Linda Sands

As a legal thriller, 'Simple Intent' is a million miles away from the sort of novel I'd normally find myself reading. It's not that I have anything against the genre, it's just that I've never really been attracted to it. That said, I enjoyed this book. It's deliberately action-packed, and filled with larger than life characters whose words and deeds only occasionally overstep the line between entertaining drama and cliché. The narrative voice is consistently engaging, suffused with a wry humour which for me was a big part of the reading experience, as were the unexpected spiritual interludes. I struggled on occasion to keep up with the twists, turns, and complex back stories, but that says more about me than this pacey and absorbing novel.… (altro)

This is the story of three generations of women in Savannah, Georgia.

Bobbie, from the early 1900s, sepnt time in the equivalent of the child welfare system. She is now a New York City newspaper reporter, in Savannah for a story, who is not above the occasional theft. As the years go on, she marries Sam, and they live in New York City. He is a good husband, except for his tendency to take off for a week or two, with no explanation as to where he is going or why. During World War I, she volunteers to write letters home for wounded soldiers who are unable to do it themselves. She and Sam slowly drift apart (he is dying from some sort of lung disease); in the 1930s, several of her newspaper columns are about Flora, the Waving Girl. Something of a Savannah tradition, she would wave to every ship that used Savannah's port; every ship, every day for many years.

Flora, from 1940, is the Waving Girl. She lived with her brother George, who took care of a local lighthouse (that is why she could wave to all those passing ships). She tells her story as an old woman, making arrangements for George's funeral. She also talks about the involvement of her brother, now a Monsignor, during the days of Prohibition and speakeasies. The city erected a bronze statue of her to acknowledge her service. A question that she is asked frequently is why she waved to all those passing ships for all those years. Was it unrequited love? Was she waiting for someone?

Maggie, from 2011, is an architectural photographer living in Philadelphia. She flies to Savannah after receiving a late-night phone call saying that her husband, David, is missing and presumed dead after a boating accident. Their marriage had also seen better days; David liked to go to Savannah alone. Maggie begins to realize that David had a whole other life in Savannah, of which she was not a part. She is told all about Flora, and sees the cottage where she and George lived, along with the lighthouse that he kept in operation. Maggie also starts to fall in love with a local lighthouse restorer.

This is a very "quiet" novel, all about feelings and finding yourself. It has a lot of excellent writing, but it is not a very optimistic story. The reader will not go wrong with this one.… (altro)

Simple Intent is an engaging legal thriller. Two legal interns stumble upon a tangled web of corruption, ambition and injustice as they investigate the case of a prisoner who claims he was wrongly convicted.Reilly, a charming if rakish, law student intercepts the case of Ray Bentley and discovers links to a corrupt retiring cop. Reilly involves fellow intern, Sailor, and together they follow the threads that lead to the mob, the drug trade and their law firm partners. The interns' investigation inadvertently hastens the disintegration of the uneasy alliance between the criminal associates and Reilly and Sailor are caught in the fallout.Sailor and Reilly are interesting protagonists, opposites in background and attitude, they work well as a partnership. At first I had difficultly keeping the rather large cast and their entangled relationships straight. Partly that is because most of the characters motivations are ambiguous and they each have their own hidden agenda. Though I think the storyline would have been tighter if Sands had narrowed the focus to to a few key characters, I do feel she developed each well.The threads between the characters, and the part they in the storyline are well handled though some don't draw together until near the end. There were moments when I thought perhaps I had missed something and paged back a little but in the main, the storyline was cohesive. There is no real mystery to uncover as the third person point of view means we are aware of the ties that Reilly and Sailor aren't. Sands does manage to maintain suspense by clouding the motivations of some of the key characters but the conclusion is reasonably predicitable.Simple Intent is well written with cogent imagery and detail. Sands writing style appealed to me, I felt the use of language was both sophisticated and accessible. I'd recommend Simple Intent by Linda Sands as an impressive debut in the genre.… (altro)