Review of Advance Reader’s Edition
The path to marriage is a rocky one for Maddie and Ian, but almost twenty years after their first encounter at an overseas party, they are married, living in Meadowlark, Kansas and have welcomed a son.
A disfiguring camping accident leads to therapy for Maddie and, as she participates in writing therapy, she voices some unexpected concerns. It all leads to a frantic 9-1-1 call where first responders discover a shocking crime.
Told from several points of view and alternating between past and present, the narrative has a tendency to provide a bit more backstory than some readers will feel is necessary. However, those glimpses into the events of the past help to define Maddie, Ian, and Jo as strong characters. But it doesn’t make any of them more likable although the visceral reminders of the horror of war may make some readers sympathetic to PTSD-suffering Ian.
The story is gripping, the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, and the final twist is one that readers are not likely to expect. There is much to appreciate in the telling of this tale, but the excessive over-use of unnecessary-to-the-plot expletives and coarse language diminish the narrative [and lower its rating].
Recommended.
The path to marriage is a rocky one for Maddie and Ian, but almost twenty years after their first encounter at an overseas party, they are married, living in Meadowlark, Kansas and have welcomed a son.
A disfiguring camping accident leads to therapy for Maddie and, as she participates in writing therapy, she voices some unexpected concerns. It all leads to a frantic 9-1-1 call where first responders discover a shocking crime.
Told from several points of view and alternating between past and present, the narrative has a tendency to provide a bit more backstory than some readers will feel is necessary. However, those glimpses into the events of the past help to define Maddie, Ian, and Jo as strong characters. But it doesn’t make any of them more likable although the visceral reminders of the horror of war may make some readers sympathetic to PTSD-suffering Ian.
The story is gripping, the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, and the final twist is one that readers are not likely to expect. There is much to appreciate in the telling of this tale, but the excessive over-use of unnecessary-to-the-plot expletives and coarse language diminish the narrative [and lower its rating].
Recommended.