PAPER TARGETS

by

Patricia Watts

Suspense / Literary Fiction / Women’s Fiction

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Pages: 324 pages

Publication Date: May 3, 2022

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Everyone knew that Roanne never got angry­—until the night she killed her ex-husband and herself.

Roanne, a nice, suburban lady in her sixties who works at a Hallmark shop and volunteers at the Food Bank in Round Rock, Texas, calls her lifelong friend, Connie, confesses to murder, then puts the gun to her own head. Connie, spurred by Roanne’s last words about a lifetime of unspoken rage, sets aside her work as a cozy mystery writer and cupcake shop owner to confront the men who have stolen her dignity while she remained silent, including a bully brother, a rapist, and an ex-spouse. On a journey to reclaim her inner power and to make peace with the loss of her treasured friend, Connie’s mission is to avoid the same tragic path as Roanne, but she takes along a gun, just in case.

With pathos and humor, Paper Targets, by Patricia Watts, calls us to speak our own narratives, even when it is uncomfortable or risky, and shows us the magnificence of a friendship that transcends time.

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This was a more powerful story than I was expecting. As a woman, I have experienced men’s dismissiveness in my career and dealt with those who didn’t think I was capable. But I have also been around those that lifted me up in my life and encouraged me to seek more than I ever thought possible.

Connie and Roanne grew up in a time when women were just finding their footing and men took them for granted, diminished them based on looks, and took advantage of them. The #MeToo movement may have started, but that doesn’t mean that men will admit to their lecherous pasts and still want to blame the women. Roanne decided that she couldn’t do it anymore, which sets Connie on a path to confront her “Paper Targets.” The term Paper Targets is addressed earlier in the book when Roanne asks Connie who from her past would be on a target if she was practicing at a gun range. Connie names some people and after Roanne’s death, she realizes that she needs to unload some baggage on these men and lighten the load she is carrying. While not all of the men admit to their pasts, it forces Connie to move forward and not allow these to drain her soul.

“…this is not about revenge. So do all these guys deserve to be called out? Doesn’t the good they may have done balance out with the pain they caused me in the past? Am I just holding onto grudges and carrying that with me forever?”

“I’ve been knocked down and beat down and held down, but I found the courage to stand up and speak out and demand validation as a woman. We have rage that needs to be taken seriously, because, if it isn’t, it could kill us; it has killed us, you know?”

While not a lighthearted book, it is very moving and might make you think about your own life. I felt for Connie and Roanne, enduring fathers who set them up to fail in their future relationships with their husbands. But at the same time, they could have tipped the scale in the other direction, but without a foundation of parental support, it was hard to make that a reality. I admired Connie for confronting the men from her past and found the scene with her father to be very emotional. That was probably the hardest conversation she had to have with anyone.

This story jumps back and forth in time, allowing us to have a deeper understanding of these women and what their life was like and their relationships with their families. While bleak at times, there is a ray of hope that shines through for those left behind.

This book might just make you think a little bit about your own life and how different situations have impacted the person you have become today. Don’t let the past drag you down.

We give this book 5 paws up.

Patricia Watts worked as a journalist for more than 20 years for newspapers in Texas, Hawaii, and Alaska. Following her news career, she tried her skill as a paralegal and then spent ten years investigating discrimination cases for the Alaska Human Rights Commission. Her novels include: Ghost Light and The Big Empty, crime mysteries co-written with Alaska author Stan Jones; The Frayer, suspense noir; and Watchdogs, a steamy thriller. Her home base is San Diego. She earned her B.A. in journalism at Humboldt State in California. She is the mother of a son and daughter and has eight grandchildren.

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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

TWO WINNERS:

First Prize: Autographed copies of Paper Targets,

The Frayer, and The Big Empty;

Second Prize: Copy of Paper Targets.

(US only; ends midnight, CDT, 8/5/22)

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