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Eric Bergreen

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CHARTER GROVE (The Circle City Series Book 3) Kindle Edition

by Eric Bergreen (Author), Susan Bergreen (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 30 ratings

Book 3 of 4: The Circle City Series

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It’s the summer of 1989, in the city of Corona, California, and for two best friends only one thing seems to matter: skateboarding. Aaron and Robin love to skate anywhere they can whether it be behind the daycare center a block from their homes or in an empty swimming pool at an abandoned house on Rimpau Avenue next to the cemetery. The two have been close for years and share each other’s secrets with no one else.

Aaron Burnett is a pretty responsible kid. He has his own job; a morning paper route that his friend Robin helps him out with some days so they can finish quickly and apply more of their time to skating the pool and have it all to themselves.

But lately Aaron’s been sleeping poorly. He experiences moments of frozen fear and sees a dark figure standing next to his bed every morning before sunrise, just before he needs to start on his route. Sometimes the figure is silent and only stares but other times it seems to whisper warnings or yell malevolent threats.

One day, while they are hanging out in their secret hiding place-a broken down shed in the orange groves-the two stumble upon an older boy named Joe that has run away from a psychiatric youth hospital a couple blocks away and needs a place to hole up for a while. At first they are leery of the older boy but after hearing his story they soon come to trust him and give him a chance. Then Aaron and Robin are ambushed by a couple of older, bigger teenagers who steal their most prized possessions from them as if they are somehow entitled. When they tell Joe about their run in the three find that they all have something in common and can possibly help each other out with their predicaments. But things don’t go as planned and the retribution the younger boys dole out ends badly with almost deadly consequences.

Aaron’s father, a fire Captain at Station No. 1 in Corona, relates a story to his son about a girl who had committed suicide by hanging herself from an orange tree in her family’s backyard a couple weeks before. Aaron then reads an article in the paper a few mornings later about a second teen who is found the same way, hanging in an orange tree in a grove a few blocks away. And when a third is found under similar circumstances Captain Burnett begins to see a pattern with the Circle City Suicides that no one else seems to see.

As Aaron, Robin and Joe continue to do favors for each other and their trust grows, they find themselves at the heart of a strange series of events taking place in the citrus groves of their beloved city. Robin believes there may be some kind of suicide pact involved. Aaron begins to think the dark figure that appears to him in his room every morning may hold the key to the whole mess, possibly some sort of curse that it has spread upon the youth of the city, that makes them walk up to the groves to hang themselves for an unforgivable misdeed in the past. Joe, too, has his own theory on what may really be happening but what they discover at the end will be darker and more disturbing than anything they could have ever thought possible.

It is a wonderful and awkward time for two fifteen-year-old boys as they experience the bond of friendship, the joy of the opposite sex and the dread of revenge gone wrong. Come back to a time when skating was king and girls were rad. Come back to a place where the orange groves flourished and citrus perfumed the air. Come back to a place with a quick love story and a dark secret that could never be told. Come back to a place where the bad kids got sent to, a place called Charter Grove.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01E30ZVLK
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 10, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 706 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1719877327

Best Sellers Rank: #2,373,252 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #56,424 in Suspense (Kindle Store)
- #82,530 in Teen & Young Adult eBooks
- #110,049 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
4.5 30 ratings

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About the author

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Eric Bergreen

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Eric Bergreen lives in the beautiful and historic city of Corona, Ca. and is the author of the Circle City Series; Frisbee, Hessians, Charter Grove and Whiskey Dick. The four books take place in the 80's and 90's and follow a set of boys who help solve the dark mysterious deaths of children in their hometown. These full-length novels also provide rich historical information about the founding of Corona and its beginnings as a citrus industry. Mr. Bergreen loves writing about true events in the past and incorporating fictional stories into them. He is currently working on his fifth novel while enjoying the California sunshine. Rock on and read on.

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Cynthia B. Ainsworthe

Original and Totally Entertaining!

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2016

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"Original and totally entertaining!" I'm so glad that I chose to read Charter Grove by Eric Bergreen. His story of two young boys and their travels is captivating and kept me turning the pages. Mr. Bergreen's approach and talent is well demonstrated in the plotting and his unique style to flavor his story with color. I'm looking forward to reading more of his work. Well done!!

2 people found this helpful

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Daniel G.

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2017

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Ive read all 3 in the series. I really liked how the foreman and the brown bowling bag made appearances in all 3. I could actually picture the areas and streets in all 3. Great series. Hope there is more to come. 👍

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2016

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I liked the story of 2 teenage boys making decisions that get them into a little trouble but it works out. good read

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T. Ormiston-smith

Fans of Stephen King's IT will love Charter Grove and its two predecessors

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2016

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Fans of Stephen King's IT will love Charter Grove and its two predecessors. The story is told from the point of view of a young boy, and it's very well done indeed; Bergreen never slips from the character's voice and it is a very believable one.

Like the other two books in the series, the action moves along at a good pace, maintaining dramatic tension throughout, and I can find no fault with it. I enjoyed it a lot, and will read more from this author whenever I see it.

I do think that more attention needed to be paid to finishing the work. As with the other books in the series, there are many, many homophone errors, and they occur frequently enough that they provide a distraction from the story, which is a pity.

One person found this helpful

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Gerald Foley

What a great read. It brought me back to my youth ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2016

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What a great read. It brought me back to my youth riding a skateboard around town. Eric really painted a great picture of Corona. I could totally relate to the characters in the novel. He even helped me remember names and faces of people I knew about 30 years ago.

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markabccarm

GREAT SERIES, LOVED IT

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2018

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Really liked the series. Hope Bergreen, writes some more followons. You kind of find that with him using the same backdrop (town) it makes you feel more part of the stories. (like old friends)

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2016

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Thank you for the trip down memory lane!! Every visit to Kaiser makes me think of Charter Grove. Good work , cannot wait to see where the next book takes us.

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Kim Schmitz

Awesome Book! Especially if you grew up in Corona

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2016

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Awesome Book! Especially if you grew up in Corona. You can picture where everything is taking place. I can't wait for the next one.