Snapshot by Lis Wiehl

About the Book:

Two little girls, frozen in black and white. One picture worth killing for.

The Civil Rights Movement is less than a distant memory to Lisa Waldren—it is someone else’s memory altogether, passed on to her through the pages of history. Her life as a federal prosecutor in Boston feels utterly remote from the marches in the South that changed her father’s generation—and the entire nation—forever.


But the truth is, she was there.

When a photograph surfaces showing a blond, four-year-old Lisa playing with an African-American girl at a civil rights march in Fort Worth, Lisa is faced with a jarring revelation: the girls may have been the only witnesses who observed the killer of civil rights leader Benjamin Gray . . . and therefore the only ones who can exonerate the death row inmate falsely accused of the murder.

Soon, Lisa finds herself in the dangerous world her father had shielded her from as a child. After some searching, the Waldrens find the other little girl from the photo and, in the process, uncover conspiracy mere steps away from the likes of Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and J. Edgar Hoover.

Based on real events and a photograph snapped by author Lis Wiehl’s own G-man father, Snapshot is a remarkably original marriage of mystery and history.

 

My Review: 

I liked that the story was based on part historical information and was part fiction--it made for an interesting storyline. I also liked how the story weaved in the piece about a missing key and how it only would unlock one drawer in the Kennedy cabinet--it made it feel a bit like National Treasure :) However, while the story was good, it lacked the ability to fully engage the reader. I love to read a book that I just can't put down and this book didn't do that for me. Also, as a Bible-believing Christian, I disagreed with a woman pastor in the story and, although it was in jest, the reference to a lesbian woman pastor. The book did have a good story to tell though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for allowing me to preview this book--the opinions which I wrote are my own.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars