Ricochet in Time

by Lori L. Lake

Being hated is an ugly, but very real experience, even in the land of “Minnesota Nice” where no one wants to believe discrimination exists. But, what if you were hated for just being who you are? What if you were hated, not for what how you looked or what you believed in, but because of who you chose to love? Danielle “Dani” Corbett and her girlfriend Meg O’Donnell know firsthand what hatred can cost. After a vicious and intentional attack fueled by nothing more than hatred, Meg is dead and Dani is left physically injured and emotionally scarred. Since her injury prevents Dani from fleeing on her motorcycle, which is her normal response to a crisis, she must find a way to deal with her grief and rage. But as one door has closed for Dani, another opens when Grace Beaumont, a young woman who works as a physical therapist at the hospital where Dani is treated, befriends her and helps her to heal. With Grace's friendship and the help of Grace’s aunts, Estelline and Ruth, Dani manages to get through the ordeal of bringing Dani’s attacker and Meg’s killer to justice. Through her emotional journey Dani finds love, acceptance, and family. Filled with memorable characters, RICOCHET IN TIME is the story of one lonely woman’s fight for justice – and her struggle to resolve the troubles of her past and find a place in a world where she belongs.

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Lesbian Fiction, Queer, Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Lori L. Lake is the author of ten novels, two books of short stories, and editor of two anthologies. She'll soon have four books available in The Gun Series as well as the next book in The Public Eye Mystery Series. Her crime fiction stories have been featured in "Silence of the Loons," "Once Upon a Crime," and "Women of the Mean Streets. She's had romance stories anthologized in "Best Lesbian Romance" and "Women in Uniform." Lori lived in Minnesota for 26 years, but re-located to Portland, Oregon, in 2009. She presents seminars and workshops on writing topics such as character building, plot, the writing process, the writing life, mystery structure, and form and structure in the modern novel. When she's not working at her computer, you can find her either at the local movie house or curled up in a chair reading. She is currently at work on her next novel. Lori very much likes to hear from her readers. (from the publisher's website)

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not an action book or a ranchy romance. While it does have a touch of romance, the main focus is on Dani's growth to realize she can't run away from everything because that just leaves baggage that will eventually erupt.

Lake's book opens up with a vehicle hate crime against Danii ad her girlfriend Meg. Two butch riding lesbians who stop at a bar to get a drink. Trouble ensues and it leads to the hate crime by Grimes. The main, well almost the whole thing, is about the healing process of Dani and emphasizing on how long that process is taking as well as dealing with the death of her lover. Then comes b Grace. A physical therapist who has two gay aunts and is gay herself. While she does not work with Dani, she does so much more by offering rides and eventually a home. Now it is time for Dani to choose: stay with Dani or leave the situation like she has done so often in the past.

I liked the in-depth focus on the healing process of a car accident. Never did I think it took all that to heal a broken leg. But with that came the tedious task of reading all that with no major action. Sure there was look at Dani's homophobic upbringing with her abusive father but there just something that was missing from this book. And I don't know what. This missign piece of the book rates it lower than I would have given it.

[Deirdre S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, 4.5. I started out my acquaintance with Lori Lake's work by reading Snow Moon Rising, which is a tough act to follow. I've since read the Gun books (the first three, anyway -- there is a fourth yet to come) and Like Lovers Do, and most recently Buyer's Remorse. All of those were a bit more polished and perhaps more tightly plotted than this, which is her first novel. But her facility for making characters that are walk-off-the-page real, and whose fates matter to a reader as much as their flesh and blood friends' do ... at that aspect of being a kick-ass novelist, she is already firing on all cylinders.

The fact that she lives in Portland and I've actually met her, and she is a really interesting human being is just a bonus.

[Kerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book a chore to get through. I was bored except for the exciting thoughts in my head of punching the annoying main characters in the face.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A four and a half star; another great book by Lori L. Lake!