Burntown by Jennifer McMahon

Burntown by Jennifer McMahon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With her books I either hate them or love them, this one I love. The book begins when Miles witnesses his Mother's murder by someone dressed in a Chicken Costume, the police imprison his Father for the murder even though Miles insist he isn't the man he saw, that he shot the Chicken Man with his arrow. His Father dies in prison and Miles is raised by his Aunt and Uncle but his Aunt has a letter for him from his Father with the schematics to Thomas Edison's Telephone to the Dead. Miles grows up and marries Lily who was raised by her brother Lloyd they eventually have a daughter Eva and Professor Miles teaches at the local university and has a famous book, where he tells about his Mother's murder.

Then everything changes one Halloween when Lily and Eva are out Trick-or-Treating. Miles has built the Telephone to the Dead and uses it to contact his Mother, she reveals the identity of her killer. Now all of a sudden Eva has an older brother (no mention of his arrival) but Big E (Errol) and Little E (Eva) are a close knit pair and enjoy an idyllic childhood until "The Flood" tears their family apart.

Eva now known as Necco and her Mother are homeless drifters until the day her Mother jumps off the bridge to her death. Necco doesn't believe her Mother's dire warning that the Chicken Man/Snake Eyes is after them as she has no memory of what happened the day of "The Flood". She falls in love with Hermes and they live in an abandoned car across from a Catholic School until the day Hermes (who happens to be the Governor's son Matthew) is murdered and Necco is framed for the murder. With help from her new friends and a PI that Matthew had hired to look into her past she begins to unravel what happened the day of "The Flood" and discovers that her Mother lied to her about almost everything. When she sees her brother Errol she foolishly trust him and walks into a trap laid by Snake Eyes

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