The Taking of Peggy Martin: Dark before Dawn

After her husband’s death, Peggy Sue Martin somewhat just stumbles through life. She wakes up, makes coffee, goes to work then comes back home and grieves through the rest of the time. She is convinced that her job is her only saving grace. Peggy suffers misfortunes in life and at some point even thinks she may be going crazy. What she does not know is that her life is very close to changing forever. Up to this point, the biggest events in her life were losing Grandmother Flossie and then Danny. More is yet to come. The fate that befalls East Texas begins and ends with Peggy. Little Peggy who is easily bypassed because she is sad and has dark circles under her eyes. Little Peggy, who sits awake alone all night. The path that Peggy is about to walk is scary but she has an unlikely partner.

When creatures invade the county, only a few know about the matter. These few are in danger from the said creatures. The same few embark on a mission to find out what they have planned. The result of their fury-filled curiosity is morbid. They have lost people they love in the fight but they still have each other in the end. Peggy has something in her possession that the Koit-Zue wants. The three of them might be on the run all their lives. One thing is for sure though, baby Belle will live it up.

“You’re getting hotter than a goat’s butt in a pepper patch” The book is colored with such language, which brings so much humor amidst all the tragedy. It is so authentically Southern in a way that a reader will appreciate. The ‘Texan drawl’ has a certain symphony to it. Something that makes it melodious to the ear. Peggy does not like it but reading in a Southern accent sure is fun. Karen Glista creates vivid images and scents in the Taking of Peggy Martin. She described things and smells down to the minutest detail. This quality is instrumental in transporting the reader to Cypress Creek. While reading through conversation between Morgan and Peggy one can almost smell the cocktail of pungent dead flesh mixed in with wanton sexual desire. The twists and turns in this story will keep the reader glued to the pages. It is an interesting sequence of events.

The characters are truly admirable. Peggy never completely loses her faith in God. She recites the Lord’s Prayer when the ‘sky trees’ surround her. She has incredible strength and enviable resilience. Marbelle Brookshire Johnson is another character who just impresses from the beginning to the end. She possesses such maternal concern for Peggy that the reader just has to love right from the get go. She makes a good companion for Peggy through the mucky trip. If the Koit-Zue do not get them, Morbella will be lucky to have her as a honorary grandmother.

If there are imperfections in this book, the reader will be easily blinded by the Southern tongue and impeccable imagery.