Salem Falls was a nice read. A fast read, for me. I picked it randomly from the hundreds of books on my e-reader and I was glad I liked it.
The reason I liked it, is because it's so straightforward. You have a romance: a guy and a girl, both with awful things in their past, who meet.
You have intrigue. A witches' hunt for justice. And there's also a little courtroom action which I like in small doses.
And of course, the happy ending. Sort of.
Can't say it's happy for every contender.
The story is pretty basic. Jack, a high school teacher accused of sexual harassment, tries to pick up the pieces of his life, after being released from prison. He seeks refuge in a town that shares this novel's title - Salem Falls.
A sign in a diner saying they need a dishwasher, he gets to meet Addie right away since she's the proud owner of said diner.
What we get is passion and raw understanding.
Not too realistic though, but realism isn't something I go look for in a Jodi Picoult book. I want the picture perfect romance and where everything is mostly black and white. What happens to be grey can be forgiven.
Underneath their passion are their secrets. Jack's prison sentence and Addie's deceased child.
It gives them a peculiar platform to hover on top of, especially when the whole town conspires to bringing that bubble down.
How? Jack is being accused again of raping an innocent young girl.
The young girl in question is Gillian, daughter of the town's best known man, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company employing probably half of Salem Falls.
The twist? In a town called Salem, how can it be other than witches? Or maybe Drake Ramoray from Days Of Our Lives? It's gotta be one of those two.
When Jack tumbles down the hill, help comes from an unexpected corner, at least that's what we are supposed to think, but you can see it from miles ahead. Don't get me wrong, that's just what so damn lovable about these novels. A somewhat retired lawyer tries to save jack's sorry little ass, because can you believe it he got struck twice?
Two times falsely accused of sexual harassment.
That's gotta suck.
But like I already said, the happy ending will be delivered. Albeit it a little cold and inedible. I'm no writer, but I could think of a few ways this could've had ended more digestible. It wouldn't lose any Hollywood charm, but add a little punch to that ending.
So I liked it, right up until the end.
The ending didn't do it for me.
Not the 'get out of jail for free' card, I've got no problem with that, but the very last. The last words written about Gillian weren't needed. Well, I didn't need it anyway, it was blatantly obvious what was happening in that household. Didn't need a billboard to figure it out.
Anyway, I got what I expected and I thank Jodi greatly for that.
