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Bell Elkins #3.7
Ghost Roll
Bell Elkins, prosecuting attorney and small-town heroine of Pulitzer Prize winner Julia Keller's A Killing in the Hills, Bitter River and Summer of the Dead, faces one of her most challenging days in this exclusive digital short story. Featuring an exclusive extract from her new full-length novel Last Ragged Breath.
For Bell Elkins no day is ever the same. But on this day, for the third day running, Bell has woken up from the same dream. A dream about a boy needing her help, reaching out to her. Bell, always unable to help. Already unsettled, she becomes embroiled, in her role as prosecuting attorney for Raythune County, in an investigation into a couple running a local day-care centre, and Bell suspects that her day is only going to get worse. A suspicion that is compounded when she's forced to confront a friend's treachery and a ghost from her past. No day is ever the same, but will Bell be forever changed by this one?
For Bell Elkins no day is ever the same. But on this day, for the third day running, Bell has woken up from the same dream. A dream about a boy needing her help, reaching out to her. Bell, always unable to help. Already unsettled, she becomes embroiled, in her role as prosecuting attorney for Raythune County, in an investigation into a couple running a local day-care centre, and Bell suspects that her day is only going to get worse. A suspicion that is compounded when she's forced to confront a friend's treachery and a ghost from her past. No day is ever the same, but will Bell be forever changed by this one?
30 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2015
43 people are currently reading
435 people want to read
About the author
Julia Keller
29 books482 followersJulia was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. She graduated from Marshall University, then later earned a doctoral degree in English Literature at Ohio State University.
She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and has taught at Princeton and Ohio State Universities, and the University of Notre Dame. She is a guest essayist on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and has been a contributor on CNN and NBC Nightly News. In 2005, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.
Julia lives in a high-rise in Chicago and a stone cottage on a lake in rural Ohio.
She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and has taught at Princeton and Ohio State Universities, and the University of Notre Dame. She is a guest essayist on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and has been a contributor on CNN and NBC Nightly News. In 2005, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.
Julia lives in a high-rise in Chicago and a stone cottage on a lake in rural Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 8, 2022
I'll have a full review later.
March 24, 2019
Julia Keller never disappoints.
June 10, 2015
This is a wonderfully crafted short story. It is beautifilly evocative of both a small town community and the natural beauty that surrounds it. The trouble is that real poverty exists and people seemingly will do anything to earn a buck.
Real life flows from the pages of Julia Keller and in Bell Elkins the author has a conduit to refresh the community she serves when she could earn far more in a legal practice in a major city.
Her upbringing was complicated and through her own salvation she seems dedicated to repay back similar people through her service and duty as the prosecuting attorney for Raythune County, West Virgina.
This ebook will draw the reader into Bell's world and previews the latest bookdue out in the UK in August - Last Ragged Breath.
This story works on several levels but at its heart is the life of a child. All are not born equal and some fail to thrive but with everyone the onuslies with the response of adults to care, nurture and ensure that each child realises their potential. It is worthy of reading as it appears to be key in driving Bell forward and perhaps should also act as a mirror to the reader regarding their own commitment to young people and the rights of children.
Real life flows from the pages of Julia Keller and in Bell Elkins the author has a conduit to refresh the community she serves when she could earn far more in a legal practice in a major city.
Her upbringing was complicated and through her own salvation she seems dedicated to repay back similar people through her service and duty as the prosecuting attorney for Raythune County, West Virgina.
This ebook will draw the reader into Bell's world and previews the latest bookdue out in the UK in August - Last Ragged Breath.
This story works on several levels but at its heart is the life of a child. All are not born equal and some fail to thrive but with everyone the onuslies with the response of adults to care, nurture and ensure that each child realises their potential. It is worthy of reading as it appears to be key in driving Bell forward and perhaps should also act as a mirror to the reader regarding their own commitment to young people and the rights of children.
July 17, 2022
Doesn't add anything to the Bell Elkins library
Sadly, this felt like an advertisement for the Bell Elkins novels. This is advertised as a short story, and it *was* short (half of the download is a the first two chapters of "The Last Ragged Breath," which I've already read) but it had none of the intrigue or tension of the longer Bell Elkins books. The story is pretty straightforward and seems to be making the same point Keller's later Elkins novels have been making: drugs are bad and they are all over rural West Virginia.
It doesn't add anything significant to the Bell Elkins series, nor does it seem to fill in any specific gap (unlike other short works that helped fill out Bell's own history).
The writing is strong, as I'd expect from Keller, and for that this book rates three stars rather than just one or two.
Sadly, this felt like an advertisement for the Bell Elkins novels. This is advertised as a short story, and it *was* short (half of the download is a the first two chapters of "The Last Ragged Breath," which I've already read) but it had none of the intrigue or tension of the longer Bell Elkins books. The story is pretty straightforward and seems to be making the same point Keller's later Elkins novels have been making: drugs are bad and they are all over rural West Virginia.
It doesn't add anything significant to the Bell Elkins series, nor does it seem to fill in any specific gap (unlike other short works that helped fill out Bell's own history).
The writing is strong, as I'd expect from Keller, and for that this book rates three stars rather than just one or two.
March 21, 2023
Another short story from the Bell Elkins series that feels like an attempted beginning to a novel. Something happens-- then what?? I still love the rich characters and the action is impressive, but I'm hungry for more an hour later.
July 10, 2017
Novella
March 3, 2018
Chose to read because was written by a WV author. It addressed a current social issue. After finishing the book, I was left feeling unsatisfied. You know the feeling. - "that's it, all there is?"
September 18, 2018
Excellent short story featuring Bell Elkins, centered around a fraudulent child care center.
February 19, 2019
A continuation in the series. Very interesting learned a little bit more about Bell and her relationships.
May 31, 2019
Always a good read. Love Bell Elkins!
September 1, 2019
Short story
Another interesting story in the Bell Elkins series. The ending left me feeling sad for the children and hoping that we will hear more about them in a future book.
Another interesting story in the Bell Elkins series. The ending left me feeling sad for the children and hoping that we will hear more about them in a future book.
September 25, 2019
A very well-written novella from Ms. Keller. Gave even more background on a former character in one of the books.
January 2, 2022
78 page story
June 13, 2015
I love the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller. Julia is one of my go-to authors. I know whatever she writes is going to be good. Ghost Roll will have to hold me over until the release of Last Ragged Breath in August.
The earlier Bell Elkins short stories had explored Bell's past. This one is set in the present. Bell is having dreams featuring a small boy at a window. Who is this boy? What are the dreams trying to tell her. We quickly learn that the small boy is son of the owners of a daycare center that is actually just a front, a money laundering enterprise, for selling prescription drugs illegally. The sign-in list of children is actually a Ghost Roll. Prescription drugs are ravaging the Appalachians.
And an old friend's father comes to town. The old friend who was the secret service friend in Bitter River. There are ghosts everywhere in Ghost Roll.
I was pulled into reality by an important statement in Ghost Roll...that outsiders look at a small town in those hills and think that it is quaint and filled with good people. It's not anymore. Things have changed. The economy has ground to a halt and the only people making money are bad people. Despair rules the day. That is the new reality.
Great read. Last Ragged Breath...August is not coming fast enough!
The earlier Bell Elkins short stories had explored Bell's past. This one is set in the present. Bell is having dreams featuring a small boy at a window. Who is this boy? What are the dreams trying to tell her. We quickly learn that the small boy is son of the owners of a daycare center that is actually just a front, a money laundering enterprise, for selling prescription drugs illegally. The sign-in list of children is actually a Ghost Roll. Prescription drugs are ravaging the Appalachians.
And an old friend's father comes to town. The old friend who was the secret service friend in Bitter River. There are ghosts everywhere in Ghost Roll.
I was pulled into reality by an important statement in Ghost Roll...that outsiders look at a small town in those hills and think that it is quaint and filled with good people. It's not anymore. Things have changed. The economy has ground to a halt and the only people making money are bad people. Despair rules the day. That is the new reality.
Great read. Last Ragged Breath...August is not coming fast enough!
February 10, 2017
Enjoyable series
June 16, 2015
The ending was not what I expected. I wish she could have helped the individuals, but I still love the Bell Elkins series, and I know that this was just a novella to tide the fans over until the next full length book that comes out in August. I know that I will be one of the first in line to read it.
June 17, 2015
Julia Keller is great. She writes the stories that make you feel you are right there.
June 2, 2016
A Bell Elkins short. Bell is having a recurring dream about a lost child looking for help.
Read
December 6, 2017A shorter read filling in some of the spaces between the books in the Bell Elkins series.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews