Review: On The Banks of Certain Rivers - surviving the worst of tragedies
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2013
Jon Harrison has written a real winner in The Banks of Certain Rivers. I am truly impressed with his ability to build suspense and then pile it on until the reader is just as breathless as the characters. This is a novel filled with personal grief and struggle, but all the characters finally overcome the greatest tragedy of all, the death of a family member -- a mother and wife. I don't usually read "angst novels" but this one was recommended by Goodreads, and it was just that ... a "good read." Even with all this praise, there are a few issues that should not be difficult for the author to address in his next novel. They include: more thorough proof-reading [capitalize on 'beta readers' and a professional proofreader], believability was a struggle sometimes [authors need to maintain believability even in the most traumatic situations], make us love the characters [no matter how traumatized they may be]. My favorite character is the book is Chris, the coach/father's son. I truly cared about him. The coach/father becomes over-the-top hysterical, not analytical enough, and he didn't learn from past mistakes -- use birth control!Overall, this was a well written suspense-packed novel about real people. I look for move to come from this author.