Thanks to the author for providing a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review.
225 Pages
Synopsis: It’s been fifteen months since Lacey Becnel’s unfaithful husband suddenly passed away, leaving her her to sort her feelings of anger, love, and loss. Her dead-end job, once a life raft, but now just endless days of boredom, leave her wondering where exactly her place in life should be.
But when she awakens under an overpass near her home, next to Nathan–a man she met just hours before in the streets of New Orleans–she begins a journey of discovery that some might call supernatural. In the days that follow, Lacey and Nathan try to sort out the events of the evening, and it becomes clear that he might be the target of a murder plot, and she–somehow–have the power to heal.
Lacey uncovers a link both powerful and deep, a connection to her dead husband’s family and the traiteur tradition, a centuries-old faith healing practice. As she becomes more embroiled in Nathan’s danger, the more confused she becomes about her feelings for him. Will she ever fully understand her abilities, or will the danger surrounding Nathan bring things to an abrupt end?
I know. You’re probably looking at my rating for this wondering “what the heck?” The thing is, I’ve been waffling over whether to give this a 3.5 rating or a 4.0, so after three days of indecisiveness this is my compromise. First, I want to say that for the most part I enjoyed The Incident Under the Overpass. I liked Lacey and her droll sense of humor. Her character is made even more interesting as she’s not only dealing with these sudden mysterious powers, but also with the loss of her adulterous husband the year before. She’s been through so much which gives her a sense of vulnerability, yet at the same time she’s fully capable of taking care of herself. The secondary characters are well written, but my favorite is Tonti, her husband’s aunt. The scenes with her and Lacey are my favorites in the book. I also liked the setting of New Orleans, and I think Anne does a marvelous job bringing her native city to life. The fantasy aspect regarding Lacey’s sudden healing powers is written in an imaginative way, but leads to one of my issues with the story. There’s virtually no explanation as to how she may have attained these powers beyond that they’re somehow connected to her deceased husband and his family. I kept thinking right up until the end that there was going to be an “Ah Hah! moment, but there wasn’t. Another issue is with Nathan. I absolutely LOVED him, but in my humble opinion he wasn’t in the story enough. After the first couple of chapters, he just seemed to pop up now and then and because I liked him so much, this just wasn’t enough for me. And finally, my last problem is with the dialogue between the characters, which came off a bit clunky and stilted at times. It was just distracting enough that it slowed the otherwise fast pace of the story. Despite these issues though, I still recommend The Incident Under the Overpass, to readers who like urban fantasy. It’s a unique story with great characters and it stands out from many other books in this genre. I’m hopeful that some of the wrinkles I found in this first book will be smoothed out in the next. I will definitely be picking up the second book in this promising new trilogy when it’s released.
By Hook Or By Book 
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