The Weight of Silence Heather Gudenkauf

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am giving this book three stars, however, i don't know if I really liked. Confused, me too. I liked the book in the moment, it was an enjoyable read that held my interest, but it won't stand the test of time. Ask me how I feel about it in a week and I will probably be indifferent or won't even remember it.
My biggest criticism of this book is that nothing about it stands out as being memorable, the characters are blah, the story line should be exciting, but its blah, the writing is blah.... You get the point.
Set in North East Iowa, The Weight of Silence tells the story of Callie and Petra, 7 year old best friends, who are discovered missing in the early morning hours of a hot August day. Callie, a selective mute, and Petra are gone with no signs of a struggle and no evidence of foul play, they could have just wondered off into the woods to play together. The investigation is led by Loras Louis, the deputy sheriff, who use to be Callie's mother's (Antonia)boyfriend. Told through the perspectives of various characters in alternating chapters, Callie, Griff (Callie's alcoholic father) Antonia, Deputy Louis, Ben (Callie's teenage brother) and Martin (Petra's father), the story can become a bit repetitive and full of back story that does not add much to the story other than to illustrate Deputy Louis's conflict of interest and introduce a suspect of or two.
I don't think that the author had a plan for this novel, as the ending was really far fetched and we lack motive for many of the characters. And the police work - ewwwww.
Living in Iowa and traveling through the location of the novel frequently I will have to say that the author captured the area well, her descriptions of the bluffs and forests rang true.
This is an enjoyable light read that you will probably quickly forget.



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