Category Archives: 2004

2004

by | March 13, 2008 · 9:58 am

B.J. Mountford. Bloodlines of Shackleford Banks. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 2004.

Wild ponies have run wild for centuries on the Outer Banks island of Shackleford Banks. But modern development and diseases have taken their toll, and each year volunteers gather to roundup the ponies for a checkup. This year, however, things don’t go quite as usual. One of the horses is missing, and there are signs of foul play. The stakes quickly escalate when one of the volunteers is murdered. Park Service worker Roberta “Bert” Lenehan pursues the case, in the course of which she encounters greedy developers and environmental activists, and studies the long lineage of the horses.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Carteret, Coast, Mountford, B. J., Mystery, Novels in Series

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by | · 9:58 am

Bill Morris. Saltwater Cowboys. Wilmington: Coastal Carolina Press, 2004.

The residents of a small maritime community in Down East Carteret County are surprised when sea turtles began showing up in places as odd as a hotel jacuzzi and the mayor’s truck. Dodge Lawson, who operates a sort of marine salvage service when he’s not fishing, has the job of hauling the turtles back out to sea. Dodge becomes embroiled in the turtle mystery, which seems to be the work of environmental activists. Much of this funny novel is given to the story of the honest and genuine Down Easters who are simply trying to save their community from an onslaught of aggressive developers and inconsiderate recreational fishermen, while being harassed by a documentary filmmaker who pokes his nose into everything, and the never-ending parade of university researchers studying the local dialect.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Carteret, Coast, Morris, Bill

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by | · 9:58 am

Tim McLaurin. Another Son of Man. Asheboro, N.C.: Down Home Press, 2004.

When Nate dies of cancer in Chapel Hill, a small group of his friends carry out his final wish by bringing his ashes to his favorite spot on the North Carolina coast. They run into trouble when they travel unawares into a coming hurricane. The travelers are saved by a mysterious man known only as “Son.” The novel combines action, as the would-be pilgrims battle the elements; mystery, as they try to understand the enigmatic Son; and tragedy, as they remember the final days of their friend. Another Son of Man was published posthumously, two years after McLaurin’s death in 2002.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Coast, McLaurin, Tim

by | · 9:58 am

Michael Grant Jaffe. Whirlwind. New York: Norton, 2004.

Lucas Proudy is a weatherman in the fictional coastal town of Bentleyville. His career is going nowhere, and his only romantic prospect — the bartender at a local strip club — shows no sign of returning his affections. Then Hurricane Isabel hits the state. Lucas’s beachfront coverage is shown nationwide and his apparent death is captured on film. But Lucas survives, emerging from a wrecked building several days later to find himself an instant celebrity.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Coast, Jaffe, Michael Grant, Novels Set in Fictional Places

by | · 9:58 am

Kay Hooper. Hunting Fear. New York: Bantam Books, 2004.

Lucas Jordan is a successful profiler for the FBI, using his psychic abilities to track down missing people. When a string of grisly murders hit Golden, N.C., a fictional mountain town, Lucas is called to the case. The psychopathic killer keeps Lucas guessing throughout the book, and raises the stakes when he turns his sights on people close to the detective.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Hooper, Kay, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Suspense/Thriller

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by | · 9:58 am

Lynne Hinton. The Last Odd Day. New York: Harper, 2004.

In the opening section of The Last Odd Day, Jean Witherspoon is struggling to cope with the death of her husband. The novel alternates between Jean’s past and present. When she learns a surprising secret about her husband, Jean delves into her own history, recalling her stillborn daughter, the deaths of her siblings when she was young, and her traumatic upbringing in a poor Appalachian family.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Hinton, Lynne, Mountains

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Judy Goldman. Early Leaving. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.

The night he graduates from a prestigious private high school in Charlotte, N.C., valedictorian Early Smallwood shoots and kills an African American teenager. This novel follows Early’s mother Kathryne as she tries to understand the events of that night and reflects on Early’s childhood, wondering if there was something she could have done in order to prevent the tragedy.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Goldman, Judy, Mecklenburg, Piedmont

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by | · 9:58 am

Kaye Gibbons. Divining Women. New York: Putnam, 2004.

Mary Oliver travels from Washington, D.C. to her hometown, the fictional Elm City, N.C., to spend time with her aunt Maureen in the fall of 1918 with the nation at war and a deadly flu pandemic sweeping the country. Maureen’s troubles, it turns out, are much more immediate. Her cold and cruel husband has reduced her to a quiet and cowering existence and Mary takes it upon herself to save her aunt. Drawing from the example of strong women in the family’s history, and with the help of caring relatives, Mary and Maureen plan their escape.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Coastal Plain, Gibbons, Kaye, Historical, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Wilson

by | · 9:58 am

Gwynne Forster. Blues from Down Deep. New York: Kensington, 2004.

Regina Pearson never really felt at home in Hawaii, especially after her father passed away and she had no family left in the islands. When she learns about relatives in New Bern, N.C., she heads off to find them, excited about meeting the extended family she’s never known. Although she meets many colorful characters, Regina finds a group of people with troubles of their own, hardly the warm embrace she’d expected. It isn’t until she gets to know a retired soldier named Justin Duval that she decides she might have a reason for staying.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Coastal Plain, Craven, Forster, Gwynne, Romance/Relationship

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by | · 9:58 am

Anderson Ferrell. Have You Heard. New York: Bloomsbury, 2004.

As Have You Heard opens, Jerry Chiffon is dressed in woman’s clothing and pointing a gun at a well-known conservative North Carolina senator. The story of Chiffon’s life unfolds as several narrators, all residents of the fictional Eastern North Carolina town of Branch Creek, struggle to understand what has happened. Chiffon felt uncomfortable as a gay man in a small, conservative community and left for New York as soon as he could. He has just returned home to recover from the death of a lover when he makes his attempt on the life of the senator. Ferrell is from Black Creek, in Wilson County.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2004, Coastal Plain, Ferrell, Anderson, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Wilson

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