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Hot Enough to Kill |
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 Hot Enough to Kill byPaula Boyd Diomo Books 241 pages, 1999. ISBN 096747860X Reviewed by PJ Nunn You can take the woman out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the woman. When Jolene Jackson starts the trek from her home in Colorado, somewhere deep inside she knows it’s true. But Kickapoo, Texas might as well be Mars. Things are different there. Even words don’t mean the same thing. Words like sanity. Truth. Justice. Reality. Whatever her opinions, or reasons for leaving years ago, Jolene is driving straight into Reality - Kickapoo style. Her 72 year old mother’s boyfriend is dead and Jolene’s on her way to fetch Mom, Lucille, out of jail. And Lucille didn’t go quietly, either. In a matter of hours, Jolene is knee deep in cow pies and Colorado seems farther than the moon. Old high school chums carrying torches and grudges are now running the show while an old biddy Jolene calls Bony Butt shouts proclamations all over town about Lucille’s lack of moral integrity. But when the Sheriff, who just happens to be Jolene’s one true love, is shot while sitting at her mother’s kitchen table, all semblance of law and order goes up in flames. The question is - was the gunman aiming at Jolene because she came back? Or at the Sheriff because he’s glad she’s back? Or at Lucille because she might just know what got her boyfriend killed. After all, he was still a married man. He was also the Mayor. With an irreverent wit and an imagination that knows no bounds, Boyd takes readers for a ride they won’t soon forget. The supporting characters could have been fleshed out a little more. As it stands, they’re more like caricatures, but then again, maybe that was her intention. Still, I’d like to have explored Amy a little more. You’ll have to read it to know what I mean. Jolene doesn’t take herself too seriously and the plot moves along at such a fast pace, there’s little time for deep introspection on anyone’s part. Hot Enough to Kill is a tremendous first effort. I get the feeling that Boyd will make a place for herself and for Jolene, and I hope they’ll both be around for a long time. . |
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