In 1972, windswept DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by a terrifying crime: the murder of a young mother, Gaylene Harjo, and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky Jack. When the child's pajama bottoms were discovered on the banks of Willow Creek, everyone feared that he, too, had been killed, although his body was never found.
Now, nearly thirty years later, Nicky Jack mysteriously returns to DeClare, shocking the town with his sudden reappearance and stirring up long-buried memories. But what he discovers about the night he vanished is far more than he, or anyone, bargains for. Piece by piece, what emerges is a story of dashed hopes, desperate love, and an act with repercussions that still cry out for justice...and redemption.
Mark Albright shows up in the small town of DeClare, Oklahoma, to find his past. Brought up by wealthy adoptive parents in California, he may actually be Nicky Jack Harjoe, who disappeared from DeClare as an infant after his mother was murdered 30 years earlier. His quest to find answers will stir up buried secrets--and crimes--in this small town. Letts's characters are interesting and complex, but this abridgment lets them and the story down by, apparently, leaping ahead and leaving the listener puzzled. While Phillips narrates with gravity, skillfully vocalizing the colorful characters, the confusing abridgment renders this an unsatisfying production. M.A.M. 2005 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
