by M.A. Harper
Adrien died 3 years ago. He died but he didn't actually leave.
The reasons are not immediately apparent, but his presence is.
This creates a situation that is not comfortable for Adrien's widow Michelle and her new husband Phillip. Perhaps, not even safe. Things happen in the household that range from curious, to chilling. Complicating matters is the fact that Michelle is more than a little bit still in love with Adrien. Their son Cam has never come to terms with the death of his father. Nichole, the younger child is troubled as well.
Phillip is trying to be understanding, but when the things that go bump in the night become more substantial and in fact detrimental to not only his marriage but his health and safety. Or does it?
Phillips brother, Father Dominic is not only an important factor to the story, but someone that I would like to know. In fact I found most of the characters to be compelling and likable. There is one in every crowd, they say and in this story it was... well, I will let you come to your own conclusions.
Honestly, I had a really hard time getting into this book. I found the author's writing style too cumbersome--like she felt compelled to add "SAT words" and nonsensical words into the vocabulary of the characters, just for the sake of volume. Her attention to details around them did not flow and create a background in an efortless fashion--instead it made for a sometimes painful read.
ReplyDeleteIf not for the fact that I felt obligated to finish this book for my book club, I probably would have left it before the first 100 pages were up. I admit, the plot picked up in the middle. I never felt all that compelled by any of the characters--probably only Phillip was likeable. Michelle's "mysterious past" never gets fully revealed--and the author adds a whole extra issue in the final 60 pages that could easily have been left out--it only made me more irritated with the main characters.
The storyline is compelling and could make for an interesting read--I just ultimately felt like the author should have gone to someone like Jodi Piccoult, Stephen King , or Anita Shreve for lessons on how to provide character depth without "overshare."