The Righteous Path

The Georgie Connelly Stories #3

by E.L. Lindley

In between projects and waiting for James to return from the Gulf, Georgie is excited when her old friend Sean Collins asks her for help in finding a missing girl. Little do they realise where their digging will lead and before too long they are caught up in the sinister world of a religious cult. As Georgie finds herself drawn further under the thrall of Jed Monroe, the charismatic cult leader, she finds herself questioning her entire belief system. Stripping away at the layers of corruption within the cult, Georgie faces a race against time to try and determine who Jed Monroe really is.

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2012

About the author

E.L. Lindley is an indie writer and general lover of books in all of their forms. She has written numerous contemporary novels, including the Georgie Connelly series as well as standalone novels. When she is not writing, she is devouring the works of other writers and is delighted by how indie publishing has thrown open the world of publishing. She sees it as a win win situation, allowing writers to publish their work, whilst providing readers with a richer and more varied choice.

Lindley has always loved writing but produced her first full length novel, Business As Usual, when she decided to move on from her career as an English teacher. She now supplements her writing by working on a free-lance basis. This also affords her time to travel and she has been fortunate enough to have travelled extensively throughout the world, using her experiences as a source of inspiration for her writing.

She currently resides in Sheffield in the UK but has lived and worked in many places including, London, Oxford, Southampton, Cheltenham and Brighton. She also studied for a couple of years at the University of Arlington in Texas and has consequently made many extended trips to the USA to visit and stay with friends. Her novels reflect this and tend to incorporate both sides of the Atlantic.

Lindley writes in a style which is both light-hearted and fun but with serious undertones, often tackling gritty subjects. In all of her novels, the characters reflect her belief in humanity and the fact that the human spirit will always prevail, regardless of the situation. Lindley's primary goal is to entertain people but she is happy to take any response that she can get.

Reviews

[Cathy Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Sean Collins rescues Georgie from boredom and her uncertainty concerning James, with the promise of an intriguing project, she jumps at the chance of having something other than her precarious romance to occupy her mind. Sean’s suspicions are aroused when a young girl disappears from a religious cult group based on an estate in Ventura. Georgie is intrigued and envisions the seeds of a conceivably major story. She knows it will make a great documentary and loses no time in getting Danny on board. None of them have the least notion of where their investigations will lead and what they will uncover.

James arrives home two weeks earlier than planned, to Georgie’s surprised pleasure, and finds her about to throw herself into another potentially dangerous situation. It’s not the greatest of homecomings for James, he knows how Georgie dives in without thinking things through and it doesn’t tale long for them to come to verbal blows. Georgie and Julie are still circling each other, which isn’t helping James either. Other relationships are suffering in this story too, which allows the characters more realism, given the dynamics between them all. And to top it off Marilyn makes an appearance with a surprising proposition.

Jed Munroe and the menacing religious cult’s activities makes a believable and very realistic storyline. Although charismatic and apparently sincere, Jed is not all he seems. E L Lindley weaves a tense and well thought out plot that gains momentum all the way to the unexpected conclusion.

I think this story is my favourite so far! Georgie is still as impulsive and hot-headed as ever and her relationship with James just as volatile. There’s never a dull moment with these protagonists, that’s for sure. It was lovely to be re-acquainted with the great cast of characters from the previous books too.

This passage taken from E. L. Lindley’s bio on Goodreads says exactly what I most enjoy about her writing ~ ‘Lindley writes in a style which is both light-hearted and fun but with serious undertones, often tackling gritty subjects. In all of her novels, the characters reflect her belief in humanity and the fact that the human spirit will always prevail, regardless of the situation.’

[Georgia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a truly wonderful thing to open a new book you’ve been really looking forward to from an author whose work you’ve enjoyed in the past. Of course there’s always the chance the book might not live up to your love of what you’ve read before so it’s a relief when you dive in and then get to relax, knowing all is well. The Righteous Path, the third in the Georgie Connolly Stories and a series I’m really enjoying is just such a read and I knew I was in safe hands as soon as I started it. There I was back with the familiar characters again, solid and reliable, though of course their relationships are evolving through the books just as they should.

Georgie Connolly is as high maintenance as ever and with her fiery temper and her ability to take every slight to heart she continues to give everyone around her a really hard time. Georgie’s incredibly patient boyfriend James takes the brunt of her moods and often irrational decision making but even he gets pushed too far in this story. As has happened before when Georgie has a new project, nothing gets in her way and this time her zealous focus is on a religious cult which she starts investigating for a new documentary.

Georgie, somewhat surprisingly as she is no one’s fool, is increasingly drawn in by the charismatic Jed Munroe who appears to lead the cult and like all those who follow him she starts to believe he is the real thing and not some fake psychic. Despite warnings from her friends about him she puts herself in danger by moving onto the ranch where the cult is based. Her investigations lead her to find out about the true nature of what’s going on within the cult when she discovers there’s a second ranch but resentful of the fact that those around her keep wanting to take over she takes matters in to her own hands putting herself and all those around her in danger.

Lindley’s writing is consistently strong, the storylines are original and the characterisations realistic. This is a really super series of stories that I’d highly recommend to anyone who enjoys good no nonsense storytelling with plenty of action and thrills along the way and I shall definitely be getting the next one.

[Zoe Saadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fan of Georgie Connelly's Series, I picked The Righteous Path the moment I put down the previous book (and I must admit I'm already half way through with the next/last book in the series as well - wish someone warned me how addictive those series can turn out!).
This time the action shifts to religious cults, the Church of Light and mysterious Jed Monroe who allegedly could connect to the other worlds and talk to the departed spirits. The allegation Georgie and her friends, Sean the Detective most of all, deny as a perfect con art, but the rest of the people around this mysterious Jed Monroe believe in him so wholeheartedly until it becomes unsettling, to Georgie herself as well. As always with the novels of this series, from there the events spiral in a breathtaking speed, taking wildest turns possible, and heading into all absolutely unpredictable directions, keeping the reader breathless and on the edge of one's seat, grabbing one's Kindle on every occasion.
Besides the delightfully light, smoothest of styles, and the most lively, likable, complicated characters, I think this is what I love about these series the best - the complete unpredictability. No matter how clear it looks in the beginning, how guilty the guilty looks and the crimes seems to be perfectly clear, it never comes to what one would expect. The characters you suspect most turn out to be the innocent, or mainly innocent, or even the victims, and absolutely unsuspected guys and gals come to play the main roles all of a sudden. All of which is done so subtly, one never thinks to question any of that, but only to shake one's head and sigh at one's density in guessing the truth. I was never a fan of crime novels or series, but these books turned me into one. Or maybe it's the main characters, Georgie and her friends/team, James, Eric, Julie and Sean, are the ones to get such a grip on me. When I read those novels I feel being a part of their lives and in the loveliest of companies.
I hope there is more of these series coming out and soon!

[Michael Mitzner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really Enjoyed

I really enjoyed this book! As the second in the series, the characters are all well developed. I appreciate how different therapy are and out of the head of one writer. I don't want to leave any spoilers here, so read for yourself in order to discover!