Strange Piece of Paradise is the true story of Terri Jentz and her
girlfriend who undertake a cross country cycling trip at the age of
19. Only days into the trip while sleeping in their tent they are
run over by a pickup truck and then attacked with an axe. The
perpetrator was never caught. The attack leaves the friend with
serious head wounds resulting in blindness and complete amensia
regarding the attack. It leaves Jentz with rib and shoulder
injuries where she was run over and axe scars where her arm was almost
severed. But for Jenzt it also left deep psychological
scars. After years of denial, rage and phobias that keep her from
accomplishing anything Jentz decides to face her demons straight on and
see if she can discover who it was who changed her life so
dramatically. She returns to Oregon and begins a search that
reunites her with the teenage couple found them, the nurses who saved
them, the police who maybe did, or maybe didn't look very hard for the
man who did this to them. It's a long journey that takes a number
of years and Jenzt is incredibly thorough. The book has many
aspects to it - a coming of age story, a travel book, a mystery, a
thriller. Jentz is a wonderful writer and a great story teller.
The tale is harrowing and macabre but it is also filled with a sense of
purpose and a coming of wisdom. The book is long and there is a
certain amount of repetition within the last 100 pages, but this is a
minor quibble. This is a book that keeps you thinking about it
long after you've put it down. Buy at Amazon
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