That said, his story is interesting to the point of being hard to put down. Several parts of it are strange and hard to believe, but they work just the same.
The book is partly about Judi, an abused wife and mother of Andy, who as a small boy suffered a disfiguring accident, yet he grows up not knowing what really happened since the truth is kept hidden. The story is also about Judi's brother, Rip, and his involvement in the incident with her son. Heather, the small-town police officer, former girlfriend of Rip, is also caught up in the thick of the mystery. Everything revolves around how they struggled and lived after that life-changing situation. After telling about the tragedy in the Prologue, the story flashes forward eleven years later with the child, Andy, having grown up into a very bitter and angry young man. Oddly enough, the anger is all directed at his mother, and the readers don't know why he comes across this way. I did find it frustrating to read the story told at times from the young man's point of view, which slipped in at different spots, and wasn't consistent throughout the book. He'd comment in an ugly way on his mom's outfit or her expression, and that comment was told to the reader in the author's voice. That was confusing.
But even so, I enjoyed the book. Sirls uses a science fiction/fantasy style with Christian overtones. He has characters seeing things or hearing things that seem out of place in an ordinary day, but as I said, they do work. It's a good story and one I'd recommend even with my picky fussing. I just think Sirls needs to polish up on his style.
(i received this book free to review from booksneeze/thomas nelson)
