Skeletons

Skeletons by Kate Wilhelm
Mass Market Paperback, 2002
Mira, 378 pages
ISBN-13: 9781551667492

highly recommended

Synopsis

Lee Donne's family is gifted. Her mother has three doctorates, her father is an economics genius, and her grandfather is a world renowned Shakespearean scholar. Lee's own gift, if you could call it that, is an eidetic memory that seems to maintain a visual representation of everything she's ever seen. For the most part, this gift is useless; it certainly hasn't helped Lee in college, where she's just spent four years drifting from major to major, with no degree in sight.
Without a job or prospects, Lee is relieved to be housesitting her grandfather's isolated Oregon home. But her stay soon becomes a nightmare when she is tormented by strange and menacing noises at night. Emboldened by a visit from her friend Casey, Lee finds that the source of these haunting sounds is an all-too-human force--a young and well-respected man.

He knew that Lee's grandfather would be away, but what could he have been looking for? The search for answers takes Lee from the Pacific Northwest to the streets of New Orleans.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this mystery by Wilhelm. Yes, there were a few little details I could complain about and some unlikely events happened, but all in all it was a well written, easy to read, enjoyable novel - sheer escapism. The plot moved along quickly. If you can just sit back and not be too nit-picky while reading Skeletons for pleasure, you'll likely enjoy it. This would be a great airplane or vacation book. Highly Recommended

Quotes:

It was never easy being the daughter of Teresa and George Thomas Donne. That day it was harder than ever because I had to tell them I would not be graduating. I had put in my four years, but I had changed my major three times, and there weren't enough credits in any of my chosen and abandoned fields to warrant the magic piece of paper that said I was finished. Tess - she had insisted I call her that from the time I could speak - said bitterly that she had also changed her major three times but, on the other hand, had three doctorates. And Geo - George Thomas to the rest of the world - had a doctorate in economics and was adviser to presidents, kings, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, and CEOs. My brother, Ben, would start his internship almost immediately after graduating from medical school in June. And my grandfather was a world-renowned Shakespearean scholar. I was an appendix in a family of brains. opening

"Tess said since I don't have anything better to do, and nowhere to go, I might as well house-sit for my grandfather." pg. 10

For the next week I assumed the role of dutiful daughter to Tess's dutiful-mother act. I listened to her lectures, to her description of my brother's graduation. I listened to exhortations about seeking professional help for my many "problems," with hints that she knew perfectly well what they were, but discretion compelled her to remain silent. pg. 17

My gift, if it could be labeled that, was an eidetic memory that seemed to retain a visual representation of things that I had seen. A glimpse of a butterfly landing on a sunflower ten years ago was like a snapshot that came to mind as if I'd just seen it. pg. 20

I slipped on a robe and started to walk through the hall, trying to locate where the noise was coming from. It kept stopping, then starting somewhere else, so faint at times that I had to hold my breath to hear it. .... I felt that someone was tracking my movements, doing something on the roof, or to it, then moving away when I got to that part of the house and starting somewhere else. Leading me by making noise. The pattering started again, but I stayed at the kitchen window. And I saw a shadow dart across one of the most dimly lit areas and vanish. pg. 34