District Attorney Tommy Branscum is running for Governor of Vermont. Scion of a prominent family steeped in law and politics, Milford’s native son seeks the prize that has long eluded his forebears. Matt Matheny has returned to his childhood home of Milford seeking to restart a life set adrift by the stillbirth of his only child and the unexpected death of his wife Liz just months later.
Two lives headed in opposite directions. Yet they share in common an event occurring thirty years ago in the parking lot of the Milford Police Department. Tommy and Matt are the only living witnesses to the murder of Caroline Dawson, an innocent child from the wrong side of the tracks. What happened on that summer night has long been forgotten by most in the small community. But not by Caroline’s killer, her grieving parents, a parish priest, and a malevolent family patriarch. And not by a boy of ten unable to fully comprehend what he saw from a darkened alley.
Now, thirty years older and with Marianne Carpenter by his side, Matt makes a shocking discovery that rocks Milford, shakes Vermont’s power structure to its core and threatens their lives.
State of Redemption is a compelling novel by Richard McKeown that is part crime thriller and part political intrigue. It tells a story of how the privileged and the poor, the innocent and the guilty, and the good and the evil finally receive the justice they deserve. And the freedom they need.
Targeted Age Group:: 18 and over
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
As a child, I lived in a quintessential small Vermont town. It was a great place to be a boy! I recall there being a murder behind City Hall and while I don't remember all the details, it was alarming because things like that NEVER happened in my town. I used that event to construct a story of an 'assault gone bad' resulting in the killing of a 15-year-old girl that was covered up through a conspiracy of silence.
