Through the Evil Days: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery (Fergusson/Van Alstyne Mysteries Book 8)

If you read for escapism and live for the happy ending, this is not the book for you to read. The title of this book, “Through the Evil Days,” says it all. You are going to be reading about evil people doing evil things to the unsuspecting over a period of eight days.You are going to be dealing with unrelenting realism punctuated by pure terror and underlined by a depression that lays harder and harder on your mind with the passing of each chapter. And, on its last stark sentence, you will close an incredibly well-written book with a feeling of such sorrow that you may sit immobilized for a time wondering just what book you will need to read next to get past this one.Three simultaneous scenarios drive the action in this 8th and latest entry in Spencer-Flemings’ Reverend Clare Fergusson series. First, Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne have been married for only three months, but Clare’s accidental pregnancy is 5 ½ months along. Russ, in his early 50’s, does not want to spend the rest of his life raising a child and Clare, an Episcopal priest, will not have an abortion. Complicating the pregnancy is Clare’s PTSD, mental scarring left over from her recent military service in the Middle East and a situation which she originally tried to resolve with alcohol and pills.And it gets worse. Unbeknownst to Russ, Clare’s bishop has demanded her resignation in lieu of charges of sexual misconduct prior to marriage. But unbeknownst to Clare, Russ has learned that the town council intends to disband the police force, putting him out of a job. Cap this off with a delayed honeymoon to a remote lake cabin for some ice fishing with a snowstorm in the forecast and the first miserable stage is set.Just as Russ and Clare are leaving for the lake, they are called to the scene of a massive house fire. Clearly arson, the couple who owned the house are dead, not by fire but by gunshot. Their foster child, Makayla Johnson, the recipient of a recent liver transplant, apparently has been kidnapped, and without her immunosuppressant meds, will likely die within a week. Since Makayla is the child of a known meth user, dealer and smurfer, the second miserable stage is set.Coincident with the first two, the third scenario roars in. Hadley Knox’s ex-husband, Dylan, is standing on her doorstep. He needs money for a new business venture and demands the masters of the porn films they made together when they were in LA. Either she gives over the goods or he will expose her past and take the two children back to LA, based on a technicality in their custody agreement.Knowing that when those films hit the Internet, her law enforcement career will be over and knowing what Dylan will do with and to the children in LA, Hadley refuses to surrender either the tapes or the children. But she apparently does not understand the basic tenets governing a blackmailer: they always come back for more and they always make good on their threats. And, thus, the third miserable stage is set.POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW:This bleak beginning just gets darker as the book progresses. Every chapter is tainted with the red of blood – past, present or yet to be spilled. And the few scenes where a smile or a laugh sneaks out are tainted by the gray pall of facts we, as readers, know but the protagonists involved do not.As we approach the final conflicts that individually stem from each of the three plots, we know that any light we see at the end of the proverbial tunnel is only the headlight of the proverbial on-coming train. While Spencer-Fleming spares us a cliffhanger, she does not reverse her previous course and choose to spare us pain. She simply pins us to our seats and forces us, to the very last word, to watch the train that carries two of our protagonists inexorably and permanently go off the tracks.

Russ and Clare are set to go on their honeymoon - in January, at a remote rural cabin with no electricity or running water - to go ice fishing. They are also carting along a lot of "baggage." Russ has just learned that the town council will be making a decision in a week about whether or not to disband the police department and contract services from the State Highway Patrol. Clare has been given an ultimatum by her bishop. He wants her to resign for "unpriestly" behavior. She is also dealing with the fact that she was still using drugs and alcohol when she became pregnant and the baby could be facing significant issues. Even worse, she and Russ had agreed to not have children before she found herself pregnant and Russ isn't dealing at all well with it.Throw in arson, two executed people in the house before it was burnt, and a missing eight-year-old girl who has just had a kidney transplant and needs her immuno-suppresant drugs or she will die and the story gets filled with drama and tension. Mikayla's mother has lost custody of her because of her drug use. When the police go to search for her, they find that she is gathering pharmaceuticals used in making crystal meth. She flees before they can find out if she has Mikayla.Meanwhile, the storm of the century bringing snow, ice, falling trees, downed power lines, and collapsed cell towers is bearing down on the region. And Russ and Clare attract the attention of bad guys who send them fleeing from their shelter in the height of the storm.While Clare and Russ are dealing with their issues, Kevin Flynn and Hadley Knox are also dealing with theirs. Hadley's ex-husband has shown up demanding money, threatening to take her children back to California, and threatening to expose her secrets. And Flynn is still dealing with his love for Hadley and also a job offer in Syracuse.This was a fast-paced and tension-filled story. Many characters are faced with difficult decisions and police work has to go on while they are troubled. The ending leaves a number of plot threads dangling and I can't wait for the next book to tie them off.

Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne and Reverend Clare Fergusson are married, the honeymoon has been delayed and it’s cold and snowy, but they are planning on going to a cabin with no electric that Russ thinks would make a nice getaway for them.The day before they plan to leave a raging fire, two bodies with execution style bullets in their head, and a missing 8 year old child who recently had a liver transplant is a lot for the Millers Kill police. The morning of their leaving finds Clare in front of the St. Albans board discussing how only married two and half months results in her being five months pregnant.As other reviewers wrote, you needed a score card with all involved, the story was very dark, the reader is left wondering how a pregnant woman who took pills and alcohol before she knew she was pregnant, two police officers, and small child could encounter all the story brings.The interaction between Hadley Knox and Kevin Flynn working the case is well written. Adding in Hadley’s ex-husband showing up and threatening to take the kids, leaves the reader at time overwhelmed.

In spite of the lengthy descriptions of Russ and Clare's predicament, the long-drawn-out ice storm / pursuit story seemed ultimately rather dull. Much more interesting was the development of Flynn and Hayley's relationship (I think my impulse to shout at both of them is a good indication of how central they became to the plot). The other interesting plot point was the possible subsuming of the Millers Kill police department into the state police force. No doubt the plucky little local force will survive, though it's difficult to see why, given how overstaffed they appear to be (apparently having officers routinely spending hours sitting in patrol cars running speed traps is perfectly normal, and the most important function of the force is to provide local employment).

I thought this was one of the better books of this series. Julia Soencer Fleming took time to explore relationships of her main characters and left plenty of ends untied so that I want to know what happens to them in the next book. I do find, however, that she tries to cram so much into the plot and counter plots and then takes us through the book at a frenetic rate it can become unnecessarily confusing. Her gift is exploring the characters and developing this aspect - and researching church politics with more accuracy,would give this series greater credibility. I like this series, but it doesn't compare with the excellent Louise Penny.

I have read all the Clare Ferguson/Russ Van Alstyne series, of which this is the 8th, and have found them interesting on many levels. Because relationships develop throughout the series, they really need to be read in order. The crimes are of varying interest, but they are not the main point, but the emotional/moral/spiritual issues people face are. There is a heart-breaking reality to the relationship of two 'minor characters' in this book. Julia Spencer-Fleming makes you care about the people first and then that adds depth to the issues and makes you think, at times, what would I do.

Many twists and turns and just when you think all the loose ends are tied up you get hit with a swerve ball you never saw coming ! Gripping !

Non stop action from beginning to end with several back stories and romance as well as the hold- your-breath action of the main story