Slave Graves (River Sunday Romance Mysteries Book 1)

I enjoyed reading Slave Graves by Thomas Hollyday very much. It was most suspenseful - very difficult to put down. If you are interested in archaeological digs (and even if you're not) this will give you a good sense of what its like and keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are engrossing - you'll love some and intensely dislike others. This is a fun read.

I enjoyed reading Slave Graves by Thomas Hollyday very much. It was most suspenseful - very difficult to put down. If you are interested in archaeological digs (and even if you're not) this will give you a good sense of what its like and keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are engrossing - you'll love some and intensely dislike others. This is a fun read.

This was a very good story, with plenty of interesting details, but it needs a lot of editing. Missing or misspelled words, as well as other errors made for a somewhat disappointing read. I still would recommend the book, but be aware of the errors.

I really disliked this book, for so many reasons. It was so boarding, way to much detail about everything, how many times do I need to know how hot it is and how the mud deals. A mystery this is not. I feel asleep so many times just trying to finish the book, I never don't finish as book but I really wish I would have just given up on this book. Just bad and I'll not be reading more by this Author

A novel revolving around greed and secrets when Dr Light is sent by his University to Maryland to investigate an archaeology site to see if any historic relics of importance are there before a new bridge is built.

When he arrives he finds he is under pressure from the local bigwig, who is also offering the university future funding, he wants the dig to be completed quickly and quietly so he can make his money. As the dig gets underway the Dr's views are challenged and changed as he speaks to the locals and he receives threats as well as attempts on his life.

The story in this book is one close to my heart the fact that a lot of sites or places with historic importance are being lost for future generations to enjoy and are being turned into concrete jungles. Without the full facts being relayed to the general public.

The story is well written in easy language with excellent descriptions of both the characters and the emotions they carry and what drives them to achieve their goals.

As discoveries of importance are uncovered this puts the development in doubt and having spoken to local inhabitants he realises how important this is to their past and his respect grows for the site to be left as it is. This action brings about a big change in the way he now thinks and cares .

The authors books are all based around one area and the research and historic content of his novels shine through and add life to the stories. With this in mind and as I have read more of the authors work they have grown in stature and impressed me more and more and I look forward to more of his work. I would recommend this author to any reader.

As usual, Thomas Hollyday did not disappoint with the description of the area in which the story takes place. He does an amazing job at really giving you a visual picture of the surroundings and for those of us who don't travel much, this is important and really makes you feel like you are there. Besides this, the story itself was intriguing and really kept your attention so much that it is really hard to put the book down once you get started. You can really sense the struggle that the main character, Frank has within himself as to what is the right and wrong thing to do. Thomas does a great job at really building up these characters and giving you a feel for their personalities. The ending will blow your mind and you will never believe it!

I just love when a book inspires curiosity!! Slave Graves made me wonder about several of the legends and tidbits of info it mentioned, so I spent a great deal of time on Google after reading this. If you read Hollyday's book Gold, you're familiar with the River Sunday community. This book is in the same area. Slave Graves has an entirely different story, though. This would be a very interesting read for history buffs, especially those who like 17th century legends and American history.

I received a copy of this book to review. The opinions stated are 100% mine.

I enjoyed reading this book. The storyline is quite interesting and the characters are very believable. A few surprises along the way which was great. This book was well written and held my attention.

October 15, 2004

John Goodspeed, Book Critic

Slave Graves, a novel by Thomas Hollyday

Slave Graves is a novel about contemporary Eastern Shore social and commercial problems, written by an author who grew up on the Eastern shore.

He studied creative writing under Elliott Coleman at Johns Hopkins University and he writes clear, plain prose.

The locale is a little island along the shore, somewhere between The Bay Bridge and Salisbury (I think). Hollyday calls it "River Sunday" and is writing several novels about it, according to his publisher.

The plot of this one involves two professional archeologists, a young woman and a fairly young man; a socially active African-American Minister, a grinning hoodlum and, among others, a rich real-estate Developer who grew up in River Sunday but now operates out of New York and wants to build fine new houses for rich folks there and a fine new bridge to the mainland across an area the minister believes Is a slaves' graveyard.

Part of a sunken ship has been found there too. The young woman, a State employee, is sent there to determine if the site is historically (or otherwise) important enough to stop construction. The fairly young man, head of a college archeology department, is asked to inspect the site because the developer believes he'll say it's not important enough to stop excavation to accommodate new bridge construction.

The big finish is a surprise!