Sanctified

by Jami Hunt-Williams

Secrets are like dead bodies; if not properly buried they begin to seep and destroy. Stanford Grandling has plenty of secrets and only one dead body, but the time is coming when she will have to reconcile both. A younger sister driven crazy by the past that they share and a secret so vile it could destroy what is left of the small town of Black Creek, Stannie faces and makes decisions that will change the course of every life stained by the secret buried in Black Creek. Sanctified is a story of devastating loss and the horrifying prospect that the process of redemption can be just as devastating.

284 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2015

About the author

Jami Hunt-Williams was born and raised in mid-Missouri, an hour away from the Mississippi River in the small town of Shelbyville. She began to write poetry at the age of six and by the time she was seven she had pretend published over 100 poems, all of which were approved with love by her Grandma Mac who suffered through days of playing school as the student and playing church as the lone member of the congregation.
Williams was, as one might suspect, an awkward teenager and she grew into an awkward adult. She left high school a semester early and landed in her favorite "small town" in the whole world, Hannibal, where she attended Hannibal-LaGrange University.
Of course, she had absolutely no business going to college because she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do with her life. Oh, she had a plan: she was going to drive around the US and write poetry just like Jack Kerouac. But that dream was cruelly crushed by reality and a full-ride scholarship.
At college, she found acting and dug into her writing. She managed to cram four years of learning into five and left with a completely useless Liberal Arts degree and floundered around for the next approximately 15 years working in theatre, voicing over commercials, working as an on-air talent and radio producer. During this time she met and married her best friend in whole wide world, James and, despite the expert opinion of five specialists, they managed to produce one son, a ginger whom they named Kyser. Jami tells people who won't understand that they named him Kyser because he is the "king of their hearts." That's a lie. She chose the name Kyser because she has a daddy crush on actor Kevin Spacey and her favorite character of his is Kyser Soze (a.k.a. Verbal Kent) in the usual suspects.
At age 38, Jami finally found her place in the world as a journalism and broadcasting teacher at Mexico High School where she is now put into contact daily with impressionable young children who teach her how to properly use the lingo of today's youth and encourage her to listen to Bruno Mars and Niki Minaj.
When she is not working, she can be found reading, writing, watching every single episode of The X-Files ever made, and spending time with her beloved "boys," James and Kyser.
Jami makes her home in Mexico, Missouri, where she teaches, but also counts Hannibal and Shelbyville as home.

Reviews

[Debbie Zumbehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This book was suggested to me. I live outside of Mexico, MO. I love murder mysteries and this fit in great with what I normally like. If this author ever writes another book I hope I get to read it.

[Lois Brace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn in on the first page, I had to find out what it was all about. Jami Williams is an extraordinary author. I am left disturbed by haunting imagery not so much by what she graphically depicted in the book but what she pushes my own imagination to conjure up in itself. Which makes me consider my own warped sense of self. She paints this beautiful story of two sisters completely rusted with guilt and shame against a backdrop of quaint hometown goodness, not unlike most rural communities today. Everybody knows everybody in these rural towns, only to discover that nobody really knows anything.
Jami reveals the characters full out, bringing them out into the open, but not totally disclosing all the details of their motives which creates a heightened suspense.
I couldn't put it down until I knew everything. Fast read.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a page turner. It's about small town secrets that are later revealed. People are reunited and bury the past in order to free themselves and move on. Excellent first time novel by a dear friend! I can't wait to read the next book by Jami Williams!