GREAT READS

The Weight of Silence

Heather Gudenkauf.

I really had no idea what this book was about when I popped the AudioBook into my CD player. I was greeted by a wonderful host of voices playing all the characters. The plot is divided by short chapters featuring different characters and realistic voices which really kept the flow at a quick pace.

Starting with a 7-year-old girl named Calli Clark who hasn't spoken a word in 3 years, Calli tip-toes down the stairs in the morning trying to avoid her drunken father. Unfortunately, someone hears her tiny footsteps. Meanwhile, a father nearby named Martin wakes up to find his daughter missing from her bed. His daughter Petra is the best friend of and voice for the silent Calli. While it doesn't look like a kidnapping, where would Petra be before dawn? When Martin calls Calli's house and realizes she is gone too, this begins a race against time to find Calli and Petra and deep dark secrets come to life.

Each of the characters is drawn into a world of waiting, searching and confronting their pasts while interacting with each other in a traumatic situation, leading the characters into making decisions they hadn't before considered. Author Gudenkauf's suspenseful debut novel has well developed characters and a storyline that is fast-paced but rich in depth. Most intriguing are the unspoken hints that end most chapters and keep you anticipating the answers (and taking extra trips in the car).

Heather Gudenkauf has a new book called "These Things Hidden" that I can't wait to read, or listen to.

Recommended by Allison Holbrook