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Ask Me Nothing
Underneath the surface of a small Central Texas town, where people know each other and adhere to the old values of hard work and neighborliness, a dark secret life flows silently. People congregate at an old-time country store and at their churches, but are not immune to the modern complications of divorce and remarriage-and murder.
Carla, a petite pretty girl, is one of three sisters in a poor but respectable family. Unlike her passionate, acting-out younger sister, she never gives her parents a moment's trouble. Nor is she like her self-sacrificing older sister, June. Carla harbors a strong work ethic, a fierce ambition, and a powerful sex drive-with a creative flair. Her high school sweetheart, Leroy, can never forget Carla, even after his dreams are shattered. And Ray, a big man with a big heart, succumbs to a shocking web of deceit.
Jim, a man whose taciturn exterior hides his preoccupation with a personal tragedy, captains the Search and Rescue horse team, called to the small Central Texas town of Graylor to search for the body of a missing man. But Bill, the deputy sheriff in charge of the investigation, resents any outside interference. He is embroiled in the competing claims of his current and former wives, and his son Jeffrey seems headed in the wrong direction.
How will all these lives intersect? How do ordinary people change when a brutal murder severs the ties of kinship, love, and loyalty?
Set to the rhythms of nature-sowing, growing, harvesting-in a rural landscape that still retains a few wild places, the book poses the question: Is a sociopath born or made, is it nature or nurture-or a combination of the two?
Carla, a petite pretty girl, is one of three sisters in a poor but respectable family. Unlike her passionate, acting-out younger sister, she never gives her parents a moment's trouble. Nor is she like her self-sacrificing older sister, June. Carla harbors a strong work ethic, a fierce ambition, and a powerful sex drive-with a creative flair. Her high school sweetheart, Leroy, can never forget Carla, even after his dreams are shattered. And Ray, a big man with a big heart, succumbs to a shocking web of deceit.
Jim, a man whose taciturn exterior hides his preoccupation with a personal tragedy, captains the Search and Rescue horse team, called to the small Central Texas town of Graylor to search for the body of a missing man. But Bill, the deputy sheriff in charge of the investigation, resents any outside interference. He is embroiled in the competing claims of his current and former wives, and his son Jeffrey seems headed in the wrong direction.
How will all these lives intersect? How do ordinary people change when a brutal murder severs the ties of kinship, love, and loyalty?
Set to the rhythms of nature-sowing, growing, harvesting-in a rural landscape that still retains a few wild places, the book poses the question: Is a sociopath born or made, is it nature or nurture-or a combination of the two?
256 pages, Paperback
Published August 8, 2016
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Carol Fox
1 book1 followerCarol Fox has taught riding, writing, and literature. She has lived in Lima, Peru, and has traveled down the Amazon River. Currently she raises cattle on a small Central Texas ranch where she lives with two good dogs, an elderly horse, and five barn cats.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 14, 2016
To a passerby driving fast across rugged central Texas intent on getting to nearby Austin by dinnertime, Graylor might appear to be the sort sleepy burg where nothing much ever happens, where worries are few and life is easy.
The hawk that circles high above keeping vigil on this countryside sees more than the occasional rabbit or prairie dog. It watches many humans living lives as complicated and emotional as any in the big city. So will the reader of Ask Me Nothing, as author Carol Fox skillfully weaves stories not just between individuals and families but also across time—into a single riveting tale of mystery and murder.
Murder is where the book begins, but the mystery continues until the final sections. I came up with alternate solutions as I flew through the chapters. Did I figure it out? Almost! But it wasn't just the mystery that kept me turning the pages—I wanted to find about these people, to know how they finally fared.
Bill, the deputy sheriff, worries about his horse-loving son Jeffrey about as much he does his job. Jim, of the horseback Search and Recovery team called in to find a missing body, discovers memories of his own son as well. The loves, lives and mishaps of sisters June, Carla, and Patty tangle as they grow from docile girls into independent, self-reliant women.
Fox captures the rugged land and the rugged residents of Central Texas both beautifully and accurately to the eye and ear of this native Texan. It will be a sentimental journey for those familiar with the land and better than a travelogue to those who are not.
Likely that hawk will keep circling because she's as fascinated as I was, and even wonders what's going to happen next. It may just be that she and we will watch Jim hop on his pony and head for the new adventure alluded to in the book's last paragraph. Maybe this is but the first book in a series. The hawk and I hope so!
by Trilla Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
The hawk that circles high above keeping vigil on this countryside sees more than the occasional rabbit or prairie dog. It watches many humans living lives as complicated and emotional as any in the big city. So will the reader of Ask Me Nothing, as author Carol Fox skillfully weaves stories not just between individuals and families but also across time—into a single riveting tale of mystery and murder.
Murder is where the book begins, but the mystery continues until the final sections. I came up with alternate solutions as I flew through the chapters. Did I figure it out? Almost! But it wasn't just the mystery that kept me turning the pages—I wanted to find about these people, to know how they finally fared.
Bill, the deputy sheriff, worries about his horse-loving son Jeffrey about as much he does his job. Jim, of the horseback Search and Recovery team called in to find a missing body, discovers memories of his own son as well. The loves, lives and mishaps of sisters June, Carla, and Patty tangle as they grow from docile girls into independent, self-reliant women.
Fox captures the rugged land and the rugged residents of Central Texas both beautifully and accurately to the eye and ear of this native Texan. It will be a sentimental journey for those familiar with the land and better than a travelogue to those who are not.
Likely that hawk will keep circling because she's as fascinated as I was, and even wonders what's going to happen next. It may just be that she and we will watch Jim hop on his pony and head for the new adventure alluded to in the book's last paragraph. Maybe this is but the first book in a series. The hawk and I hope so!
by Trilla Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
December 17, 2016
I started this book yesterday and found it hard to put down. Cold hearted Carla was both terrifying and fascinating. This was a well written first novel, with interesting characters that I'd like to meet up with again. Hopefully there are more stories that need to be told about this Central Texas town and its people.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews