Marrow Island

<p><b>Eerie and intriguing . . . captivates in the first few pages and delivers a gripping compelling story throughout.--<i>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</i> <p/> Smith's excellent command of language gives life to arresting characters and their creepy surroundings keeping the suspense in this dark environmental thriller running high.</b>--<b><i>Elle</i></b> <p/> It has been twenty years since Lucie Bowen left the islands--when the May Day Quake shattered thousands of lives; when Lucie's father disappeared in an explosion at the Marrow Island oil refinery a tragedy that destroyed the island's ecosystem; and when Lucie and her best friend Katie were just Puget Sound children hoping to survive.<br> Now Katie writes with strange and miraculous news. Marrow Island is no longer uninhabitable and no longer abandoned. She is part of a community that has managed to conjure life again from Marrow's soil. Lucie returns. Her journalist instincts tell her there's more to this mysterious Colony and their charismatic leader--a former nun with an all-consuming plan--than its members want her to know. As she uncovers their secrets will Lucie endanger more than their mission? And what price will she pay for the truth? <p/><b>Transporting.</b>--<b><i>Vanity Fair</i> <p/> Beautifully wrought.</b>--<b><i>O The Oprah Magazine</i></b> <p/><b>Engrossing and atmospheric a thorny meditation on environmental responsibility with a big haunted heart.</b>--<b>Laura van den Berg<i> </i><i>Miami Herald</i></b><br> </p>