For ten years, Claudia Campbell has lived with the memories of her best friend dying in her arms. Claudia's husband, who just happens to be the assistant D.A., is tired of watching his wife hurting and decides that solving the murder might bring the closure that she needs to heal. In the meantime, Casio Hightower, Claudia's high school boyfriend, is having problems of his own that he blames on the trauma of that night. While it's obvious that there are deeper issues involved, Casio thinks worming his way into (and helping solve) the new investigation will help him win back his current love.

We not only read the story from those involved in the modern-day story, but we are also privy to the thoughts of B.J. Remington during her last few minutes of life. It's a interesting way to tell the story, and it makes B.J. a person, a part of the story, rather than just "the teacher who died", as she might have been if we didn't learn about her thought and feelings.

This is not a light-hearted book. There is a little bit of humor in the relationship between Casio and Victor Campbell, but this is a book about domestic abuse, betrayal, adultery, and murder. It's also a book about forgiveness, love, and hope, but most of that comes at the end of the book. Speaking of which, I have to say that the ending was shocking and completely unexpected. (No peeking. It really will ruin the book for you.)

I received this book free from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review. ( )

A difficult story to tell; tragedy, murder, secrets, abuse and PTSD. The author did a good job of creating a story with such mystery that I couldn't figure it out until the very end. Claudia Campbell is haunted by memories of a 10 year old murder she witnessed while on the bus going home from a football game. In front of her eyes her teacher was shot and she eventually died. Now her husband is trying to solve this 10 year old mystery of who shot this person. I like how the back cover states, " . . . the Campbells . . . teeter on the brink of losing everything, will they be able to discover that what begins at the crossing ends at the cross?" A hard story to read because of the brokenness in so many people's lives. ( )

I loved this book!!!!!!!!! I can usually figure out the outcome of the books before they are done but I couldn't figure this one out. Lets just say that the ending totally shocked me and I didn't see the end coming. This book also held my interest and ended up being a book that I didn't want to put down. I really want to read more books by this author because her writing is amazing and she does such a great job describing things in her book. Most of the mysteries/thrillers that I have tend to get gross but this book didn't. It still kept me interested even though it wasn't super gross.

If you like mysteries then you will love this book!
FTC-I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review ( )

On the way home from a high school football game, a masked gunman jumped onto the bus and opened fire, killing the cheerleading coach, BJ Remington, and injuring the star quarterback, Casio Hightower. Ten years later, Casio and his former girlfriend Claudia are still dealing with the aftermath of that terrible night. When Claudia's Assistant District Attorney husband reopens the case, the truth of what happened that night reopens old wounds that have never really healed.
This is a good novel portraying characters suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They seem like real people with real problems, which you don't usually find in fictional novels. Casio has anger management problems as well as relationship problems, and Claudia suffers anxiety attacks and flashbacks. These are very real and common symptoms. The opening of each chapter where we hear BJ's dying thoughts are captivating. They may be the best part of the book. It held my attention right up until the end, and then somehow it fell flat. The solution was predictable and it seemed that most of it was wrapped up off-stage, if you will. But all in all, it was a good read, and I thought it was nice that at the end there was information regarding PTSD.
4 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group book review bloggers program . I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” ( )

After 10 years Claudia is still haunted by the night she watched as her best friend was murdered and unable to do anything. The murder has gone unsolved for so long, when Claudia’s husband, Victor, decides to reopen the case in hopes of bringing Claudia some closure the nightmares and panic attacks return full force. Now that the case has been reopened and new evidence has come forward there is no way of stopping now. The case is tearing apart Claudia and Victor’s marriage, will Victor be able to solve the case and be able to pull his family back together?

The Crossing could be a great story, the idea and storyline pull you into the lives of those affected by the murder and how some of the students are still trying to cope after ten years. Jakes has a good start to what could be a great story; however, the story comes off as very surface level and does not really dive into the characters and the problems they are facing on a deeper level. The issues that develop throughout the book are solved very easily and fall into place a little too neatly.

The summary on the back of the book is also slightly misleading, this book could be great if Jakes would take it to the next level and really delve into the characters and what makes them tick as well as what causes some of the relationships to be so strained. Reading a book where the characters have many situations to overcome and in the end fall perfectly into place seems unrealistic and avoids showing the growth of each character.

I received this book complimentary from Waterbrook Multnomah for an honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own. ( )