Raves & Reviews
Lori Andrews, author of Sequence, The Silent Assassin, and Immunity.
“I was hooked from the first page by this compelling, propulsive, and moving story of families dissolving, building, loving, hating, and evolving amidst the moral dilemmas that define our era.”
Erica Plouffe Lazure, author of Proof of Me and Other Stories
“In this intriguing debut, Intersections offers a contemporary eye on family, infidelity, and fertility, illuminating both the burdens and blessings of mistakes, and the sometimes-messy path to grace. In every chapter, Uhlmann brings to the page a cross-cut of voices from the Windy City, rendering tension with care and precision that keeps you guessing until the very end.”
Lorna Graham, author of Where You Once Belonged
“Intersections takes you on a journey that begins with a heartbreaking death and ends with a whole new life. Along the way, secrets force surprising detours that make the reader wrestle with questions of true moral complexity, even as they turn the pages faster and faster. I was left marveling at Karen Uhlmann’s ability to transport me so completely into the lives of her flawed but heroic characters.”
Kirkus Reviews, 2025
A tragic hit-and-run death brings together a woman with a failed marriage and a cop with troubles of his own.
Charlotte Oakes is walking in her Chicago neighborhood when a little girl runs into the street and is struck and killed by a car that looks awfully like her own, a car that doesn’t stop. Did her daughter, Libby, borrow her car? Libby, who struggles with OCD and addiction issues, has always been a cross to bear. And Charlotte and her husband, Daniel, are in a marriage that died long ago. Another witness is Ed Kelly, a Chicago cop. He was recently wounded and his partner killed in a showdown with a drug dealer. And now it looks as though it was a bullet from his own gun that killed Tommy, so Ed is on paid leave, which he uses to stake out the intersection and try to find the mystery car. On separate missionsCharlotte, bereft over the little girl and hoping that the car was not hers, and Ed, determined to break this case both visit the site almost daily and eventually become friends. Meanwhile, Charlotte has had an affair and is pregnant. And Ed’s daughter and her husband are so desperate for a child that she persuades her mother to be a surrogate. So, we have two good people facing a ton of challenges. Charlotte finally tells Daniel, who, surprisingly, offers to accept the child and save the marriage, but will Charlotte stay? This story is about a search for the rogue driver and Charlotte and Ed, who slowly work through a lot of issues, trying to accommodate what life and new life has thrown at them. Uhlmann is an experienced writer whose characters ring true: the resourceful Charlotte who slowly finds the courage to rethink her life and Ed, a good guy who is not all that sensitive or intuitive, but kind beyond measure. The title is apt in many ways: We are talking about more than cross streets.
A very satisfying novel with two intriguing leads who strive to live ethically.
