Into the Fire

Sibella Giorello was no amateur writer when she wrote her first novel. Nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize for pieces she wrote for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and voted Best in Show from the Virginia Press Association fills out an impressive resume. Add to that her first novel The Stones Cry Out won the prestigious Christy Award in 2007 for Best First Novel. Sibella’s second novel The Rivers Run Dry is due for release in March of 2009.

Those of you who know me might wonder why I bought this 270 page book which at full retail costs $14.99. Well . . . I got a great deal on it, and the comments of a particular individual regarding the writing in this story caused me to give the little novel a chance. I’m glad I did in spite of the sparse story which came to an end on page 267.

Notice I said sparse story, not sparse writing. No, it was a pleasure to read this writer who captured the melancholy of a heroine who has lost her father to a violent crime and is in the process of losing her mother to sporadic evidence of mental illness. Written in first person by Special Agent Raleigh Harmon, we learn that Raleigh and her partner Special Agent John Breit are assigned to investigate the death of Hamal Holmes and Detective Michael Falcon who fell to their deaths together from the roof of an abandoned factory. The agents have the dubious task of deciding whether they have cause for a civil rights violation since Hamal was a well known man in the black community and Detective Falcon was a white detective in the city of Richmond where racial heat is as hot and oppressive as the daily temperature and humidity.

Raleigh gives us a mini-history of her life and of Richmond weaving the personality of her city into the mood and movement of this part elegant, part “hood” contrast which has become a part of who she is. She is unrelenting in an investigation her boss wants closed immediately, but which Raleigh’s gut is telling her there’s too much to ignore. Brief encounters with a past beau she wishes she could forget but which prove to be life-saving, some good maneuvers after she’s suspended, and her knowledge of “stones” to endear her to the medical examiner provide a well-constructed mystery with plenty of detours which Sibella ties up neatly at the end for the most part, leaving the reader ready for the next attachment to follow.

Technically speaking, the first typo came early on page seven, but it was the one and only. Still with only 267 pages to proof: why?

As a diehard romantic and devoted drinker of Coca Cola, my two favorite lines in the story were: “I turn. DeMott Fielding’s smile could melt the polar icecap.” Outstanding! And: “never, ever Pepsi”. A girl after my own heart. The following is an absolutely refreshing example of some clever writing: “I sigh heavily. My sister’s politics are so far to the left, Karl Marx couldn’t catch her in a bullet train.”

There are a number of perfect metaphors and lovely writing in this interesting mystery full of unique characterizations, but the absence of information with just a tease and a hint of what DeMott Fielding meant to Raleigh in her past is simply not enough. I suspect Sibella didn’t want this story to turn into a romance, but by keeping this portion of Raleigh’s history secured and hidden and only eluded to, I felt like it was used more as a writing ploy to make her character somewhat secretive. We understand toward the end that it is a source of shame to Raleigh, but apparently her recollection of the event she conceals is not how she remembers it which only serves to confound me because I want to know more. I felt like the incidents with DeMott deserved more resolution and honesty, and without that information the story felt incomplete and contributed to the sparse feeling of the novel.

For a quick read, a well-told mystery with a sympathetic, bright, and entertaining heroine, not to mention some genuinely good writing, go find The Stones Cry Out and get started on Book One of this ongoing series.

Father, you know the plans you have for Sibella. You know how busy her life is with her family and career. I pray you would continue to guide her in all she does. Bless her writing gift. Give her more stories to share. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.