Rubi, racked with guilt and looking for redemption, let a man and his daughter stay in the barn. While Wyatt, maybe feeling scared to send them away, let three suspicious characters stay on the edge of their land. He didn’t think to report them until he saw a wanted poster for one of them. Is it just a coincidence that these men and the father and daughter were on their land at conveniently the same time? Or do they want something from the child? It is nearing Christmas and Rubi and Wyatt are getting a little attached to the child, so when the three men kidnap her, Wyatt rides off to try to save her. A complex story with a lot of emotions in Nebraska’s Map by Roger Ladd Memmott.

Roger Ladd Memmott’s style of writing makes Nebraska’s Map a very extraordinary novel. It’s dramatic and almost lyrical; it is very expressive, deep, and at times, romantic. The narrative is seamless and the characters are lovable. Rubi and Wyatt are especially good characters and Nebraska is an intuitive one. The author writes in a purposeful way, as if every simple and common phrase means something else and all will eventually lead to a significant revelation. He even makes “the fish” sound important and vital to the story. Every statement is a riddle. I just couldn't wait to get to the resolution and what a wonderful ending it was. This novel is gripping from the title page to the very last chapter.

Nebraska’s Map: Dirty Forgotten Sad Child, a novel by Roger Ladd Memmott, is a story of redemption. Rubi McAllister spent most of her life torn up about an incident that happened in her childhood. She became a lonely, lost child searching for a place in the world. While finding family comfort at Wyatt’s parents (her childhood sweetheart) Rubi had to deal with all the demons of her teenage years: an undeclared love for Wyatt, a heartbroken relationship with Billy Ray, drugs, sex, and a “lost” child. Now an adult and sharing a house with Wyatt, her brother-in-law, Jesse, and Jesse’s wife, Jolene, Rubi tries to make sense of things that happened in her past. The feelings of guilt still linger. In order to redeem herself of her “sins,” Rubi feels compelled to help someone, and she lets a man and a little girl stay in their barn. What she does not know is that those strangers could be the answer to most of her questions.

Nebraska’s Map is an intricate and interesting story. Mr. Memmott made me dive into the minds of the main characters. Rubi is a complex soul, as is the world around her. She and Wyatt have had their share of troubles growing up, but now things are different. The story is narrated in flashbacks, alternating between Rubi and Wyatt’s thoughts and their past and present lives. Through the use of metaphors, Mr. Memmott illustrates the real nature of the main characters and their struggles. He also lightens the story by using humor and exploring the quirkiness in the secondary characters’ dialogue, such as with the sheriff and the deputy, and the cronies and the girl in the barn—a part of the book that I especially liked. Since figures of speech permeate the story, a meticulous eye is required for reading. Still, the book is entertaining—a complex but great story of redemption—and I do recommend it.

Nebraska's Map by Roger Ladd Memmott is set in a small town in Southern Utah. Rubi McAllister does not have a clean past. She burned her parents to death when she was six. Now she is nineteen. It is Christmas time, snowing and cold, and Rubi has let a man and his daughter stay in her barn. But this act of goodwill leads to a lot of complications. Before Rubi realizes it, she finds herself trapped in a web of confusion and deceit. Will Rubi's lover save Rubi and the child of the man in the barn? It is a story of love and redemption, laced with desire and passion.

The book has a lot of twists and turns that will keep readers glued to the pages. It is a compelling story with all the emotional ingredients peppered throughout in the right doses. The narration is descriptive and lends the right amount of authenticity to the characters and scenes. There is a certain amount of crudeness and violence in the emotions and some explicit scenes which make the story action packed.

Though the story has excitement, thrills, twists, and turns, the story and the pace are fluid. Certain parts of the story will captivate readers with some good imagery, giving it a dreamy quality and adding a tinge of softness to the harsh theme. The theme is original and all the characters have been portrayed powerfully.