I never did receive my ER copy but I got a hold of a copy to review after almost 2 years but here it goes - In a nutshell, I regret waiting and wishing for a copy, even acquiring a copy because it all just fell flat for me. Not much guts to this story, just story itself. I stuck with it because the premise was crazy intriguing but the pay off never did come. I hate leaving negative reviews but I'm probably affected by the long anticipation. I stay away from reviews before I read a book I'm set to review (so I may be open-minded) but perhaps I should have broken that rule with this one. I will only be leaving my review here; out of fairness for the author and publisher, I will avoid sharing elsewhere ( )

The Town by Emily Honeycutt has a very intriguing plot and set up. Our protagonist, Emma Pool, has just suffered a huge tragedy in her life, by the sudden death of her parents in an automobile accident. The teen is then sent to live with her Uncle Dean in The Town, a cult-like society that is extremely strict with harsh rules. She is navigating all these huge life changes with the help of her German Shepherd named Cooper. In this society, Clyde Barry rules with an iron fist and will not tolerate Emma’s normal teenage rebellion, or has any sympathy for her situation. Emma decides to dig deeper into Mr. Barry and ‘The Town’ rather than conform to this cult-like place.

I enjoyed the story of Emma and The Town. Mister Barry was definitely an imposing obstacle to her. And the addition of Cooper was a nice touch. I just wished there was a little more character development and description to enhance the great set up. I would definitely like to see more from this author. She has a knack for plot, it could probably just use a little more editing to flesh it out more. There is so much promise, but only semi-delivered by the lack of description and character. I still would try another book by this author if she writes another story. ( )