A Broken Reality

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.