FAST FALLS THE NIGHT
BY JULIA KELLER
REVIEWED BY LINDA WICKLUND

This is a story based on true events which transpired in Huntington, West Virginia which happens to be the author's hometown in a 24-hour period of terrible tragedy.  You see, the overdoses began just after midnight when a young woman locked herself in the bathroom of a gas station and is found a short time later dead from tainted heroin.

This death is just the first that day.  What follows is twenty-eight overdoses of which four deaths occur.  Bell Elkins is the main character in this novel.  She is the county prosecutor in the small town of Ackers Gap, West Virginia.  Actually, you should know that this is the sixth in a series of "Bell Elkins" books. It can be a stand alone story, but there is background information that is helpful in understanding her history.

 Bell has done her best in the past eight years to help her hometown but, she considered it a "rescue mission" since the coal mines shut down and drug addiction was rampant.  Because "West Virginia still had the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation."

So, as you can imagine, the book follows the investigation of these overdoses and the Sheriff, Deputies, and Paramedics who are doing what they can to stop the dying.  There are back stories of course, like the relationship that Bell has with her sister Shirley who spent most of her life in prison for killing their abusive Father.

I'll be honest, this book sounds like a "page turner" which is why I started it.  But, to me it was really slow and had way too many characters.  Unless you want to keep a log of who is who, I had to go back and figure it out.  I have read other books by Ms. Keller which I enjoyed.  So, if you are a fan of hers maybe you'll enjoy this one too.

 P.S. I read one customer review on Amazon that said she thought it was excellent...

 Happy reading!

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