Kathryn's Beach

By Nadine Laman

Five years after her last child abuse investigation, emotionally bankrupt Kathryn abruptly ends her self-imposed exile and returns to Los Angeles to reclaim her life. Her friends and a cryptic letter written by a powerful man push Kathryn to reconcile the past. Who says, "You can't go home again?" Sometimes that is exactly what must be done. Is it worth it?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0982332106
• ISBN13: 9780982332108
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Nadine Laman Books, LLC
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A definate read for this summer!

Nadine Laman has a gift of writing! She not only produces work of social relevance, but is able to bring in various plots into one plot without confusion. The characters are well formed and brought to life through feelings and experiences. The emotions run deep throughout the story, not only with the main character, Kathryn, but with supporting characters also. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Kathryn's Beach" - it's an easy, deep read. What I expected to happen, didn't. What happened, I didn't expect. Laman manages to keep the suspense up throughout the book very successfully. It was hard to put it down because I wanted to keep turning the pages to find out what happened next. I can guarantee, the ending of "Kathryn's Beach" will definitely want you to read the sequel "High Tide." It's next on my list to read.

Highly recommended

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (11/06) Nadine Laman's "Kathryn's Beach" is a very well written story about human pain and tragedy and the ability to not only survive but to learn to live again. Laman's story captures your attention from the first page and keeps it right through to the end. The main character, Kathryn, was a social worker who specialized in sexual abuse cases. Her last case was five years ago and ended very badly when the judge involved sent the child back to live with her abuser. The child ended up murdered by the perpetrator in a very short period of time. Kathryn is haunted by the last time she saw the little girl in the court room. The little girl screamed when the ruling came down and begged Kathryn to help her. Filled with guilt and horrified by what happened, Kathryn ran from the L.A. area and moved to Nebraska. After 5 years in a mind numbing existence Kathryn decides it is time to move home and pick up her life. As Kathryn picks up the thread of the life that she left behind, she is thrilled to be back at her beach. The beach has always been therapeutic and important to her and she realizes just how much she has missed it over the last five years. Her old boss, Karen, offers Kathryn her old job back, but she realizes that it comes with too high of a price. Karen helps her find a position working with homeless families in a new program. She loves the feeling of helping people in such a positive atmosphere. As she moves into her new life, she is given a letter left by the Judge Jones, the judge who sent the little girl back home. The judge writes this letter to Kathryn right before he kills himself. Kathryn and the others from her old job realize that the case is not closed and that they must find out what the letter means to put it to rest. They bravely follow the leads in the letter, find more tragedy and the reason the judge was so difficult to work with. At the same time, Kathryn reacquaints herself with her best friend Maggie, finds love for the first time in years with an Irishman named Ioseph and once again faces tragedy in her life. She finally decides that her friend Maggie is right "Life is good; not always easy, but good". This book captures human heroism and strength at its best and I highly recommend it.

An amazing story

Kathryn's Beach is a very well written piece of literature. I am very impressed with your creativity and the way you make the story flow. It is a story filled with mystery, compassion and understanding. You are a wonderful story teller. I am anxiously waiting for the release of the sequel, High Tide. Thomas Brown, author of Men Bleed Too.

As her career-based life as a lawyer fell apart, Kathryn abandons the comfortable familiarity of Los

As her career-based life as a lawyer fell apart, Kathryn abandons the comfortable familiarity of Los Angeles. After five years of a self-imposed exile in rural Nebraska, she must face her personal demons and learn the meaning of the cryptic letter Judge Jones left for her just a few hours before be took his own life. Kathryn discovers more than the meaning of the letter - she uncovers what went wrong with her last court case, a simple matter wending its way through the judicial system only to end in murder. Very highly recommended reading, Kathryn's Beach clearly documents Nadine Laman as a superb author with the ability to engage and hold the reader's rapt attention from first page to last.