The Surrogates by Consuella Harris
The deaths of two prominent businessmen on the same day of heart attacks is at first declared to be of natural causes. No investigation happens until a former law clerk hires an investigator to check into these murders, and the connection to the Lake Shore Parenting Group. Three women became surrogate mothers through this group…
The deaths of two prominent businessmen on the same day of heart attacks is at first declared to be of natural causes. No investigation happens until a former law clerk hires an investigator to check into these murders, and the connection to the Lake Shore Parenting Group.
Three women became surrogate mothers through this group and their children were adopted by five couples. Once the information about their births is revealed to them, it sets in motion events none had anticipated.
The investigation into these families, their lives, and those behind the events changes everything they believe. Yet, there is still a murderer on the loose, unless the intrepid investigator can bring that person to justice.
“This One Kept Me Reading Til the Wee Hours…”
Five Star Review on Amazon By terrylynn
Well, it was a long night thanks to Consuella Harris and her book The Surrogates. I started reading around 9:00pm thinking I’d read for a couple of hours, then go to sleep and pick it up again tomorrow. Ha! I didn’t put it down (except for the occasional bathroom or snack break) til I closed the cover at 4:30am. When I finally crawled into bed, my husband mumbled to me “that must have been a pretty good book” and he was right… it was.
Vince Adams is a lawyer who has enjoyed a cushy job in his father’s and grandfather’s prestigious law firm but he wants to do something that will make a difference so he decides to create The Lake Shore Parenting Group to help couples who are unable to conceive naturally by providing them with surrogate mothers. While the use of surrogates is more common now, when the beginning of the story takes place in the early to mid 60s, it was a new and uncommon method of adoption. With the best of intentions, Vince brings in a noted OB/GYN, a private investigator to research the backgrounds of potential clients and surrogates and a psychologist who devotes his time to counseling all the parties involved, and he does so with a passion.
Many years later a dear friend of Vincent’s contacts respected private investigator Keith Brown to investigate the deaths of both Vince and the OB/GYN who was a part of the group, Mark Abbott. Valerie is convince the two men were killed and asks Keith to look into the history of The Lake Shore Parenting Group to find out who could have wanted these two men dead. What follows in an in depth investigation as Keith Brown delves into the lives of the three surrogate mothers, the adopting couples and the children they raised as their own.The stories behind these three surrogates and the reasons they made the choices they did makes for a fascinating read. Each story is complex and emotional and the outcomes of these adoptions and the process as it evolved from start to finish kept me turning the pages. The story begins as a first person narrative by Keith Brown, but then the viewpoint changes mid stream and it was a little distracting, but it was easy to overlook because the story is a well written, compelling piece of fiction that touches on not only the controversial subject of surrogates, but interracial marriage, homosexuality, post traumatic stress disorder, abandonment, spousal abuse and the lies we force ourselves to believe are necessary when we feel our choices are limited or our all consuming desire for a child becomes more important than anything else that might get in the way or come back to haunt us later.
This book is a riveting, eye opening look at the human psyche and the emotional and complicated process that surrounds the surrogates, adoptive parents and the children who are the results of these arrangements. Five stars for Consuella Harris and The Surrogates.*
*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review which I have given. I do not know Consuella Harris and no other form of compensation took place.
About the Author
My name is Consuella Harris and I am the Author of The Surrogates, published in June 2014 by Solstice Publishing company. After more than thirty years I worked in the public sector where I retired in 2010. I obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University. I reside in a small city eight miles outside of Washington, D. C. in Maryland. I am the mother of one daughter, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of three children.
Writing has been an ongoing passion of mine. In 1976, I wrote a play for the Prince George’s County, Maryland Bicentennial celebration, which was produced by the Prince George’s County Community College Reader’s Theater. In addition, I’ve written two plays, a comedy based on the Amos n’ Andy television show and a play entitled, The Birth of the A.M.E. Church. For the two plays I wrote lyrics, currently the plays haven’t been produced. I am now working on another book entitled Two Women. I am an avid reader of mysteries, spiritual and biographical books. My constant companion is a Llasa Poo dog named Princess. I love Motown music, bowling, chess and vacationing in the Caribbean Islands.
My newest book, Vengeance is Nine was published July 21, 2015, it is a mystery. A short-story packed with intrigue.