One Heck of an Unputdownable Story

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The Birds of the Air by L. H. Arthur was compelling reading. I got a heads up about the Kindle edition being on sale for $0.99 from Ereader News Today, so listened to the Audible sample, then ordered the Kindle sample, and the minute the sample ended I immediately purchased the Kindle edition with Audible narration. I practically read it in one sitting, and barely did any highlighting of passages because I was turning pages so quickly to see what would happen next! 

The story takes place in 1933. Two sisters are in the yard while mom makes a grocery run. The older sister is hanging out the wash to dry, and turns to see her younger sibling talking to a man near the street. She becomes alarmed and rushes over. “The man stayed where he was, smiling in a way that looked almost friendly, but not quite. He was short for a man, and stocky; his face was red, with threads of darker-red veins worming beneath the skin of his nose and cheeks. An odd construction of sticks and wire hung on his back; it looked like a homemade birdcage, but it was empty except for a vacant twig perch. Libby thought he must be one of the drifters who sometimes came to the back door to ask their mother for food. Mama always gave them something. ‘They’re just ordinary men, out of work from the hard times,’ she said. ‘It could happen to anybody.’ But the hint of a smirk in this man’s smile made Libby uneasy, and she didn’t think Mama would want them talking to him when she wasn’t at home.” 

There’s a tussle between the man and older sister, and when the dust settles, little sister Maisie is missing. The storyline takes off from that point. Libby feels so responsible for her sister’s disappearance, when a young man appears to tell her he knows someone who may be able to find Maisie, she decides to trust him, leaves a note behind for her mom, and embarks on a journey to learn more about what happened to her sister. The search for answers ends up becoming a mystery that must be solved, leading in many directions, exposing her to danger, and involving almost supernatural happenings. It is one heck of an unputdownable story!  

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