Women of Summer

Book excerpt: "I know I am but summer to your heart and not the full four seasons of the year." Edna St. Vincent Millay In the spring of 1908 the pale hue reappears in the Blue Ridge Mountains, as Georgia, a haunting Germanic beauty, falls in love with handsome Bentley. Caught in the illusion and glory of first love, neither understands it will change some lives for several generations. How can this be? A coed disappears as other mysterious events with sexual overtones occur but are not understood. After her decomposed body is discovered, other young women are murdered, gripping the town in fear. Driven by a dark and deviant motive, the taunting serial killer ritualistically displays the bodies of his victims. Sheriff John Woodward's physical and psychological limits are tested, as he strives to prevent further loss of life. This is a love story and also a psychosexual thriller, with moral and religious overtones asking why God fails to intervene. I. B. Wells, an English Major from VMI, and a son of the Blue Ridge, was an FBI Agent for 26 years before writing Women of Summer. He and his wife, Sue, who have two grown sons, live in Virginia Beach with their beloved dog, Victor.