A Desperate Hope

Elizabeth Camden has written a trilogy somewhat about eminent domain.  The State of New York Water Board has determined that a reservoir be built where the town of Duvall Springs stands.  The purpose of the reservoir is to provide water to the city of New York. The citizens in the town of Duvall Springs have exhausted every avenue to stop the building of the reservoir, and so Eloise Drake has been dispatched to Duvall Springs to assess what the state will pay for each building and land to compensate the owners for displacing them. 

Alex Duvall, the mayor of Duvall Springs, was once in love with Eloise and sees her coming as a way of reconnecting with her.  The only fly in the ointment is her guardian, Bruce Garrett, who once had him beat up for dallying with Eloise when they were in high school.

Alex's other passion is the citizens of his town and how to take care of them.  He comes on a rather dubious solution that will be chancy but if it works, will be genius.  He proposes to move the buildings of the town to a new location on a high point above the town.

Elizabeth writes great novels with characters of depth and complexity, but this time she missed the mark with one character, Alex.  He is shallow and somewhat two-dimensional.  Eloise has a bit more depth, but she too is rather flat in her portrayal.  While the book is still a great read, it is only a four-star book. I will say it's not often that one finds the male protagonist is a flibberty-gibbet, but Alex fits that bill entirely. 

I want to thank Bethany House for providing the galley I read through NetGalley.com.