Book Review: Every Breath, by Nicholas Sparks

 

EVERY BREATH
Nicholas Sparks
Grand Central Publishing 
306 pages / June 2018
Drama / Romance 

I have always loved Nicholas Sparks movies, with the exception of  The Notebook. (Don't shoot me, just being honest). That was my least favorite film of his. In all these years, I have never read a Sparks novel. My good friend lent me a copy of Every Breath. Said it is a fast read. I would enjoy it.

And I did read it fast, and I did enjoy it. At 300 pages, the first 2/3s are fantastic, and fast. The last third is a bit dry, but necessary. 

Truitt "Tru" Wells is a safari guide in Africa. Born and raised. He has a son, and an ex-wife. He receives a mysterious letter from a father he never met. The man wanted to meet his son and provided a plane ticket to the states. Always searching for more information about his mother, who died when Tru was very young, Tru flies to North Carolina and stays at his father's beach house not sure what to expect from the upcoming meeting.

Hope is staying at the family beach house for two reasons. Her friend from college is getting married, and she is a bride's maid, and because her father has been diagnosed with ALS, sometimes known as Lou Gherig's Disease. The family needs money, and selling the beach house might put them in a more stable financial situation.

Hope is not thrilled about the wedding. Seems like all of her friends are getting married, or married already, and her six-year relationship is moving backwards instead of forward. In walks Tru.

There are immediate sparks when the two meet. The love is almost instantaneous. The problem they face is simple. He is from Africa. She is from the US. She has a boyfriend, and he has a son back home. Add to the drama of the obvious, some wine, romantic dinners, and a whole lotta opening up . . .

But see, it all started with a mail box. the Kindred Spirit. This is where the last third of the book comes into play. that is all I will say.

My summation? Love waits for no one, unless it does.

A great novel. Glad I read it. I will be reading more!

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the romance novel BEFORE THE SUN SETS 

Book Review: THE GIRL FROM HOME, by Adam Mitzner

Adam Mitzner
THE GIRL FROM HOME
Gallery Books, 2016
321 pages
Thriller / Crime / Legal

In Adam Mitzner's latest novel, THE GIRL FROM HOME, the author detours a bit from his past three straight-forward legal thrillers, and puts out a head-on suspense novel. There is a legal aspect, and some courtroom drama, though. For the most part, however, it is not a novel where attorneys are the central characters. Just putting this out there as a simple disclaimer. However, as a suspense novel, it works. And it works well.

Jonathan Caine is a big shot. He makes millions on Wall Street. His hectic lifestyle comes with many rewards. A hefty bank account, a beautiful wife (fifteen years younger than he), and the potential to purchase some prime waterfront real estate in the Hamptons. East Hamptons.

Everything is going well, that is, until it is not.

When an investor wants their money back, it starts an almost Jenga effect. Best way I can think to describe it, Jonathan now has to rob Peter to pay Paul. In the Wall Street world this is illegal. He pushes and pulls without backing with the hope everything will balance out in roughly two years --before most investors realize what game Jonathan has been playing.

Jonathan's father is sick. Dementia. He took a bad fall, and is in the hospital. It is likely he will never be discharged. Having family issues since he was young, Jonathan isn't sure how he feels about it. When his firm fires him, pending federal securities charges, and his marriage becomes quickly unstable, Jonathan heads home to New Jersey to spend time with his father.

During a twenty-five year class reunion, Jonathan reunites with Jackie, an old classmate. They were from different cliques. Jonathan the nerd. Jackie the Prom Queen who --in typical cliche fashion-- married Rick, the high school football star. Jackie's in an abusive relationship. No way out. Rick has made it abundantly clear that if she tries leaving him he will kill her. She has more to think about than herself. Their two kids are equally at risk should she try anything stupid, like divorce.

When Rick is murdered, both Jackie and Jonathan are the prime suspects. They both know the truth. But will they keep the secret from the prosecutors, or turn on each other to get a deal from the District Attorney?

THE GIRL FROM HOME is both filled with suspense, and humanity. It is a novel about people. Mitzner fills the book with emotions. He's done it before. Here, however, he pours it on. The result is powerful. Caring about the characters kept me turning pages, and re-reading paragraphs to better grasp everything ... felt. There isn't much room for reprieve, as so much is always happening, and the tension constantly building.

THE GIRL FROM HOME is tragic, heartfelt, and almost depressing. There is some hope, some light at the end of the tunnel, though --and for me, it was just enough so that when I finished the book I felt . . . closure.

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series,
and The Vaccination Trilogy

Book Review: METALTOWN, by Kristen Simmons

Kristen Simmons
METALTOWN
Tor Books
YA / Dystopian

METALTOWN is one of the best books I have read this year. Reading this novel filled me with an intense mix of emotions. Despair, and dread were like a constant black cloud above me page after page. The slight glimmers of hope were dim, and dreary at best. The three main characters I immediately loved, and cared about. Their plight was real, and hopeless, and they just had to win the fight by the end . . .

But I am getting ahead of myself. There are a handful of union-inspired movies that I will watch any time they are on television. There is the classic, On the Waterfront (Marlon Brando), Sally Field in Norma Rae, and the intense F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone. Great films. Kristen Simmons' METALTOWN is like a combination of the three. Do not get me wrong, METALTOWN is completely original, but there is that . . . flavor to it that was, for me, reminiscent of these epic movies.

Metaltown is a factory town. Small Parts employees nothing but kids and teenagers. Long hours, little pay--if the kids are paid at all--and horrendous working conditions. Safety is not an issue. Churning out product to keep the other factories in town going is all that matters. And the Hamptons own it all. The weapons built supply army of the Northern Federation in their fight against the Advocates (Eastern Federation Radicals). The work performed is important, if the war is ever to be won.

More than best friends, Ty has taken on Colin as his protector. Even though Colin is older, and she is smaller. No one messes with Colin. Safety has been called, and by street rules anyone that starts trouble with Colin, also is starting trouble with Ty. They're a team. They work side-by-side at Small Parts, and barely manage to make ends meet.

With what little pay Colin earns, he contributes to the support of his family. Having a job is everything. Without Small Parts the entire family would be homeless, perhaps dead in months.Ty, an orphan, struggles at just surviving day in and day out. Sleeping mostly at a shelter when beds are available, her safety is in constant jeopardy.

Lena Hampton is wealthy, lives on the opposite side of town, and wants nothing more than to be part of the family business. She knows she can be more resourceful than her often intoxicated and ineffective brother Otto. Her father will never give her the chance, despite her best efforts. Decidedly, she takes a tour of Metaltown, of Small Parts. Inadvertently, she fires one of the shop's employees that sets into motion an industrial revolution that is more bloody, and brutal, and deadly than anyone could have ever anticipated!

Simmons builds a world so vividly that readers will smell the unwashed clothing, and body odor of the factory workers. The frigid cold outside the factory, and the blistering heat within the windowless structure gave me hot and cold flashes. With just a splash of Oliver Twist (should have mentioned it earlier), I was beside the rebels, and a part of their revolt from the onset, and cheering by the end. And crying. It isn't often a book makes me emotional enough to cry. METALTOWN was that kind of story. Simmons has crafted those kinds of characters.

I might have finished reading the book moments ago, but I strongly suspect I will be thinking about them for a long time.

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series, and
The Vaccination Trilogy