Review: Escape
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2012
Escape is just that - a nice escape from your day into a world that is going crazy... ok, not how you would normally think to spend a relaxing few hours reading a book that actually leaves a smile on your face, especially since the world just fell apart, but that is exactly what the author accomplished in his short book (long then a short story or novella, not quite a full length book).Natalie is a hard working woman who is married to Danny, her husband who is currently unemployed.The story starts with Natalie, tired, coming home from a long day and knowing that it is going to be a crappy rest of the week and weekend (why do they always have those last minute projects that HAVE to be finished by Monday that they tell you about on Thursday kind of things) just to find that she can't park her car in the driveway (Danny has his truck blocking her side), the lawn unmowed, no food being cooked, and Danny unshaven or showered, wanting to have a bunch of friends over for a pay per view fighting event.  You can see where this is heading...The characters are fleshed out enough at the beginning that you know where they started in their relationship.  Natalie is an only child of a military officer who had to raise her on his own after her mother died in a car accident when she was six.  He was the big strong military man, very busy with his career, but always had time for his little princess and her activities at school and at home (tea parties, reading stories, etc).  Danny and Natalie met in college.  Danny was a track star - a real "go getter" with goals to accomplish, didn't party, a sense of responsibility - what started as a perfect match.Without giving spoilers, this is the story of two married people who approach the collapse of the world as we know it (financial market, food, gas, money, safety, etc) and how they react to their situation.  It is not so much of a End of the World scenario as it is a story of a relationship between two people who started on the same path together with similar values and backgrounds and how they end up so far apart as the years go on.More importantly, it is the story of how Natalie finds not only the strength to survive, but also herself and her sense of confidence and self worth when everything around her is falling apart.It was really not what I was expecting, but, I found it to be a "perfect escape" for an afternoon  (sorry - couldn't resist the pun) and think  you will too :-)I enjoyed the book enough that I am off to search for other publications by the author..