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Rampage
Four critically acclaimed novels . . .
A master of the Midwestern gothic . . .
If you haven't discovered Susan Taylor
Welcome to Rampage.
Once again, Chehak has mined her Midwestern roots and produced a highly charged novel where the questions of the present are inextricably bound up with the secrets of the past. In this novel, Chehak sets her story in a small town called Rampage, and as its name implies, it is a place where much violence converges on those whose lives are bound up in its dark history.
Madlen Cramer has come back home with her two young children to be reunited with her childhood friend Rafe, the sexy drifter who has abducted a four-year-old girl from an abusive foster family, leaving the parents for dead. During this hot Iowa summer, the past will refuse to stay past as painful truths begin to about Rafe's own foster family; about Madlen's marriage, whose bonds had begun to unravel in the months before her husband's tragic accident; and about her beautiful self-absorbed mother, whose passions bring about the devastating entanglement of two families in an embrace that cannot be undone until Rafe has gone on the rampage that will destroy everything in sight and leave readers breathless.
A master of the Midwestern gothic, Susan Taylor Chehak is that rare writer who brings the closely observed detail to a level of storytelling that has earned her both an Edgar nomination and the praise of critics nationwide. Rampage is for people who understand, on every level, that you really can't go home again.
A master of the Midwestern gothic . . .
If you haven't discovered Susan Taylor
Welcome to Rampage.
Once again, Chehak has mined her Midwestern roots and produced a highly charged novel where the questions of the present are inextricably bound up with the secrets of the past. In this novel, Chehak sets her story in a small town called Rampage, and as its name implies, it is a place where much violence converges on those whose lives are bound up in its dark history.
Madlen Cramer has come back home with her two young children to be reunited with her childhood friend Rafe, the sexy drifter who has abducted a four-year-old girl from an abusive foster family, leaving the parents for dead. During this hot Iowa summer, the past will refuse to stay past as painful truths begin to about Rafe's own foster family; about Madlen's marriage, whose bonds had begun to unravel in the months before her husband's tragic accident; and about her beautiful self-absorbed mother, whose passions bring about the devastating entanglement of two families in an embrace that cannot be undone until Rafe has gone on the rampage that will destroy everything in sight and leave readers breathless.
A master of the Midwestern gothic, Susan Taylor Chehak is that rare writer who brings the closely observed detail to a level of storytelling that has earned her both an Edgar nomination and the praise of critics nationwide. Rampage is for people who understand, on every level, that you really can't go home again.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published August 17, 1998
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Susan Taylor Chehak
16 books37 followersSusan Taylor Chehak is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers Workshop and the author of several novels, including The Great Disappointment, Smithereens, The Story of Annie D., and Harmony. Her short stories have appeared in Folio, Coe Review, Guernica Magazine, and The Adirondack Review, among other places.
Susan is also the driving force behind Foreverland Press, an e-book publisher devoted to bringing back the backlists of fine writers who might have otherwise been overlooked. Other of her online projects include, What Happened To Paula, a collaborative web-based investigation into the as yet unsolved murder of a former schoolmate; The Truth About Paula O., a blogged memoir of Susan's ongoing 12-year investigation into the Paula Oberbroeckling murder case; and The Foreverland Chronicles, where she has been working with Kathryn Dow to create a detailed narrative record of Foreverland and its denizens.
Susan has taught fiction writing in the low residency MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles, the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, the University of Southern California, and the Summer Writing Festival at the University of Iowa. She grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, lives occasionally in Toronto, and at present calls Colorado her home.
Susan is also the driving force behind Foreverland Press, an e-book publisher devoted to bringing back the backlists of fine writers who might have otherwise been overlooked. Other of her online projects include, What Happened To Paula, a collaborative web-based investigation into the as yet unsolved murder of a former schoolmate; The Truth About Paula O., a blogged memoir of Susan's ongoing 12-year investigation into the Paula Oberbroeckling murder case; and The Foreverland Chronicles, where she has been working with Kathryn Dow to create a detailed narrative record of Foreverland and its denizens.
Susan has taught fiction writing in the low residency MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles, the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, the University of Southern California, and the Summer Writing Festival at the University of Iowa. She grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, lives occasionally in Toronto, and at present calls Colorado her home.
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February 13, 2015
I really enjoyed this story. I wasn't expecting soo many things that happened. It was very rough to read in a lot of places, but only because the writer did so well with making me feel what was happening to the characters. It was a very well written and interesting story that kept me on the edge of my seat and made me read until done. Very glad I got to read this one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review