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Eleven years have passed since Alexa Hamilton left the South behind, fleeing the pain of her ex-husband’s betrayal and the cruelty of his prominent Charleston family. Now an assistant D.A. in Manhattan, Alexa has finally put her demons to rest, making a name for herself as a top prosecutor, handling the city’s toughest cases while juggling her role as devoted single mom to a teenage daughter.
But everything changes when Alexa is handed her latest case: the trial of accused serial killer Luke Quentin. Sifting through mountains of forensic evidence, Alexa prepares for a high-stakes trial…until threatening letters throw her private life into turmoil. The letters are addressed to her beautiful seventeen-year-old daughter, Savannah, whom Alexa has been raising alone since her divorce. Alexa is certain that Quentin is behind the letters—and that they are too dangerous to ignore. Suddenly she must make the toughest choice of all—and send her daughter back to the very place she swore she would never return to: the place where her marriage ended in heartbreak…her ex-husband’s world of southern tradition, memories of betrayal, and the antebellum charm of Charleston.
Now, while Alexa’s trial builds to a climax in New York, her daughter is settling into southern life, discovering a part of her family history and a father she barely knows—from the ice-cold stepmother who stole him away to a fascinating ancestry and a half-sister and half-brothers she comes to love. As secrets are exposed and old wounds are healed, Alexa and Savannah, after a season in different worlds, will come together again—strengthened by the challenges they have faced, changed by the mysteries they have unraveled, and with Savannah now at home in the southern world her mother fled.
In this masterfully told tale, Danielle Steel creates a stunning array of contrasts: from the gritty chaos of Manhattan’ s criminal court system to the seductive gentility of the South, from the rage of a hardened criminal to the tender bond between a mother and daughter—and a loving father who has welcomed Savannah home at last. A novel that will catch you off guard at every turn, Southern Lights is Danielle Steel at her electrifying best.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 20, 2009 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780440339113
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780440339113
- File size: 2202 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
September 7, 2009
A veteran of exploring wealthy family dynamics, Steel now flirts with the thriller, introducing two familiar fixtures, the serial killer and the strong single female attorney determined to get him convicted. Unfortunately, her focus quickly shifts away from New York ADA Alexa Hamilton and her conflict with rapist-murderer Luke Quentin to Alexa's 17-year-old daughter, Savannah, and her relationship with her father, Tom Beaumont, who broke Alexa's heart when he divorced her to remarry his first wife. After Savannah begins receiving threatening letters sent from Luke or an associate, Alexa asks Tom to provide Savannah a haven, which he does over his wife's objections. The visit helps Savannah grow closer to her dad and stepfamily; it also gives Alexa, on weekend visits, an opportunity to heal in classic Steel style, but the resulting courtroom drama feels rushed and inexpert. Thriller fans will be disappointed with all the family bonding, though Steel's many readers will, of course, devour this. -
Booklist
September 1, 2009
In Steels latest opus, we meet Alexa, a strikingly beautiful Manhattan assistant district attorney who is in the middle of vigorously prosecuting a serial-killer case. Meanwhile, Alexas equally beautiful teenage daughter, Savannah, is preparing to graduate from high school and leave home for college. Alexa is a single parent who was wronged by Savannahs father, Tom, several years ago when they were married and lived happily (so she thought) in South Carolina. As the serial-killer case moves forward, Savannah begins to receive anonymous and creepy letters, presumably from the killer. Fearing for Savannahs life, Alexa packs her off to South Carolina to live with her father and his reluctant wife. Savannah wins over most of the southerners, and Tom realizes the scope of his mistake, though Alexa is lost to him forever. Everything is tied up neatly by the end, with Savannah gaining admittance to Princeton and the love and acceptance of her fathers family, while Alexa wins a conviction, begins dating a handsome senator, and scores a great new job. This is typical, uncomplicated Steel fare, and her fans will readily embrace it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)
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