Award: Awesome Indies: APPROVED
Categories: Additions, Adult, AIBA Approved, Psychological Thriller, Suspense
Tags: kidnapping, link
Author: Rob Kaufman
Ten-year-old, Danny Madsen, has been missing for four days when Jesse Carlton begins his own search for his godson on a frigid, snowy night. Driving along a deserted rural road, Jesse hits a stretch of black ice at the same time Danny appears from the thicket. Unable to control the car, Jesse slams into the boy and watches helplessly as Danny’s body flies back into the dark brush. When Jesse regains consciousness, he has no recollection of how he and his car wound up in a ditch. However, there’s a witness: Charles Hastings, the sociopathic kidnapper who chased Danny through the brush and into the path of Jesse’s car. Hastings takes this chance to set up Jesse so he’ll take the fall for both Danny’s fate. And so the mind games begin—an onslaught of psychological manipulation that devastates Jesse, his wife, Danny’s parents and the cops’ investigation. Inexplicably, the torment continues even after the primary suspect is killed and the rollercoaster of emotions and confusion seems never-ending, until the final and devastating truth is revealed.
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Assessed for Awesome Indies Book Awards
20/01/2019
Assessor 43488 :
When Danny, the young son of his best friends, goes missing, Jesse Carton goes looking for him. On the icy roads his car skids and hits someone (Danny?) and flips into a ditch. Jesse’s memory of the event is lost, but he feels guilty for some reason. Meanwhile, Danny’s abductor, who has witnessed the accident, sets out to finger Jesse as Danny’s killer, setting in motion a macabre chain of events that puzzle local police and the lead FBI agent investigating the case.
Broken Reality is a taut thriller that weaves back and forth among the key characters in a way that, even though you, the reader, know exactly what has happened, will nevertheless keep you wondering how things will turn out in the end.
The author does a masterful job of keeping the reader in suspense until the final, not too surprising under the circumstances, conclusion.
A book that is well worth reading. The author deserves high praise for a finely crafted thriller.
I give it five stars. An excellent read!
Assessed for Awesome Indies Book Awards
14/01/2019
Assessor 43475 :
When ten-year-old Danny goes missing after school one day, his parents and godparents will do anything to find him. His godfather Jesse in particular goes to great lengths searching for the boy, including driving through an ice storm in a desolate part of town. When he awakes in a ditch with emergency personnel pulling him from his car, Jesse has illusions of what had caused him to crash that plague him for weeks afterward. As the story unfolds and the amount of time Danny is missing lengthens, Jesse feels guilty about his disappearance–that maybe he could have prevented it in some way—causing him to suffer from a series of mental and emotional breakdowns that lead to a strain on himself and his marriage. Tagged a psychological thriller, this tragic and compelling story is also literary with the devastating emotional sensations that those close to the missing boy endure and an ending that prompts readers to ask what they would have done differently in a similar situation.
I give this book five stars! A Broken Reality is a well-written, engaging novel that will keep readers turning the pages with its fast pace, judicious use of back story, and intriguing plot points. The storyline is well-structured, believable, and conceptually sound. The main character Jesse Carlton is interesting and complex–someone who readily earned my compassion and sympathy. Proper editing that is consistent with traditionally published books is obvious throughout the narrative, and while the author is guilty of some head-hopping here and there, most changes in point of view are clear and meaningful. A Broken Reality is a captivating read with a creative and unique plot.