Paper Targets by Patricia Watts

 

 

PAPER TARGETS

by

Patricia Watts 

Suspense / Literary Fiction / Women's Fiction
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Pages: 324 pages
Publication Date: May 3, 2022

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Everyone knew that Roanne never got angry­—until the night she killed her ex-husband and herself. 

Roanne, a nice, suburban lady in her sixties who works at a Hallmark shop and volunteers at the Food Bank in Round Rock, Texas, calls her lifelong friend, Connie, confesses to murder, then puts the gun to her own head. Connie, spurred by Roanne’s last words about a lifetime of unspoken rage, sets aside her work as a cozy mystery writer and cupcake shop owner to confront the men who have stolen her dignity while she remained silent, including a bully brother, a rapist, and an ex-spouse. On a journey to reclaim her inner power and to make peace with the loss of her treasured friend, Connie’s mission is to avoid the same tragic path as Roanne, but she takes along a gun, just in case. 

With pathos and humor, Paper Targets, by Patricia Watts, calls us to speak our own narratives, even when it is uncomfortable or risky, and shows us the magnificence of a friendship that transcends time.

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Patricia Watts worked as a journalist for more than 20 years for newspapers in Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska. Following her news career, she tried her skill as a paralegal and then spent ten years investigating discrimination cases for the Alaska Human Rights Commission. Her novels include: Ghost Light and The Big Empty, crime mysteries co-written with Alaska author Stan Jones; The Frayer, suspense noir; and Watchdogs, a steamy thriller. Her home base is San Diego. She earned her B.A. in journalism at Humboldt State in California. She is the mother of a son and daughter and has eight grandchildren.

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Thank you to the author and LSSBT for providing a review copy of Paper Targets.

Paper Targets starts with a bang, literally. Connie gets a call from Roanne, her best friend of fifty years. Roanne admits to killing her ex-husband and then kills herself. Connie is devastated. How did she not see this coming? Her friend’s death sets her on a life-altering path of reflection, confrontation and forgiveness.

The story of Connie and Roanne unfolds in a back-and-forth style, as Connie reflects on their five decades of friendship. In her last words, Roanne rages against the men in her life who held her back, controlled her or diminished her self-worth. Connie realizes she shares similar feelings and sets out to confront the men who have hurt her, physically and emotionally.

I enjoyed this book. I’ll admit to being close in age to Connie and the passages describing her teen-aged years and early twenties resonated with me. More than that, the story really sucked me in, watching these two young girls, with hopes and aspirations, grow up, get married, and eventually lose their grasp on their tattered dreams. I felt deeply sorry for Roanne. Her plight was believable and well written. Connie was a multi-faceted character, and I loved getting to know her and cheer for her as she set out to slay her own personal demons.

I highly recommend this well-written, engaging story to readers of women’s fiction. 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

TWO WINNERS:

First Prize: Autographed copies of Paper Targets, The Frayer, and The Big Empty

Second Prize: Copy of Paper Targets

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 8/5/22.)

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