Review: Fantastic thriller!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2014
When it comes down to it, do we know those we are close to any better than we know perfect strangers? What faults do they have? What vices and peculiaraities of which we are totally unaware?Have you ever heard the tale of the scorpian and the frog? Let me tell you about it. There was once a scorpian and a frog. The scorpian asked the frog to carry him on his back across the river. When the frog expresses concern that the scorpian may harm him on the way over the scorpian assures him that it will not happen because then he would perish as well. So the frog agrees to take him. But right when they are in the middle of the river, the scorpian stings the frog right in the back. As they both drown the frog asks the scorpian how he could do such a thing, when it would cause them both to die, to which the scorpian replies that he did it simply because it is in his nature. This book reminds me of this story for a few different reasons. When a person is bad, or commits an evil act, is it because they are born that way or is it something in their life experiances that made them that way? When Sally takes the awkward and socially inept Keith under her wing, she doesn't realize how deep his imperfections run. She is the frog in this story, when she chooses to trust someone and let them in her life even when it is against her better judgement.Imperfect Strangers is a tale of fear and obsession. Of desire, both thwarted and subdued. It is a tale of opposites. Of compassion. Of kindness and cruelty. And it is a tale of people; imperfect, flawed, people.This book was such a roller coaster ride of emotions. I thought I was used to the way that David Staniforth wrote novels, but this one was so unlike anything that I have read by him and yet just as engaging and intriguing to read. Maybe even more so. This is a psychological thriller to end all thrillers. The characters were all so interesting in their vulnerabilities and the cracks that hide their imperfections.There is a subtle tremor of danger that underlines this story. Just how much do we really know each other? Can we ever know what is completely in another persons heart? When we let someone in, we run the risk of them not only hurting us emotionally if they let us down, but there is always the possiblitiy of physical harm as well. You really never know the traumas and difficulites a person has to deal with, internally, day in and day out. And while I am a person who always seeks to promote kindness and compassion, you have to be aware that when you reach your hand out to someone, there is a chance you may get bit.I had such a huge love/hate relationship with so many characters in this book, which makes me give major props to Mr. Staniforth for creating such complex characters. There were so many times I hated Sally for being a bit of a petty bitch, and then two seconds later I would love her for being so compassionate. I would at one moment hate Keith for being a crazy stalker/creeper, then very quickly change back to feeling so badly for him because of all the trauma he endured at the hands of his abusive mother. This type of character development and growth was just spectacular and fascinating. It was another aspect of this book that drew me in and kept me hooked the while time.If you are a fan of creepy, intense, pshycological thrillers then I would highly reccomend this book. It was wonderful!