Author: Peter Rosch
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: April 2012
Genre: Adult Fiction/Thriller
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Synopsis can be found here.
NetGalley review.
Review:
Max, a recovering alcoholic, finds a new obsession. Her name is Sarah, and he has seen her in his dreams, dead. Max approaches Sarah, at first to help her and warn her, but when Max breaks things off with Sarah, the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred. And Max will have to figure out how he can save Sarah, himself, his wife and his life from the mess he created.
The synopsis sounded intriguing enough and though I usually don't review self published books, I thought I would give this one a try.
The story alternates between POVs Max and Sarah. We meet Max, recovering and becoming obsessed about this woman he has never met. We meet Sarah, deeply troubled and cautiously optimistic about this new stranger who has entered her life. Sarah and Max's voices are very different and the book moves fast. For the first half at least.
Overall, I had a problem with the characters. I didn't like Max or Sarah or even Max's wife Rachel. Rachel is a strange, untouchable character, who is still the most morale and noble in the novel, but lacked heart. Max and Sarah are so deeply disturbed, lying to each other and themselves, I couldn't care less if they ended up together or not. If he killed her or not. How she died.
Once Sarah finally disappears, and Max takes over narration of the book, the story stalls. The reader is in Max's head the entire time, confused, disoriented and as Max plummets deeper and deeper into self absorbed trickery, I almost put it down for good.
An interesting read, but too cold and distant for my taste. The story lacked an emotional heart for me.
Rating 4 Not My Cup Of Tea
the premise for this sounds pretty interesting. sorry you didn't feel it emotionally.
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