The Crossing - Book Review

Product Description:  Imprisoned by memories, Claudia Campbell lives each day in the shadow of a ten-year-old murder. Who can set her free?  On the way home from a football game, a decade earlier, a masked gunman opened fire on a Texas school bus. Cheerleading coach B.J. Remington was killed, but her murderer was never found. Claudia, who had a close friendship with the young, spirited teacher, constantly relives the anguish of that day, caught in one moment in time. When her husband, the assistant district attorney, becomes determined to uncover the mystery of that tragedy, the secrets buried over the years threaten to tear their family apart.  Officer Casio Hightower will never forget the day his dreams were destroyed. A star quarterback with a promising future, Casio was on top of the world—until one bullet changed everything. He is eager to help Victor Campbell find B.J.’s killer, the man who shot him. Maybe solving the case will help silence the demons driving Casio to hurt the woman he loves.As the Campbells and Casio teeter on the brink of losing everything, will they be able to discover that what begins at the crossing ends at the cross?

Synopsis:  The Crossing is the story of Claudia Campbell, a young wife and mother who lived through a shooting on her school bus 10 years ago.  She has a life anyone would envy, successful husband and cute daughter.  Unfortunately, she's still dealing with the trauma of watching her friend and teacher die.  Claudia's husband Victor, the local assistant district attorney, decides to re-open the case in hopes of erasing some of Claudia's demons.  He's assisted by a local policeman, Casio Hightower who was also on the bus and fighting demons of his own.  As the book progresses, Claudia's mental state continues to unravel leading her to separate from her husband and parents.  Secrets are divulged that threaten to tear multiple families apart. 

Review:  I have to admit up-front that I had some preconceived notions I had to overcome while reading this book.  I won't go into them in detail here (it's not the time or place) but they did impact my review of this book to a certain extent.  As a book, it's not too bad - not my favorite but not the worst I've ever read by a long shot.  The action is fast-paced and once I got started, I wanted to keep reading.  A couple of things bothered me though.  One, Casio is a jerk of a character, an abuser who is never forced to take responsibility for his actions.  (Sidebar:  The whole issue of domestic violence is never dealt with anywhere.  Jakes misses an opportunity to do something powerful for domestic violence.  She's a powerful voice, if only she'd used it.)  Two, you read/hear the voice of the teacher who was shot as she was dying.  Seeing as how she had been dead for10 years, it just seemed strange to me.  I know it was how Jakes decided to tell the story of the shooting and the back story of the shooting, it just seemed strange to me.  I did think Jakes did a good job developing believable characters and her dialogue was solid so that's a positive.  Overall, it's not a horrible book by any stretch, it's just not one of my favorites.

Score:  3.0 bookmarks out of 5

Note: Waterbrook Multnomah gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.