Critic Oline Cogdill recently reviewed Jennifer Hillier’s forthcoming novel, Heart of Glass, for the South Florida Sun Sentinel before sharing it with us. Hillier will appear live at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore on Wednesday, August 26 at 7 PM MST. You can preorder a signed copy of Heart of Glass through the Webstore, https://tinyurl.com/ymjyu5n6
Thank you, Oline, for sharing the review.
Book review: Deliciously chilling ‘Heart of Glass’ unlocks memories, secrets and a longing for the past
‘Heart of Glass’ by Jennifer Hillier; Minotaur; 368 pages; $29
So many bad things — murders, poisonings, unexplained deaths — have happened through the years in Seaside, Washington, that an encounter with a serial killer wasn’t even shocking. Some residents wonder if the lovely-sounding Seaside could be cursed, as author Jennifer Hillier explores in her deliciously chilling “Heart of Glass.”
Barb is all too familiar with the dark side of Seaside because 25 years ago she and her two best friends, Lorelei and Nicolette, were engulfed by that darkness. As usual, the girls were spending the evening at Wonderland, the local amusement park, flirting with boys, eating ice cream and just being teenagers, escaping from their dysfunctional homes. A few days later, Lorelei’s body was found in a cranberry bog; Sam Figg, a handsome stranger who had been seen with the girls confessed to the murder of Lorelei and four other young women.
The past 25 years have been endless “guilt and shame” for Barb, who still lives in Seaside, working as a freelance reporter. She and Nicolette, once inseparable, haven’t spoken for decades. And Wonderland, once Seaside’s popular tourist attraction and major source of income, has long been closed.
But the quiet times seem to be over. Figg, nicknamed the Carnival Killer, announces in a just-released documentary that, while he did commit four murders, he did not killed Lorelei. A firm that bought the Wonderland site is days away from reopening the park. And a body that may be a missing reality star has washed up on the beach.
One resident notes in the book that she’d thought Seaside was “finally past all this dark stuff.”
Hillier smoothly incorporates memories, secrets and a longing for the past in her clever “Heart of Glass,” as she makes both Seaside and the shadow of Wonderland as much characters as her people.
Although “Heart of Glass” is not a sequel, Hillier focused on the park in “Wonderland” (2015). She uses her new novel to connect the past with the future. The friend’s murder left a permanent stain on Barb’s heart, a situation that Hillier treats with sensitivity and realism, while adding myriad surprises.