‘The Last Breath’: Betrayal, importance of forgiveness integral to debut novel

Kimberly Belle packs a punch with the gripping prologue of 'The Last Breath.” And this debut novelist keeps readers turning the pages, assessing your beliefs and leaving you holding your breath all the way to the end.

The book begins with the murder of Ella Mae in a small Appalachian community. We know that Ella Mae knew her murderer, but is the murderer the man who spent 16 years in prison for the crime?

Gia, Ella Mae's stepdaughter, has spent her adult life traveling the country assisting with disasters, feeding the hungry and doing everything she can to stay away from her home full of bad memories.

After leaving town after high school, she must return to care for her father Ray, the accused and convicted murderer. He has been released from prison to live out his final days at home with hospice. Gia is thrown together with a father she hasn't seen since he was taken to prison, two siblings who want nothing to do with their father, a street full of protesters and a nagging doubt that her father is guilty of the crime the entire community thinks he committed.

As Gia returns to the home Ella Mae was murdered in, a slew of emotions surface. Her siblings refuse to answer her calls and run out the back doors of their offices. Her uncle, Cal, who is also her father's lawyer, continues to fill her with lies about the case and the local bartender's food (and sex appeal) are too hard to resist after living in third-world countries. Gia begins to unravel memories that were long buried and starts to piece together the night that Ella Mae was murdered. When she finds out the truth about Ella Mae's murderer, it may be more than she can handle.

Belle kept me guessing all the way to the end. There were several occasions when I was sure I knew who the murderer was only to have my suspicions dashed a few chapters later. There is plenty of family drama and secrets to keep the reader interested and eager to start the next chapter.

Along with the telling of Gia's story, we are taken back to Ella Mae's final days. We learn some of Ella Mae's secrets and are given more insight into who may have been Ella Mae's murderer. In hearing Ella Mae's story, you will wish there had been a different outcome, rather than the brutal murder. Her choices in life, as well as her murder, left ripple effects on her family and the whole community.

Each character's personality is vividly portrayed. From Ray, suffering through his final days, to Fannie, his spunky hospice nurse, Belle paints each scene with dramatic details.

My only complaint about the book is the explicit sex scenes. Sometimes I prefer to leave these pieces of the story to the imagination rather than read the passionate details.

Ultimately, this story is about betrayal and the importance of forgiveness both for the living and the dying.