What I'm Reading: Blade by Wendy Walker
A review of a psychological thriller for fans of Olympic Figure Skating
BLADE by Wendy Walker
Who remembers watching Figure Skating in the Winter Olympics as a kid? For me, it was Dorothy Hamill with her signature Hamill Camel. I was such a huge fan, I even asked for the same haircut that she had. When I saw that Wendy Walker, one of my favorite writers, was writing a thriller, inspired HER OWN experience training for the Olympic trials, I knew I just had to read her book.
Walker hit all of her marks with grace. Told in two points of view in two timeframes, BLADE will keep you on the edge of your own figurative blade from the first word, “Run,” until the last. Ana Robbins, a former Olympic hopeful, now working as a criminal attorney to defend children, is called to the remote Colorado training facility she left years before to defend young figure skater Grace, who’s been accused of murder. Ana must battle her own demons while she tries to hunt down Grace’s.
Walker has addressed trauma in her psychological thrillers before. This novel benefits from that, as well as Walker’s own experiences as a young skater living away from her family and her career perspective as an attorney. Never heavy-handed, but always deftly moving through the narrative, both support the story as the reader is propelled through the same high-stakes emotion Grace and a young Ana experience.
Five out of five stars!
What’s your favorite memory of an Olympic sport?