Invisible Girl

By Tess Hudson (Erica Orloff)

Book Description:

A Buddhist monk sets himself ablaze in protest.
A woman swan dives to her death in Manhattan's East River.
Secrets of 1970s Cambodia emerge in Hell's Kitchen.
Now Maggie Malone must trace the steps of a ghost-father in the CIA, to save her own life.

Running her father's venerable Irish bar, Maggie and her criminally inclined brother are scarcely surprised when a man shows up on their doorstep, holding an urn full of ashes, with news that her father is not just missing. He's dead.

Clutching a fistful of damning old photos, Maggie enlists her reluctant boyfriend, Detective Bobby Gonzalez, to help her unravel the mystery of her father's murder. But unearthing her father’s murky secrets means tracing Maggie's and her brother's roots to the flames of Vietnam. Who was their father? What became of a tiny baby girl sent to America in Operation Babylift? And why will shadowy figures stop at nothing to prevent the secrets of the jungle and a family coming to light, even if that means destroying Maggie and her brother?

Reviews:

4 stars - Shines a light on a little known poignant piece of history, June 5, 2006
Reviewer: Harriet Klausner

In Manhattan Maggie Malone's brother Danny is shot and her Irish-American father is murdered. She assumes the two incidents tie together with a third that of her mother Vietnamese expatriate Mai dying years ago in the East River.

Unable to ignore the tragedies that she also concludes are tied to her late dad's mysterious work, Maggie investigates who shot her sibling and killed her father because she feels that will reveal why her mother died. However, as she begins to unravel a web of deceit that leads back to the Viet Nam War era "Operation Babylift", someone wants Maggie to stop digging for the truth. That unknown adversary makes it clear she will die if she continues on her quest, but Maggie is beyond concern as she is fixated on knowing all the players and whys.

This is a fascinating look at the impact of the Viet Nam War on a generation of Amerasians but at times is difficult to follow with the constant switching between the present and the 1960s. When the story line focuses on Maggie's amateur sleuth investigation into her family history as opposed to shifting eras, the tale is gripping and fun to follow, but before fully hooking the reader a time transfer occurs and jolts the plot. This is still worth reading by readers who do not mind a bit of disorientated time joggling and the final spin is fabulous as Tess Hudson shines a light on a little known poignant piece of history by showcasing its aftermath thirty plus years later.

Harriet Klausner

Really solid thriller, July 22, 2006
Reviewer: Joseph "Reader" (Virginia)
The story of Mai is poignant. But the way her story weaves with her children . . . it's a multi-layered thriller. I really enjoyed this, and the caracters were vivid. The Vietnam vets--Hop, Con, and Jimmy--were rightfully paranoid. Political and religious themes great for a book club.

Poetic Thriller, July 22, 2006
Reviewer: Nick "book reader" (Florida)
An amazing book. Beautiful writing, coupled with an intense storyline about Operation Babylift and a conspiracy. The East vs. West and Buddhism vs. Catholicism elements added to the yin/yang of the book. A great read!