TELEPHONE ROAD by Ann Swann

Telephone Road is the latest book written by Ann Swann. I was hooked immediately from the first page, enveloped by the genuine qualities of the characters and their lives in Texas. I was born and lived many years there and felt immediately at home. The book is imbued with the flavor of the area and the unaffected personalities of the characters. Her portrayal of the importance of family shone through.

The main character, Marlena, is a college student from West Texas who is enrolled in school in Austin. Although she considers herself a small-town girl at heart and has little experience in or desires to party like many of the other students, Preston quickly attempts to draw her into his world, which involves drinking and drugs. She resists, and it angers and challenges him, since he comes from a wealthy family and is accustomed to getting his own way. When he begins to stalk her, it scares her and makes her even more determined to break off all contact with him. She goes home over Thanksgiving to her small West Texas hometown, Window, and is reunited with a boy she knew in high school. They both realize how much they like each other, and she tells her girlfriend that Jimmy is “the one.” Marlena is even more determined to break off any relationship that Preston has imagined they have.

When Marlena agrees to meet Preston in order to tell him she doesn’t want to see him and that she has found someone new, he invents a scheme to get her alone and vulnerable on an almost deserted road outside of Austin, Telephone Road. He brutally attacks her, with the intention of killing her. He rapes her after stabbing and unmercifully beating her, leaving her unconscious and bleeding. He thinks he will never see her again, but she is stronger than he thinks and manages to get to a police station where she accuses him of attempted murder and rape. His parents pay a witness to vote against the conviction when it goes to trial, and there is a hung jury. He immediately begins his harassment of her, and she is convinced that his sister has also been abused by him.

Marlena grows stronger as a result of therapy and the support of her friends and family. She knows that she will never be free of him and will never have a normal life as long as he’s alive, so she hatches a plan to bait him into the open. She demonstrates her strength and resilience as the book unfolds.

The author uses her characters to reveal a discussion about the subjects of rape, assault, the importance of family and friends, and to show what constitutes a loving and healthy relationship. I highly recommend this book, because it approaches many issues in a way that is captivating and interesting. I intend to read it again, which is what I do when I discover a book I consider truly engaging. I give it five stars out of five!