I received this book to give an honest review.

Man oh man I loved this book. You have two families that have some type of feud going on that has dated back since it seems forever. Our two main characters Rue and Tanner met when she was twelve years old at her father's funeral. After meeting him she is told by her uncle Amos that if she ever was to be with a Montgomery boy he would kill her. That right there shows you that there has to be a forbidden love that comes into play but at what cost?
When they met up again years later by mistake that is when the storm comes a comin via Rue's sister Lucy and her visions.
Can Rue and Tanner change everyone's mind and put the clan names behind them or will they forever be told they have to stay apart?
While being together they learn secrets that have been held within the family for years and who is the actually killer of both Tanner's father and Rue's. We already have an inkling but we don't get the proof until later on and Rue has to make a decision that will affect her in more ways than one.
I really loved the characters they were well developed and I loved how they never backed down no matter what was thrown their way.
Now Josie OMG this cousin of Rue's was a hoot especially when trying to fend off the feelings she had for Bryce Montgomery.
Rue as a character dealt with a lot and you can tell she just wanted to find love and happiness and when her heart shattered again I just wasn't sure she could take anything else being thrown her way.
There is so much with this book that I could write on with this review but I won't. If you want love, drugs, heartache and action then pick it up.
Now as good as it was I have one question on why the author did not elaborate on how Rue felt after losing her V-card to Tanner. I would have thought this to be something very magical but it felt kind of swept under the rug so to speak.

Reding went to Oelwein, and then to places such as California, Idaho, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri, small towns and big cities, in order to give us context for Oelwein and the meth problem, a problem that even draws from places as far away as China. It documents the death (and rebirth) of the town and the birth and life of meth. We learn that small town America is not really the idyllic place many people think it is, but it neither a wasteland or just flyover country.

 

Click on the link to read my full review, which I have posted on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian.

Wow, I'm surprised that I am the ONLY PERSON to have rated this book! It was only published in 1992, and it is pretty relevant and interesting.

Basically, the entire book is just interviews with people in their own words with a bare minimum of commentary. There are interviews with happy-go-lucky recreational drug users, police, people who have been beyond addicted, doctors dealing with drug-related gunshot wounds, drug dealers & smugglers, prison guards. Pretty much anyone who is related to or sees the effects of the drug war. Their approach--of letting people simply tell their stories--proves an insightful one, as the possible experiences are so vast. Sometimes an interview will directly contradict the one before it (for example, someone claims that "most" heroin addicts don't rob people with guns, followed by a heroin addict who says she and all her friends went on armed robbery frenzies). The thing is, since they're all people's own experiences, they're technically all "true." So it really gets the point of the fragmented and twisted "front lines" of the drug war.

Even though I have read several books on the topic of drugs and the drug war, this book still provided me with lots of information. Not hard, factual information (although there is some of that), but it really does give a window into the drug war. After reading many graphic details, I was sure that a book couldn't make me squeamish anymore; the chapter in which a doctor describes how to open a chest to attempt to save the life of a gunshot victim proved me spectacularly wrong. That's gonna gross me out for days.

Anyway, it was a pretty quick read, and there are some pretty haunting and interesting accounts. To anyone interested in the subject, I'd definitely recommend it, especially since you can pick it up on Amazon for one penny plus shipping.