Review: 4 1/2 Hearts from MM Good Book Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 28, 2014
4 1/2 HertsThis book is part of a series and must be read in order. Jon is accepting his new life with Ellis and Rudy as a new chance at life, throwing off the guilt that lingers and embracing the love he has found. Ellis has accepted Jon's love and the beginning of a new life where he can share his frustrations and has someone to confide in, but he knows their troubles aren't over yet. With the town bully, Lenny, gunning for them they face a long road ahead, and when tragedy strikes its Jon's turn to be a rock as Ellis faces a despair that threatens to drag them under.This story continues several months after The First Three Rules; we re-join Ellis, Jon and Rudy as Jon moves in with the brothers and they are secure in the knowledge that Lenny is in jail awaiting trial. But, in a town like Gilford you never know what is just around the corner, and as Jon, Ellis and Rudy are about to find out sometimes justice doesn't have a leg to stand on. Just in case you are reading this review and you haven't read the first book let me give you a brief rundown of the characters: Jon, an ex-Marshal who has suffered more guilt and pain than any man can carry, and is visited by his dead brother when tragedy is about to strike. Ellis, who gave up his life at the age of twelve to look after his older mentally disabled brother and has been isolated and sheltered from the outside world, and then there is Rudy, Ellis' brother, who is a child in a man's body, but brings sunshine to Ellis and Jon's lives and knows things he shouldn't.Oh my God! Oh my God! Adrienne Wilder what did you do! This section of My Brother's Keeper is about to rip your heart out, stomp on it, rip it into tiny shred's and then hand it back to you on a tarnished platter. Adrienne Wilder takes Ellis to the dark side as anger, devastation and pure dark rage begin to consume him and tempts him to tarnish his soul forever. Jon is left feeling hopeless as he tries to pull Ellis back from the edge and struggling to protect them, Jon also has to fight his own dark urgings as he is tempted by the dark side of the town. And Rudy, poor Rudy *bawls like a baby*, Rudy tries so hard but the Big and Terrible is coming and he has done all he can.We are dragged into the darker side of the story as the evil that hovered begins to strike, we watch as despair begins to drag the characters down and we feel it. This really is a beautifully written story that lets you feel every emotion that the characters are going through, it hurts your heart as we watch the circumstances unfold and you rage at the events that let an evil man continue with his reign of terror. I'd like to say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel but I can't, I can only hope that with the last installment of My Brother's Keeper Jon and Ellis get the happy ending they deserve and that the evil pays for its crimes. Now I am going to discover in The Final Rule if my hopes are true, and also thank God that this trilogy was published all at the same time.I recommend this to those who love stories where the going is never easy, where love is stretched to the limit, where the fight for justice is hard, and your emotions are beaten to death by the author.