A River of Silence
When Detective Winston Radhauser is awakened by a call from dispatch at 12:45 a.m., it can mean only one thing. Something terrible awaits him. He races to the Pine Street address and knocks repeatedly. No answer. The door is unlocked. “Police,” he calls out. Again, no one responds. He unsnaps his holster and places his hand on his gun.
In the kitchen, Caleb Bryce, nearly deaf from a childhood accident, is frantically giving CPR to 19-month-old Skyler Sterling. Less than an hour later, Skyler is dead. The ME calls it a murder and the entire town of Ashland, Oregon is outraged. Someone must be held accountable. The police captain is under a lot of pressure and anxious to make an arrest. Despite Radhauser’s doubts, Bryce is arrested and charged with first degree murder. Neither Radhauser nor Bryce’s young public defender believe he is guilty. Radhauser will fight for justice, even if it means losing his job.
River of Silence explores the themes of family ties, forgiveness, disabilities, abandonment, alcoholism, justice and redemption. Changed as a result of his journey with Bryce, Radhauser has finally let go of his past and is ready to move, unburdened, into a future with his wife, their 4-year-old daughter, and their soon-to-be born son.
About Susan Clayton-Goldner (Grants Pass, Oregon Author)
Susan Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National Writers' Association Novel Award twice for unpublished novels and her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Animals as Teachers and Healers, published by Ballantine Books, Our Mothers/Ourselves, by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade, and New Millennium Writings. A collection of her poems, A Question of Mortality was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Prior to writing full time, Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona.
Susan shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her fictional characters, and more books than one person could count.
