Customer Reviews

The Salt Maiden

Colleen Thompson is an author waiting to "happen". Oh, she has been out there, is well respected as a growing talent. She has a solid backlist of amazing tales; only, she just has that presence of an author ready to have that break out novel. The Salt Maiden is that book. Her skill and flow of the prose marks her as a master wordsmith. She weaves an intricate plot into this eerie, sinister tale that kept me spellbound. This simply is Colleen Thompson at her very best.

Dana Vanover is resolute to find her sister. Her determination takes her back to the desert town of Devil's Claw, where she encounters nothing but resistance to the answers she's come to find. The strongest stonewalling to her prodding and probing for an explanation about her sister's disappearance comes from Sheriff Jay Eversole. The sheriff makes no bones about it - he wants her gone for more reasons than one. However, Dana is not leaving without her sister. As she continues the hardheaded pursuit of the riddle of the mystery, Jay causes other problems - namely the passions he provokes in her. Lives are at peril in this deadly sinister story, and under the careful crafting of this very talented writer, the reader is guaranteed a tale that will keep them on the edge of the seat, with temperatures rising, as they turn page after page unable to put this novel down.

Very highly recommended.

It is a small place, Devil's Claw, Texas. Sheriff Jay Eversole, of Rimrock county, knew it better than most. Full of venomous snakes, scorpions, coyotes, bobcats, an occasional mountain lion or rabid bat. But there may be hope. A company called Haz-Vestment has been sniffing around the area. The locals are thrilled about a salt-dome project that the company was considering for their county. For now, it is still a barren wasteland in the center of nowhere. All was pretty quiet until the veterinarian, Dana Vanover, showed up looking for her missing sister, Angie. Angie spent the last five months in Devil's Claw. The lady spent her time weaving tapestries and causing all sorts of trouble for the locals. She had been totally against the salt-dome project, claiming it defiled the Salt Woman of legends. Anyone who thought Angie had any real sense never thought so for long. Angie has a drug-addled and drunken history. Everyone was glad the lady left. That is, until the sister, Dana, showed up looking for Angie.

Dana Vanover did not want to go off looking for her sister again. But her mother, Isabel, convinced Dana to look at Nikki Harrison, the daughter Angie never told anyone she gave birth to and gave up for adoption. Now Nikki fights cancer; her only hope is bone morrow from Angie. So off Dana goes to Rimrock. The locals are all but hostile from the start, except for the sheriff. However, Jay has not been sheriff for too long. Yet Jay is the only one willing to keep looking for Angie. The two end up dealing with a sniper, a deadly car chase, a scam involving the FBI, and so much more. But through it all, Jay and Dana cannot seem to keep their hands off each other. Their start may have been rocky, but their feelings for each other seem to grow stronger with each hour that passes.

***** An excellent thriller with a touch of romance. I could not bring myself to set the book down. I simply HAD to know what would happen next. From the beginning it is non-stop action, drama, and mystery. Fans of Tess Gerritsen, Tami Hoag, and Sandra Brown will adore this tale. Phenomenal! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Storyline at first leaves you not sure what is going on as if you had missed something, but once you get into it, it works well enough. It has its moments of being cheesy - in particular the first love scene and was a little too schmaltzy for my tastes, but having said that, some of the action is well paced and written. Give it a go but don't pay too much for it (I got it for 99p...)

Enjoyed the twist.Confusing using journals at beginning of chapters. Felt this was not required. Needs work on layout of presentation

This was an ok book with a good story line. It was a bit slow at the beginning but got better as it went along

I got to the middle of the book and decided that I really did not care what happened to the main characters. I had lost interest in the story. Reasonably well written I suppose but not gripping enough for me.

I have not finished reading the book yet, please ask me again laters we my report . If I must later

Enjoyable and interesting,especially the flash backs of a traumatised soldier.

A bit too nice and romantic at the end which in my view made it all a tad unrealistic. At the very least the dog should have died!

Good page turning holiday read.

A "" couldn't put down" book.
The salt maiden keeps the reader enthralled right to the end.
Very good read

This was a fairly routine thriller/romance set in the desert country of Texas. The promise of some interesting anthropological elements was not borne out in the plot and in spite of a deal of biographical detail, the characters did not seem to me to come alive.