Somewhere Like Here

by Melissa Dereberry

When his father’s death prompts Jack Lamb to revisit the past, he embarks on a search for truth surrounding the disappearance of his mother thirty three years ago. The discovery of an old photograph, a chance encounter with a down-to-earth woman named Faye, and blind determination propel Lamb through the creative, daunting landscape of his anxiety and the arresting wilderness of Devil’s Elbow, Missouri, where will come face to face with the flimsy psychological foundation upon which he has built his life. As this foundation begins to crumble, Lamb immerses himself in a desperate quest to piece together his past. What he finds will change everything.

Genres: Mystery, Family, Literary Fiction

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2012

Reviews

[Bkwyrm · Rating 1 out of 5]

A free read, so you'd think I'd feel okay about it being so badly edited and wandering. Nope. I feel like I ought to be reimbursed for my time spent reading it.

Hint: if you're going to publish a book - even for free - have someone check it for errors in tense, grammar, punctuation, and viewpoint.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the 1st part of the book, but it really dragged in the middle. I'm not sure what type of genre it falls into.

[Beth P · Rating 3 out of 5]

About a man, Jack, who finds out what really happened to his mother some 30+ years earlier. Did she leave his family for another man? Did she die? Was she murdered?

[Ramona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out very promising. I liked the story, but by the end of the book I was so tired of the main character's excessive innermost thoughts. I probably wouldn't have finished except (a) I'm stubborn and (b) I really wanted to know the outcome.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack grew up believing that his mother died when he was only five years old. After his father's funeral his Aunt Joan tells him that no one knows what happened to his mother. That she left home and that was the last anyone heard from her. While cleaning out his father's house he finds a picture of his mother that appears to be taken by someone other than his dad. While his own marriage seems to be crumbling around him he tries to figure out the mystery of what happens to his mother.

I thought this was an okay story. It seemed to flow well although there were a couple of things that could have been left out and it probably wouldn't have hurt the story any.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay...the story is told from the mind of the protagonist--Jack Lamb--a husband, father, professor--who is lost in his own lifelong mystery about the mysterious death of his mother. Unfortunately, we learn a lot about Jack's thoughts and the story itself doesn't progress very far. Most of the time you're reading this book simply waiting for something to happen. When it doesn't, you think "there's got to be something more to this story." Unfortunately, there isn't.

[Sumner Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mile upstream from where the Big Piney River empties into the Gasconade River, sets the small near-ghost-town, Devil's Elbow. It's here where Jack Lamb sets out on the search for what happened to his mother many years ago.

This tale is an intriguing adventure. A mystery in the Ozarks. The novel kept me breathlessly reading in order to discover the same truth Jack Lamb sets out to learn.

Five stars for Somewhere Like Here.

[Christiane Mell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly good book, and I really enjoyed the first 100 or so pages, the problem was that the story went on about 100 pages further than it needed to. I became bored with the main character and his soul-searching. After awhile he just sounded like a whiny baby. Better editing could have made this a 5 star book for me, but as it is, I could not wait to get to the end.

[Joann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found it difficult to engage with the characters and the storyline on this one. I borrowed this title from the Lending Library so I persisted through to finish and return. It was only at 75 percent completion that I developed some interest. The analogies were contrived and trite as was the plot.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many errors in tense and story line. It became distracting. Sometimes hard to follow the dreams and fantasies of the main character. The story did not hold together.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

boring

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a good premise, but was really a let down. The mistakes are distracting. It was free, so I can't complain to much

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won't go down in history as a literary classic but a good read for a long plane trip or a rainy (or snowy) day.