Shae-Lynn Penrose drives a cab in a town where no one needs a cab—but plenty of people need rides. A former police officer with a closet full of miniskirts, a recklessly sharp tongue, and a tendency to deal with men by either beating them up or taking them to bed, she has spent years carving out a life for herself and her son in Jolly Mount, Pennsylvania, the tiny coal-mining town where she grew up.
Two years ago, five of Shae-Lynn’s miner friends were catapulted to media stardom when they were rescued after surviving four days trapped in a mine. As the men struggle to come to terms with the nightmarish memories of their ordeal, along with the fallout of their short- lived celebrity, Shae-Lynn finds herself facing harsh realities and reliving bad dreams of her own, including her relationship with her brutal father, her conflicted passion for one of the miners, and the hidden identity of the man who fathered her son.
When the younger sister she thought was dead arrives on her doorstep, followed closely by a gun-wielding Russian gangster, a shady New York lawyer, and a desperate Connecticut housewife, Shae-Lynn is forced to grapple with the horrible truth she discovers about the life her sister’s been living, and with one ominous question: Will her return result in a monstrous act of greed or one of sacrifice?
Tawni O’Dell’s trademark blend of black humor, tenderness, and a keen sense of place is evident once again as Shae-Lynn takes on past demons and all-too-present dangers.
Sister Mine, O'Dell's third novel following Back Roads and Coal Run, is a raucous, action-driven, fun read with a cast of robust characters including hard-talking Shae-Lynn, a Russian gangster, a sleazy New York lawyer, a dastardly mine owner and a wayward sister. In fact, it's such a fun read that it's easy to overlook that at its heart are powerful issues that explore, in various contexts and from various perspectives, the price we put on human life. (Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Entertainment Weekly - Rebecca Ascher-Walsh
O'Dell hits her stride here; one hopes this is not the last we'll hear from her punch-packing, pink-Stetson-wearing heroine.
Kirkus Reviews
Shae-Lynn Penrose, the author's first female protagonist, is a ballsy, sassy delight, but the story she tells verges on ridiculous...Many wonderful scenes bear witness for people too often left voiceless in American literature, but coming on the heels of the majestic, passionate Coal Run (2004), this undisciplined novel is a disappointment.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Family saga O'Dell-style crackles with conflict and a deep understanding of the complications and burdens that follow attachment, sex, love and kinship.
Booklist - Michele Leber
Starred Review. O'Dell...examines such issues as abuse, betrayal, abandonment, perseverance, and reconciliation, with love at the heart of it all, in crisp, insightful prose that sweeps the reader along. A knockout.
Library Journal
Although she occasionally includes some jarring topics that veer toward the sentimental, she also packs this gripping tale with loads of action, intrigue, and suspense. Strongly recommended.
After several bad years,
all branches of the military
met their 2006 & 2007 recruitment
targets (figures below are
2007 stats rounded to the
nearest 1000):
Army: 80,000
Navy: 37,000
Marines: 36,000
Air Force: 28,000
This was
a relief for the military,
as the ongoing war in Iraq
has made recruitment
increasingly difficult. It
is rare to try to fill
wartime ranks purely with
volunteers. The
Spanish-American War,
Mexican-American War and
Gulf War are the only
conflicts since 1775 that
did not rely in part on
conscripts.
Leavitt captures the longings of first love, the intense emotions of open adoption and the price of betrayal.
These are 2 of the 4 readalike suggestions for Sister Mine. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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