Last Writes by Sheila Lowe
Published by New American Library
(Division of Penguin Group)
ISBN 978-0-451-23110-9
At the request of Kaye Publicity, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (back of book): Claudia’s friend Kelly learns that she’s an aunt where her estranged half sister, Erin, shows up at her home in desperate need of help. Erin and her husband have been living quiet lives as members of the Temple of Brighter Light in an isolated compound. But now her husband and young child ave disappeared, leaving behind a cryptic note with a terrifying message.
  Seizing an opportunity to use her special skills as a forensic hand-writing expert, Claudia becomes one of the few outsiders ever to be invited inside the temple’s compound. She has only a few days to uncover the truth about Kelly’s missing niece before the prophecy of a secret ancient parchment can be fulfilled and a child’s life is written off for good…..
  My Thoughts and Opinion: I have to be upfront and honest regarding 2 issues. When I first accepted the request to read Last Writes, I thought it was going to be an easy and fun cozy mystery but I was wrong!!. It also took me some time to finish, but to the author’s credit, it was because of being bogged down with real life, and not the story. Matter of fact, this should have taken me just a few days to read because it was a page turner. It was a fast paced story line with some twists and turns that had me guessing throughout the book to the very last page. The ending a total surprise!!! The author’s writing style was fluid and expressive, to the point, that it felt like I was visualizing a movie in my mind. The references to the science of forensic handwriting quite interesting. This was the first book that I have read by Ms. Lowe but have already put her previous novels on my to be read list.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
*Grab your current read
*Open to a random page
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
*Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The woman shook her head.  “The cabin is kept for special times.  The Powerses are there for prayer and meditation with their daughter.  She’s going to be ___”.

Week # 11 Question:

Do you ever read the end of a book before you actually get there? Have you sneaked a peek at the last page or two to find out what happens? Or do you faithfully avoid the final pages until you’ve “earned” them by reading to that point?

My Response:

NO..NEVER!  I wouldn’t dream of doing that.  In my opinion, that defeats the purpose of reading for enjoyment, pleasure, relaxation, fun etc etc.