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klboehm 's review for:
The Last Train to Key West
by Chanel Cleeton
It’s April, 1935 in South Florida. The Great Depression is taking it’s toll and there’s a devastating hurricane on the way. It’s an ideal setting for this story of romance, intrigue, and second chances.
Pregnant waitress Helen Berner is the central figure at Ruby’s Restaurant in Key West. Close to the railroad station and the ferry terminal, “most everyone comes through Ruby’s at some point.” Helen is unhappily married to Tom Berner, a drunken and abusive fisherman. One of her regulars, quiet, polite John, takes a liking to her, and comes to her aid when she’s mugged one night on her two-mile walk home. John and Ruby both give Helen the courage to leave Tom. She takes the ferry to reunite with her beloved Aunt Alice in Islamorada. John has business in the area and offers to accompany her.
Mirta Perez Cordero is the skittish, just-married wife of the notorious, gun-toting criminal, Anthony Cordero, who won her hand in marriage from her father in a poker game. They are in Florida from New York on their honeymoon. She and Helen share a moment at the restaurant while Anthony tends to their flat tire.
While Helen and Mirta are unfulfilled in their relationships, Elizabeth Preston is flirty and outwardly carefree. She passes through Ruby‘s restaurant and sits at Helen’s table and shares her story. She is there from New York to search for her long-lost brother in a veterans camp, while simultaneously escaping from her dangerous husband-to-be, Frank Morgan who “started a crime wave” in New York.
Just as Helen is rescued by John, Elizabeth is rescued by Sam Watson who she meets on the train from Miami to Key West. He’s an FBI agent who is not who he appears to be. “People are a mystery, and the second you think you have them figured out, they surprise you.”
The chapters cycle through, telling the stories of each woman in turn. At some point a scorecard might not be a bad idea, because the stories do overlap and there are similarities in the women’s circumstances. When the storm finally hits, the story really picks up, and each of the characters show their true colors. There are plenty of twists and turns to maintain interest, and the almost-always-present sense of danger keeps the pages turning.
Pregnant waitress Helen Berner is the central figure at Ruby’s Restaurant in Key West. Close to the railroad station and the ferry terminal, “most everyone comes through Ruby’s at some point.” Helen is unhappily married to Tom Berner, a drunken and abusive fisherman. One of her regulars, quiet, polite John, takes a liking to her, and comes to her aid when she’s mugged one night on her two-mile walk home. John and Ruby both give Helen the courage to leave Tom. She takes the ferry to reunite with her beloved Aunt Alice in Islamorada. John has business in the area and offers to accompany her.
Mirta Perez Cordero is the skittish, just-married wife of the notorious, gun-toting criminal, Anthony Cordero, who won her hand in marriage from her father in a poker game. They are in Florida from New York on their honeymoon. She and Helen share a moment at the restaurant while Anthony tends to their flat tire.
While Helen and Mirta are unfulfilled in their relationships, Elizabeth Preston is flirty and outwardly carefree. She passes through Ruby‘s restaurant and sits at Helen’s table and shares her story. She is there from New York to search for her long-lost brother in a veterans camp, while simultaneously escaping from her dangerous husband-to-be, Frank Morgan who “started a crime wave” in New York.
Just as Helen is rescued by John, Elizabeth is rescued by Sam Watson who she meets on the train from Miami to Key West. He’s an FBI agent who is not who he appears to be. “People are a mystery, and the second you think you have them figured out, they surprise you.”
The chapters cycle through, telling the stories of each woman in turn. At some point a scorecard might not be a bad idea, because the stories do overlap and there are similarities in the women’s circumstances. When the storm finally hits, the story really picks up, and each of the characters show their true colors. There are plenty of twists and turns to maintain interest, and the almost-always-present sense of danger keeps the pages turning.