Review: An Unexpected Twist!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 30, 2011
This book totally took me by surprise!  When I first started reading it, I assumed that it was about a tragedy that a young man survives as a 6-year-old child and his struggle to remember it, and yet, also forget it.  I didn't expect the story to take the turn that it did!The main character, William (or "Liam" as he is known as later on) survives a terrible accident when he is a child.  I must say that in that first chapter, Gustafson captures that innocence of being a child.  He describes "Little Willy's" imagination and the games and toys  he likes to play with perfectly.  It brought back many memories of my own childhood.  As he grows older, Liam begins to have horrific nightmares about the circumstances surrounding the accident and it almost drives him mad.  He begins to have visions and one assumes that all of his problems as a teenager are the product of his imagination; a tragic side-effect of not being able to really get over what happened that dark October day.  I suffered right along with him in this story.  I could only speculate on the horror that something like this could cause a young child, but Gustafson pulled me in by using beautifully crafted words to help me understand exactly what Liam was feeling.  I felt like I was right there beside him.  I felt his pain of not having a normal life like other teens did and wanting so badly to help him!Liam does have one best friend that sticks by him throughout his nightmare-life and that is Kenny.  As a last resort to try and help his best friend, Kenny agrees to go with Liam back to where the whole thing started; back to the place where Liam's life began to fall apart; Iowa.  And ladies and gentlemen, it is then that the story takes a complete 180-degree turn and the reader is left breathless.  There was one part that I read that left me in goosebumps and I had to fight the urge to look under my bed that night before going to sleep!I'm not one for giving away spoilers, so I really have to watch what I type here!  The twist that the story takes and all of the mind-blowing revelations are so excellently executed that it's hard for me to maintain my usual degree of savvy-reviewer!  LOL!  Just trust me on this; you need to get this story; download it on your e-reader TODAY!  You won't be disappointed.  I give 5-stars to Erik Gustafson on this book and I can't wait to read more of his work!