Summer of the Redeemers

by Carolyn Haines

In the summer of 1963, KaliOka Road is Bekka Rich’s world. Trusted by her parents, she has the freedom to roam and explore in the safety of rural Mississippi—as long as she remains on the red dirt road. Kali Oka dead-ends at an abandoned church and crosses the notorious Cry Baby Creek, where locals say a young infant, deliberately drowned, can be heard crying for mercy late at night. As the summer rolls out, three events change Bekka forever. Nadine, with her stable of show horses, moves onto the road. Then, a reclusive religious group—the Redeemers—rumored to practice strange rituals, takes over the old church. Shortly after that, her best friend’s infant sister Maebelle goes missing. Horse crazy Bekka falls under the sway of Nadine, but it is the desperate need to find Maebelle that motivates her to take dangerous actions. No one on KaliOka Road is who or what they seem. Bekka must face the truth of a grownup world and learn that trust and judgment come at a cost.