Review of "The Blackbird Season: A Novel of Suspense" by Kate Moretti

As the story opens, Nate Winters is a popular math teacher and sports coach at Pennsylvania's Mt. Oanoke High School.



Nate - a married father - takes a real interest in his students, and has helped some of his players get college opportunities. The town's goodwill for Nate goes down the tubes, though, after thousands of blackbirds plummet to their death in Mount Oanoke.



As the strange phenomenon is being investigated, a slew of reporters descend on the area - and one snaps a photo of Nate hugging a pretty student outside a cheap motel.



The student, Lucia Hamm, is a striking 18-year-old senior, with white-blonde hair, black-rimmed eyes, and luscious red lips. Nate claims he was only helping a pupil in need.....a girl who couldn't go home. Lucia's mother ran off long ago, and her father left when the paper mill closed and he lost his job. Since then Lucia has been living in squalor with her violent, drug-addicted brother Lenny. When Lenny burns Lucia with a cigarette and hits her one too many times, she walks out for good.

After the 'hug photo' hits the newspapers, Nate claims that Lucia called him for assistance, and he got her a motel room for one night - sending her to a shelter the next day. Nevertheless, Nate is suspended from his job pending an investigation.....



.....and it doesn't help that Lucia 'admits' they had sex.



This news spreads through town like wildfire, making Nate a pariah among Mt. Oanoke parents.



Nate hopes his wife, Alecia, will be more understanding - but she's not.



Alecia is exhausted from caring for the couple's autistic, five-year-old son Gabe, and already believes Nate is more attentive to his students than his child.



So when Alecia finds a sexy photo of Lucia on Nate's phone, and discrepancies in his story, it's the last straw. She throws him out.

The only person on Nate's side is his colleague, English teacher Bridget Peterson.



Nate and Alecia were 'couple friends' with Bridget and her husband Holden, until Holden died of cancer a year ago. This was shattering to the widow, who's been grief-stricken and distracted ever since.....especially at school.

Lucia is in Bridget's creative writing class, and the girl's journal suggests she has serious problems.



Moreover, many fellow students call Lucia a witch and avoid her. Bridget thinks Lucia isn't being entirely truthful about Nate, and sticks up for her friend as best she can.

Soon after the 'photo incident' Lucia vanishes, and things go from bad to worse. The Mount Oanoke detectives seem to think Nate is involved in her disappearance, and the coach becomes more isolated than ever.



The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Alecia, Bridget, Lucia, and Nate, switching back and forth from 'before the blackbirds fell' to 'after the blackbirds fell.' We see what each character thinks and does, and learn something about their motivations.

I was especially moved by Alecia's sections, which detail the difficulties involved in raising an autistic child: the need for constant attention; the meltdowns; the soiled pants; the lack of speech; the rigid routines; the numerous (expensive) therapies; and so on.



Alecia is overwhelmed, and it's hard to see how she copes. This situation would put a strain on any marriage, especially when hubby doesn't help much at home.

As for Lucia, she's in dire straits. The troubled girl has been living in poverty since the paper plant closed, and has little hope for a better future. When Nate is kind to her, and expresses interest in her well-being......well, let's say Lucia develops high hopes.



In fact, there's an atmosphere of desperation throughout Mount Oanoke, where many young people long to get away, but don't see how - since money is scarce and college is costly. This drives a lot of the behavior in the tale.

In Nate's chapters, we see how hard he tries to understand and assist his pupils, going so far as to follow them on social media.....a big no-no for teachers. One has to wonder about Nate's judgement here. Furthermore, the coach gets over-invested in boys who are offered sports scholarships for college, which clouds his thinking.

The 'sleuthing' sections of the story belong to Bridget, who thinks the Mount Oanoke detectives are biased against Nate. Bridget sets out to clear Nate's name, and gets some help from uniformed cop Tripp Harris - a long-time friend of the Winters' and Petersons. There's some attraction between Bridget and Tripp, which should appeal to romance lovers. :)



The story's climax is believable, fits the plot, and explains everything.

I enjoyed the book, which provides a realistic look at high school culture; a marriage in crisis; a grieving widow; and a town in decline. The characters are well-rounded and compelling, and I was interested in all of them. All in all, a good mystery, recommended to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Kate Moretti), and the publisher (Atria) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars