Mark Petersen

Typically when reading, I mentally write review outlines. This book, however, caused me to completely give up on that process to wait and see where I was led. By the end, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself wanting to rate the story higher than I felt it deserved at the midway point. Tongues better not be wagging - I know I’m not the only one assigning opinions before the story is finished.

One thing which never wavered was my love of the book’s premise. We all have those days, or even weeks when it seems nothing will ever go right. Every attempt at altering our luck is for naught. We blame ourselves. We blame each other. We blame Mother Nature and everyone else we can think of.

In this story, Jules and Wesley are thrown one curveball after another. My issue with this is mostly on Wesley’s shoulders. I had a difficult time reading through his character. He wanted to be brave. He was ready to be brave. And then he wasn’t - all within a span of moments. When the story was told through his viewpoint I wanted to close the book. Most of the mess was brought about by his series of well-intended, but bad choices. I was constantly frustrated by his thought process.

The author did a wonderful job with the feints and twists. The flow was smooth and the descriptions felt natural. New characters were introduced to the story in a way which helped explain backstories while creating possible suspects.

The author displayed his talent when writing from the viewpoint of each character. As I read, I could feel completely different personalities. This wasn’t a “show don’t tell” exercise. This was complete submersion into the various characters.

I did enjoy reading the remainder of the book. Jules and Wesley grew as a couple. Maybe now they can gain strength by working together instead of keeping secrets for fear of the other “losing it.”
… (altro)