Julie Carrick Dalton Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Julie Carrick Dalton is an American contemporary suspense and thriller author. She has published over one thousand articles in the Boston Globe, The Hollywood Reporter, and Business Week, among others.
Dalton earned a master’s degree in literature and creative writing from Harvard Extension School. She’s an enthusiastic kayaker, hiker and skier. Julie is a speaker on fictional writing in the age of climate crisis. She contributes to the Writer Unboxed, DeadDarling and GrubStreet’s Writer’s blogs.

Waiting for the Night Song

Cadie Kessler has lived up hiding one truth for decades. But did she ever think that the secret would finally be discovered?

An emergency message from estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, currently working as a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home.

While there, Daniela and Cadie are left with no choice but to face a dark secret that broke their strong childhood bond and the amazing summer break that takes a lot of space in Cadie’s memory than the rest of the years she has lived.

Now that Cadie is a grownup tied by long-held oaths and face to face with truths she doesn’t not want to see, She will have to pick what to sacrifice to protect the people and the forest she has lived to adore as wildfire, drought and foreclosures bring tension to the displaced migrant locals and farm workers.

The novel is a song to the natural beauty that surrounds people, a call to fight for what one believes in and serves as a reminder that the truth will always come to light. It’s a story about immigrants and anti-immigrants sentiment and about people who care for the environment and those who reap benefits by pretending no climate change is taking place.

Cadie is an entomologist getting her research that shows that a beetle is destroying the New England forests leading to trees drying up, which becomes an ideal fuel for forest fires. She is devastated when Daniela calls, saying she has to come home since their childhood secrets threaten to come to light with severe consequences for some people who might be at risk.

Told from two perspectives, the story narrates an event that occurred to the two young girls while enjoying their summer in the New Hampshire woods and its effects on those involved many years later.
Cadie was eleven years old with few friends and loved nature and roaming in the woods. Her friend Daniela spent the summer exploring the creek in a boat and picking blueberries to sell. During their adventures, they meet a boy they named the Summer Boy living with his uncle, and the two secretly start leaving books on his pier for him to read.

Everything went well until something happened which ended their summer and lives to haunt them for all years. Now it’s twenty-six years later, and Daniela needs Cadie’s help. With Cadie studying the link between insects attacking the trees and wildfires, the climate changes and other species face danger.

In Cadie’s hometown, tension and temper are rising due to the flood of illegal immigrants offering cheap labor. Daniela and Cadie’s secret, the town’s resentment and Cadie’s career are about to explode. The story serves as a reminder of the lazy days and sweet friendships.
It’s a story about childhood best friends, the fun of long summer days of freedom and exploration. The author shows how dark and ugly secrets and trauma can mold a child’s personality. Julie shows how going home with the hope of making amends can turn into a fight for social injustices. The novel keeps the reader at the edge of their seats, leaving them craving for more in the end.

The writing is descriptive and amazing, as you can feel yourself watching the scenery in front of you. It’s inspiring how Julie Carrick puts current issues into the picture, such as immigration, racism and climate change, as they are all relatable.

Waiting for the Night Song is based on childhood trauma and its effects on the three children who were involved. The author talks about determination and doing what one believes, regardless of the results. It is a heartfelt story of friendship and family, showing how far and how many lies one can tell and how many secrets one can keep preventing the truth from coming to the surface.

The author tells the story in flashbacks to the three children’s childhood, pointing out what happened in that forest and how the secret is about to unveil as they solve the mystery around it. Cadie’s passion for Mother Nature makes the story more delightful.

The descriptions of the New Hampshire forests are amazing, adding flesh to the story.

The Last BeeKeeper

The novel celebrates a family’s search for truth versus power and the triumph of hope amidst despair. Over a decade since, the world has become undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with a goal.

Her goal is to find the research her father, the legendary Last Beekeeper, hid before he was imprisoned. Sasha gets confrontations from a team of squatters who had already claimed the idyllic and quiet farm while escaping the unbearable conditions of state housing.

As she initially feels threatened by their presence, they soon become her new family giving her security and hope that she hasn’t gotten since her father was taken away. A part of her tells her maybe it’s the best time to forget the family secrets hidden on the farm and pay more attention to her future.

However, as she starts her new life, Sasha sees the impossible. She witnesses a honeybee that is presumed extinct. T turns out that people who claim to have seen bees are ignored and silenced for reasons she has never understood.

Sasha feels this impossible bee is linked to her father’s missing research work. Trying to find out the truth could destroy her weak security and put the lives of her newly found family in danger. Or it can save them all too.

Her journey is about redemption and forgiveness and serves as a reminder that one should always recognize the beauty still evident in the fragile world.

Julie Carrick weaves an intriguing story of carefully made friendships when survival seems to make the bonds impossible. It’s a bright snapshot of nature, sacrifices and betrayal set in the New Hampshire wilderness.