Joan Moran

When seventy-five-year-old Francine Reynolds-Richelli-Freeman falls a second time while dangerously drunk again, her adult daughter takes insists she go to rehab in Joan Moran’s Once a Homecoming Queen. Francine rebels. She loves to drink with her friend Ida and has no interest in getting sober until Ida, who promised she would never drive drunk, takes that risk, crashes her car, and dies. That hurts and angers Francine before it sobers her up. Group therapy and AA meetings help. So does show more Francine’s dark humor.

Like many alcoholics in the process of getting sober she goes through resistance, cravings, and plots to escape group therapy and the rehab system. Even so one day she discovers she likes the lack of hangovers, and when she’s released from treatment, she agrees to do some volunteer work at a local women’s prison to keep her mind off the cravings. Meanwhile her housemate, Carlos, has been taking care of her dog and maintaining the place she lived is straightening out his own life.

When the prison transfers her out of meetings and into the pharmacy, she meets Doc, who sees the worthwhile side of her and offers her a chance to go with him to the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, where he’ll relive his glory days. He knows she has liver disease, appreciates her redeeming qualities, and wants to care for her.

This is an honest, gritty look at what alcohol can cost an individual and her family, but it’s also a story of redemption. It’s well told, believable, and authentic. I feel for Francine and occasionally I wanted to ring her neck, but in the end, I applauded her. The book shows that it’s never too late to deal with your problems and find peace one day at a time. show less

A young boy comes of age in not-so-sleepy Central Texas.

Up From Hell is the first book in author Joan Moran’s gritty crime fiction series, Echoes of the Past: Crimes in Central Texas, featuring a young boy who was dealt a rough start in life but who has a plan to turn it all around and make the most of his dream to become a good police officer. When Neil Dixon’s mother goes into the hospital to treat her drug addiction, the eight-year-old is befriended by Las Vegas Police Sergeant Jordan show more Finch, who gets him to a safe, stable place before arranging for a more permanent solution with the boy’s aunt and her family in distant Jarrell, Texas. Finch’s example and kindness become Neil’s ideal for his own future, and as he grows, he plots a course to become a police officer in his new hometown. But law enforcement in small towns in dusty Central Texas was a whole different beast at that time. Corruption was rife through the little communities, and the bad guys went unpunished while the cops took money to look the other way. Still, Neil pursued his dream, with the ultimate goal of changing the way justice was served, from the inside out.

Told from Neil’s point of view, his experiences and impressions from his early life are hard to read, even as Neil keeps himself together and strives for more. After leaving his life in Las Vegas behind, things improve marginally for him, but his aunt is also fighting her own battles with an alcoholic live-in boyfriend. Still just kids, Neil and his cousin, Jack, take the necessary steps toward getting her the help she needs.

One of the hallmarks of small-town living is that neighbors help neighbors, and Neil is the beneficiary of some good people who want to give the honest, hard-working kid a break, which is how he comes by his first job and first modes of transportation. Another small-town element is the undeniable familiarity; everyone knows everyone else, their families, and their business. This truth both helps and hinders Neil as he progresses toward his goal.

Because of his unbuffered childhood, Neil had to grow up quickly, but along with the hard knocks, he gained a keen sense of survival and a strong intuition that served him well. I liked how Neil could see through most people’s smokescreens of lies, half-truths, and other obfuscations to get to the heart of what was going on.

The story moves at an even pace as Neil grows to maturity, punctuated with exciting encounters with criminals, potential danger, and obstacles laid by those who should have been on his side. The young man experiences even more tragedy in his life yet keeps rebounding even stronger than before. I look forward to more of his crime-stopping adventures.

I recommend UP FROM HELL to readers of character-driven crime fiction.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns. show less

T received a review copy of the book.

Who among us can say life has turned out as we had wanted or hoped? Especially from the dreamscape of high school? Once a Homecoming Queen examines the question through Francine Freeman, her family and friends. Rachel, Ida, Carlos – each one, and more, interesting and integral to the story.

This book, originally a screenplay, is well written, characters believable and relatable. Francine could be our mother, sister, aunt, or grandmother. She could be show more a family friend. Whoever Francine Freeman is, we know her.

‘Francine and Ida had been going to Chez Moi for decades. They knew the

menu by heart and the waitress by name. It still retained its old musty smell

after forty years in business. The furnishings hadn’t been changed in twenty

years. The brown leather sofas at the front entrance were falling apart. The

leather was peeling off the sides like skin from a dead animal. But the menu

was better than Applebee’s. More important were the bartender’s generous

shots of bourbon in their drinks.’

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