Shae-Lynn Penrose is a lot of things. She's a single mom, a
retired cop and the only taxi driver in the small town of Jolly
Mount, Pennsylvania. She's also a tough-talking, hard-as-nails
chick with a killer wardrobe, a keen sense of justice, a tendency
to pick a fight and a backstory a mile long.

Part of that long and sometimes painful history is Shae-Lynn's
little sister, Shannon, who disappeared without a trace from their
small coal mining town many years before. Shae-Lynn has always
suspected that their father, a bitterly unhappy coal miner with a
recreational habit of beating up his little girls, finally let his
abuse go too far and killed Shannon. That theory has to be revised,
though, when long-lost Shannon shows up on Shae-Lynn's doorstep ---
nine months pregnant, with no boyfriend or husband in sight.

Shannon isn't entirely alone, though; in her wake comes a rich
Connecticut housewife, a suave New York lawyer and a Russian
mobster --- all looking for Shannon. What has Shannon been up to?
What does she want --- or need --- from Shae-Lynn? Does her arrival
mean more trouble for Shae-Lynn? Or will it finally force her to
confront some other demons in her past?

Although the candy-colored cover art and pun-filled title,
sharp-tongued protagonist and mystery plot might make you think
that SISTER MINE is aimed at, say, fans of Janet Evanovich's
Stephanie Plum, Tawni O'Dell's novel is far more sophisticated than
it appears at first glance. Sure, there are plenty of funny
situations --- O'Dell has a knack for writing fast-paced, vivid
action scenes and other dramatic or comic interactions --- but
Shae-Lynn's observations lend insight, and even wisdom, to the
book's portrayals of place and of its many finely-drawn secondary
characters.

Foremost among these are the "Jolly Mount Five," a group of five
miners who survived a highly-publicized mine explosion several
years earlier. These men (and their wives and friends), deeply
scarred emotionally and physically, help form a deeper, richer and
sadder portrait of the way of life in a coal mining town. They have
dealt with the trauma, the fleeting fame and the too-small monetary
rewards in various ways, from starting (and mismanaging) a
"celebrity restaurant" to drinking away the memory of an amputated
limb. Shae-Lynn's taxi-driving job --- not to mention her
burgeoning relationship with one of the men --- enables her to
reflect on how these five men (now considering suing the mine for
damages) represent the town --- and the industry --- in
general.

Like her character, Tawni O'Dell left Pennsylvania for a while,
only to return to the land of her youth. Her affection for, and at
times outrage on behalf of, the landscape and people of this
overlooked, underappreciated region shines through everything she
writes. Her debut novel, BACK ROADS, was an Oprah's Book Club pick.
With its exploration of family, self and place, SISTER MINE
deserves much the same audience.