"It was a trying ordeal for everyone until finally, on the second day, the rain stopped and the sun with its warming rays soon dried the canvas covering the wagons."
 |
The Innocent Also Die by George J. Sabol Trafford Publishing
book review by Jenny Luper
Few fictional towns have such a dramatic and brief lifespan as Waterfall, Montana. Almost a character unto itself, the birth and death of the town is chronicled in the saga The Innocent Also Die. The story follows the Samron family, as they leave Missouri to follow dreams and start anew in the time of westward expansion following the Civil War.
After harrowing escapes and quite a bit of luck, the family stumbles upon an oasis of land surrounded by craggy and inhospitable mountains. However, the beauty of the area does not distract from criminal activity. Murders abound in this novel. From the reason one member of the Samron family has to leave Missouri in penniless disgrace to the accidental final act that signals the end of Waterfall, many die. Presume that the title gives a clue.
Sabol has created a story where the shady deals, murders, and the evidence leading to the guilty's downfall are all logically thought through. Sabol paid close attention to detail on the particulars of the many schemes, verifying that each turn of plot is plausible. It is also refreshing that even though murders are described in detail, no cuss words can be found. When a man is about to kill the woman who ruined his marriage, profanity is simply not allowed. "You're not going to get away this time, you (names that are unprintable), I'll make sure you do not ruin another man's life as you did mine." The novel's appeal lies in its logical sense of crime solving and the refusal to use profanity in a time when the opposite is true.