out to be stalking the main character, Sarah. Ms. Helms delivers up several delectable dishes, including beautiful and handsome characters, laugh-out-loud or heart-thumping descriptive phrases, and a twisting and turning plot. Her descriptions and similes are so fresh, it's like having a salad in the garden on a warm spring morning. But it's the story itself that gives the reader a lot to chew on, from the odd and touching goings on at the senior center where the main character, Sarah, is the director, to the remodeling she's doing at her family farm, to the delightful characters that populate this book. Gordon, Sarah's best friend, is a gay man who provides a sounding board for Sarah and a shoulder to sometimes cry on. Linda is the beautiful and enigmatic roommate, who propels Sarah into eye-opening introspection. A retired school teacher at the center, who was one of Sarah's teachers, provides unexpected and challenging guidance when Sarah is at her wits end. The very best thing is you don't know who the true villains are because, in this small Southern town, everything is dripping with that Southern charm and overt friendliness, so you don't know who to fear until the fog lifts!
—Ronald L. Donaghe
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