Review: pleasant
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 12, 2014
This is sadly not as great a read as I thought it would turn out to be. The backstory is as follows: Jon, A dedicated US marshal, has seen his life fall apart after what should have been an easy shoot-out at a criminal gang goes wrong, and he is the only person left alive. He is tormented by not only by the trauma of the experience, but also by the guilt of being the lone survivor. The guilt eats away at him. He withdraws to a small backward town called Gilford, where thoughts of ending his life become overwhelming. Then a serendipitous meeting in a park with a young man called Ellis leads to an unexpected romance. Ellis has spent all his life isolated from the world, as he looks after an older mentally disabled brother, shunned by many of the townsfolk. However, just as Jon and Ellis start to enjoy their time together, the town bully returns to their lives to threaten them with violence.The story is sweet, and the notion of a brother taking care of a disabled sibling is touching. But the characters didn't for me have sufficient depth. I couldn't entirely believe that Ellis could get away with dropping out of school and single-handedly taking care of his brother. And Jon's story pushes the boundaries of high melodrama. So, a worthy try, but for me the book didn't completely work.