Jadine
Reckless Indifference
Silent Cry

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JADINE    |    RECKLESS INDIFFERENCE    |    SILENT CRY

 

 

Reviews for JADINE

 

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 “Jadine Tomecelli is a complicated, seductive character in this unsparing look at the wages of abandonment in childhood. Veazey sets up tensions and their consequences in evocative prose interspersed with vivid scenes of deadly acts of violence. Jadine is a nuanced study in moral ambiguity in this unnerving story of a life imploding, developing relentlessly in power and resonance, propelling you to an ending that is wrenching and unforgettable.”
Robert Henderson,
Boston Book Club

Jadine is a poignant tale of hope and despair, of a girl drifting through time in a reality all her own, grasping for something to hold onto. The hard facts of her life mock our most cherished American ideals: family, community, opportunity; and when the expectation for justice sours, the playing rules of life become frightening and something different altogether.”
Barbara DeWall, Arizona Review

“Following a series of heartbreaking events and dealing with more tragedy than she can handle, Jadine transforms herself into Jade, even as bad luck follows her like a storm cloud. Jade’s longing for approval and love is scorching and sad, and Veazey keeps the reader hoping until the very end for her salvation.”
Benjamin Hoyt, Literary Reviews

Jadine is a true account of Jadine Tomecelli whose traumas early in life fracture her ability to trust herself and others in this psychological drama. Her fate intertwines with Native American Billy-John as the two orphans struggle against their past. Visual moments of passion and rage, both graphic and poetic, propel you to an ending you will never forget, or forgive.”
Wendy Shapiro, Tampa Book Club

 

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Reckless Indifference
Nominated for a 2009 New Hampshire Literary
Award for Outstanding Book of Fiction!

Reviews for RECKLESS INDIFFERENCE  

“In this crime novel, Veazey takes us on a wild ride around the East coast, as she dramatizes a case of police malfeasance that rings all too true. By dint of a vivid imagination and some detective work of her own, the author illuminates the crisscrossed lives of a half-dozen characters. She weaves a tangled…and dazzling…web.”
Pagan Kennedy, Writer-in-Residence, Dartmouth College

 “If you think that being arrested without evidence or probable cause can’t happen to you, think again. Julie Bigg Veazey has assembled a cast of opportunists and victims who could hang or redeem themselves. Reckless Indifference is a searing indictment of the abusive power of one corrupt individual over another person’s life. The story builds into a gripping crescendo as you alternately love and hate the characters.” 
Robert Henderson, Boston Book Club

The suspense of the novel rests on the psychological portraits of Tony and Eric, antagonist and accused. The author is dead-on in her illustration of Eric’s malaise—the depiction of the helplessness and disbelief with which he faces his persecution is fascinating and vivid. Veazey shows with bone-chilling accuracy that while the courts purport to believe in the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven, the concept is often overlooked. An accusation can be as damning as a conviction, and Eric loses the support of his wife, children, boss and even lawyer, as he descends further into the system. Reckless Indifference is a crime novel that mines interesting, unconventional sources for tension.
Kirkus Discoveries

 “Reckless Indifference” is a well-written novel that will have you hooked from the first page. The characters are very well developed and their personality traits and actions will definitely evoke strong feelings from the reader. The book really makes you think about how the fabrication of evidence can have such devastating and life-altering effects on one man and his family’s being. It will also make you question whether or not the phrase “innocent until proven guilty” really means anything. The story flows smoothly and will hold your interest until the last page is turned. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys psychological and legal fiction.
Kam Aures for Rebecces Reads


TAUT PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM N.H. AUTHOR

Local author, Julie Bigg Veazey, puts flesh on the bones of nightmares in her second novel, a psychological thriller of one man's life wrested from his control.
     Eric Nordblum is already a bit down on his luck. His marriage is on the rocks after his brief affair with a co-worker and his wife has thrown him out. He misses his boys and his home. And then a cop shows up at his door and begins asking strange questions and with a skip and a slip Eric's life begins a downward spiral that gains velocity with every page.
     Through various viewpoints, including perps, witness and cops, the reader knows what Eric does not — a trio of jewel thieves has been targeting a particular chain of stores, which the cops now have staked out. But the sting operation is botched, resulting in the shooting of a store manager and the escape of the criminals in a car that looks a lot like Eric's, right down to the bent antenna, an all but fatal detail.
    The lead investigator is an ambitious, but lazy and unprincipled cop, who really needs to get this collar. He latches on to Eric's and begins to build his case, unchecked by his more cautious partner, or, later, the dawning realization that he may be fitting up the wrong guy.
     Meanwhile Eric finds himself in a maelstrom of disaster as his support structure — family, friends, job — his very place in the world, begins to fall away.
     Veazey, also author of the coming-of-age novel "Silent Cry" (available at RiverRun Books in Portsmouth, Water Street Books in Exeter, and on Amazon.com), and a book of poems, "Merrymeeting," portrays the vortex of fear that grips an innocent person caught in the gears of a faulty system. She shows how minor errors, cover-ups and personality flaws can accumulate until injustice attains a life of its own that mere humans seem powerless to stop. A page-turner and a cautionary tale.
Lynn Harnett of Kittery, Maine for Seacoast Sunday

Reckless Indifference, in the capable hands of Julie Bigg Veazey, becomes a cleverly constructed legal yarn about the unjust targeting of a guiltless man and his battle against the very law that was designed to protect the innocent. It is an engrossing read that winds through the bureaucracy of our legal system as the intertwined actions of the characters irrevocably change the lives of both the innocent and the guilty. The most frightening aspect of the book is: “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Cheryl Brown, Atlantic Book Club

 “Weaving an emotional shuttle through circumstances that evoke a passion for justice, this novel leaves you with a gnawing need for the truth that escapes in the tatters of Eric’s unraveling life. Reckless Indifference explores an intricate net of lies and how they eventually ensnare the spinner. Once again, Julie Bigg Veazey’s characters, through vivid dialog and action, envelope the reader with a scary look at reality.”                     
Robert Leigh Meek, Chemistry of Power

 “Inconceivably, the destiny of a flawed but hard-working husband and father becomes determined by an ambitious beat cop who fabricates one reckless untruth which leads to another and another until three states are involved in an entanglement of deceit. With fascinating perception into each character, the author leads the story into legal recourse, tragedy and redemption.”
Barbara DeWall, Arizona Review

 

 

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 Reviews for SILENT CRY

“Julie Bigg Veazey explores the ferment and contradictions of the 1950s at an elite boarding school. Like Muriel Spark’s masterpiece, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Veazey offers part social commentary, part moving character study, both urgent and tangible. Silent Cry signals the debut of a deft new talent.”  
Ellen Tanner Marsh, New York Times best-selling author  

“An action-packed story about the trials of a privileged girlhood. Set in late 1950s Connecticut, Veazey’s debut explores the daily life of six high-schoolers at all-girl Winthrop Academy, New England’s most respected prep school. Akin to Mary McCarthy’s The Group, with a dash of Peyton Place, this spicy bildungsroman revolves around Nancy Walden, who is sent to Winthrop midway through her senior year as punishment… …. Not without a few unexpected twists, the fast-paced storyline gains momentum as it progresses…this boarding-school story is a page-turner.”
Eric Liebetrau, Kirkus Discoveries

“…a searing look back at an era of double standards and cloistered perversion... The story centers on three emotionally charged girls and the painful initiations of the adult world.  Silent Cry takes surprising twists and turns which keep the reader guessing to the very end.”                                           
Cheryl Brown,
Atlantic Book Club

 “Poignant, utterly convincing, Julie Bigg Veazey looks into the private world of prep school and privileged childhood in this suspenseful tale. The spicy, fast-paced storyline gains momentum as it hurls us toward a shocking finale.”                                                  
Robert Leigh Meek,
Chemistry of Power

"Silent Cry draws us into the exquisite anxieties of adolescence in this empathetic and sharply observant novel where the genuine characters are funny, strange and complex, spinning and weaving toward a conclusion with a macabre twist.”
Sally Michener, Visual Artist

"It is a rare pleasure when a finely crafted novel also grips us and sweeps us forward with sheer storytelling power.  A delicious, voyeuristic, long look into the private world of a girls’ boarding school is amply rich fodder for a compelling tale, but Julie Bigg Veazey is equally adept at rendering quieter, individual drama.  Playful and poignant, dramatic and droll, Silent Cry rings with Veazey’s poet’s voice."   
Barbara DeWall,
Arizona Review


AS REVIEWED BY BOOKS UNDER REVIEW

Julie Bigg Veazey's Silent Cry is a realistic fictional portrayal of life in a boarding school during the '50's. Its excellent characterization and riveting plot keep the reader thoroughly engrossed through surprising twist-turning events until the very last page. A must read.

http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/detail/stars-5-0.gifSilent Cry is a wonderful read.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-18

Silent Cry is the kind of book that you can easily lose yourself in. You are instantly carried into the life and times of the 1950's. The characters are introduced in such a way that you feel connected with them from the very beginning. The author has a magical way of telling a story. As I read the book I was thinking about who might play the characters if the book was brought to the big screen. It would translate wonderfully!

http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/detail/stars-5-0.gifAn Accurate Depiction of the 50's

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-08

I hardly know where to start. As a reader of the usual best seller novels,
this story held my interest to the point where I could hardly wait to see what happened next. The lineup of characters, both the students and the faculty at Winthrop Academy, were all so vividly portrayed that in my mind I started to have favorites. As a guy who was just slightly older than the girls at Winthrop at that time, I visited a similar school for a social event that had similar boy/girl restrictions. Even today I find it hard to know the thoughts of young girls so vividly brought out in this book. Julie Bigg Veazey deserves the highest praise for this work. I hope to see more of her writing in the future.

http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/detail/stars-5-0.gifFantastic First Novel

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-03

I found "Silent Cry" was just a great book to sit down and read. I was intrigued by the plot and after meeting the author I couldn't wait to find the tiime to sit down and read her work. The girl's featured in this book were very real and had the same fears/insecurities/cliques/drama that any girl in high school faces today. They were a lot of fun to get to know and the twists in the plot took me completely by surprise. I hope there are more works of fiction coming soon from this author and I would be honored to host those authors signings as well!!

http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/detail/stars-5-0.gifA good read

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-21

Few would name the 50s as their favorite decade, but those who lived through it, especially if they happened to go to a straight-laced private boarding school, are likely to remember feeling conflict between the normal impulses of adolescence and the imposed manners and mores of a time reminiscent of the Victorian era. Such is the case in Silent Cry, a novel that explores the concluding months in the senior year of a small group of girls "privileged" to attend Winthrop Academy, an elite all-girls' school in Connecticut. Nancy Walden enters in the middle of senior year, sent away by her family to avoid "disgrace." She meets a group of girls who are each struggling with their own inner demons. Intense bonds and conflicts develop, and Nancy experiences the first true friendship she has ever known. Dramatic incidents propel the novel along unexpected lines, keeping the reader guessing until the very end. Julie Bigg Veazey demonstrates a keen eye for physical detail and psychological nuance in this first novel.