The Marsh King's Daughter, Dionne - B+

                                              This is a frightful page-turner, unlike anything I remember reading in a long time. The novel is narrated in the first person by a 27-year-old woman, Helena, who is the only child of an Indian who kidnapped a fourteen-year-old in the mid-1990's and held her, and her soon-born daughter, hostage in the marshes of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for over a decade.  The story opens with the news that the Marsh King has escaped from prison, and Helena  realizes he will be after her and her family. Half of the story is flashbacks to her upbringing as a skilled huntress, tracker and survivalist. They truly lived off the grid and Helena was ten before she even saw or heard another human being. The details of the skills needed to live in the marsh must have required a lot of research by the author or a bountifully creative mind. It is the details of Helena's childhood that make this a fascinating read. It is her skills as a tracker on her father's trail that generate the excitement. Summer may be over, but this is the ultimate beach-read.