Review of The Crossing

The Crossing, by Serita Jakes, takes you into the lives of Claudia, Casio and other students who were involved in a tragic shooting on a school bus ten years ago.  The cheerleading coach and teacher, whom Claudia was very close to, is murdered by a masked gunman, and 10 years later, the case is still unsolved.

Most of the book is set in current time (10 years after the incident), but includes frequent flashbacks to the shooting, including from the perspective of the cheerleading coach as she lays dying.

There is a lot going on in this book and it is sometimes difficult to keep track of it all.  The story moves quickly, jumps around to various characters, and seems to leave out some important details.  Claudia is dealing with a lot at once - financial troubles, marriage difficulties, depression, flashbacks to 10 years ago, and new information about her parents that changes her perspective of their marriage and ministry.  Claudia's husband is an assistant district attorney who decides to re-open the case, in part to help bring closure for his wife.  He quickly discovers that some key evidence and information has been withheld.  This makes some people in town uncomfortable and creates some unexpected turns in the story. 

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, and had a hard time getting into it.  It is a good story, just not quite my style. 

You can read an excerpt of Chapter 1 here.  

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.