Naseem Rakha

Irene and Nate Stanley have a happy family life with their two children Bliss and Shep. Tragedy befalls them when their son Shep is shot dead. His killer Daniel Robbin is on death row for his murder. When he is set a date for his execution it affects everybody in more ways than one.

I really enjoyed this book. The story drew me in from the word go and I really wanted to see how things were going to pan out. I really enjoy books like this that have a story to them. I feel like that I have become part of the characters lives and I am living along side them.

I felt the story was powerful but very sad at times. I was been carried away with the events in the book and at didn't want it to end. The characters will be with me for a while.

It makes a change to read a book like this and is very much like a Jodie Picoult where you ask yourself what would you have done in the situation.

I can recommend this book for anyone who wants to be engrossed in a story.… (altro)

This is definitely a book where unhappy families are the name of the game. We begin with the murder of our heroine Irene's son and things are really pretty dang grim from there on in. The writing is both gripping and powerful, but there are quite a few occasions where it strays rather too much into the melodramatic. The middle of the book is also too long, and we did by then need to get to the point of the story.

The great mystery is what really happened when Shep (the son) died, and the events that led up to this and immediately away from it. I have to say that I guessed what was going on by Page 10, but it didn't take away my enjoyment - as Irene didn't have a clue and it's always good to have a clueless heroine, when the reader knows so much more.

That said, I thought the reasons behind the murder were appallingly old-fashioned - did people really think in that way in mid-90s rural America??!? Then again, at last, we in rural UK have something to be proud of, as surely we got over all that kind of nonsense in the 1970s. Hey ho.

The ending is spot-on, however, and I loved the way the family came to some kind of resolution with their past, and with some kind of hope for the future too. It left me with a good feeling, which is always to be desired in any book.

Verdict: 3.5 stars. Gripping but a little melodramatic… (altro)