One Small Victory by Maryann Miller

The synopsis, from the author’s website (www.maryannwrites.com) is as follows:

Life can change in just an instant. That’s the harsh reality that Jenny Jasik faces when her son is killed in an automobile accident, but never in her wildest dreams did she ever expect to be working undercover as a member of a drug task force. She is, after all, just a Mom. In the course of her work, she discovers that she is capable of much more than running a household and managing her floral shop.

I read this book very quickly, as it was a compelling and easy to read story, although the subject matter itself was potentially quite disturbing.

Jenny Jasik is a believable heroine, who through unfortunate circumstances finds herself taking on a role she could never have imagined.  But in her obsession to try and make some sense come out of the death of her son (who was killed in a car accident, in which her son’s friend, the driver of the car was under the influence of drugs), she starts to neglect her other two children.  It was the domestic parts of the book which I enjoyed the most – the effect that the tragedy had on the whole of the family, and how they struggled to cope with feelings of grief, loss and anger.

In an attempt to do something about the drugs which are all too easily obtainable, Jenny becomes a member of a specialist drug unit.  Unfortunately, I had to suspend my belief somewhat here, because I found the circumstances under which she became part of the team rather hard to believe.  However, that is a minor complaint and did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I definitely felt that there was an honesty about the story – by which I mean that the subject is clearly something that the author feels strongly about.

The writing is eloquent, and the story is well plotted, and I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in crime novels, and human drama.

Published by Five Star Publishing: http://www.gale.cengage.com/fivestar/index.htm