Inevitable Sentences
By Tekla Dennison Miller
Medallion Press, $7.95
ISBN: 978-1-937475501-3

Celeste Brookstone is still in mourning over the murder of her daughter by Chad Wilbanks, an imprisoned serial killer who charmed and seduced Pilar Brookstone while she worked as a doctor at Michigan's Hawk Haven Prison. Part of Celeste's healing comes through her creation of a safehouse for women in the Big Bay Point Lighthouse. It is there that Celeste provides the safety and sanctuary she believes she failed to provide for her own daughter to escaping abused women. Celeste also receives comfort from Max Whitefeather, the former warden of the prison who is now recuperating in the hospital following valve replacement surgery. What Max hasn't shared with Celeste though, are his doubts about the new warden's competence and the security of the prison. He has reason to be worried. Even as Celeste struggles to build the confidence of the abused women under her protection Chad has been devising his own plan for escape by manipulating his way into the affections of Lizzie Chatfield, a worker in the prison kitchen and habitual lovelorn groupie of prisoners. Lizzie holds the secrets of Priscilla Madden, the prison psychologist and the shelter's counselor, and Lizzie uses Priscilla's hidden drug past to force her into aiding Chad's escape. First on Chad's agenda: revenge on Celeste, the woman who helped to send him back to prison.

Inevitable Sentences is a psychological thriller that excels at revealing the complex, and often contradictory, mindset of abused women. It's easy to feel frustration for the victims who willingly return to their abusers, but Miller succeeds in also allowing the reader to sympathize and understand how this happens. The cat and mouse battle of wits between Celeste and Chad is at times uncomfortably tortuous, but readers will admire the strength of both Celeste and Adrian, a young mother of three who assumes command of the escaping women in order to lead them to safety. A former prison warden with her own family tragedies, Miller definitely has the knowledge and experience to make this a believable, exciting, and emotional read.

Review by CINDY CHOW

©2009 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.