The Measure of the Moon

Childhood traumas reverberate throughout Preston’s (Orchids and Stone) gripping thriller set in Washington State. One night in the woods, eight-year-old Greer Donner runs across a man beating a woman. When the man threatens to kill anyone Greer tells about the beating, the boy, who’s revealed his name and where he lives, is terrified. The members of Greer’s close, raucous family, which includes five adult brothers and sisters, are later worried when Greer’s behavior changes under the weight of this secret. Meanwhile, freelance photographer Gillian Trett, who suffered from growing up with alcoholic parents, plans to leave her unbelievably saintly husband. Yet a third plotline involves a WWII-era photo. As the stories converge, Preston milks each of them for every bit of drama and horror. Readers will sympathize more with the well-delineated members of the Donner family than with the less distinctive characters in the Gillian chapters. Agent: Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Apr.)