Review: Thriller + Romance!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2014
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.Lola Rooney’s debut novel Put Me Back Together merges love story with thriller. The story begins tame with the expected boy meets girl romance scene. So when Katie Archer brushes off Lucas Matthew’s flirtations, it’s easy to assume she’s being coy or possibly even shy, setting up the next hundred pages for a game of coyote and mouse; yet for Katie, avoiding Lucas isn't a game, it’s self-preservation. A bad relationship when she was thirteen left her emotionally scarred and reticent to connect with anyone but her twin sister Emily who has joined her at Queen’s University in Kingston, far from their Vancouver home. As single servings of Katie’s past are revealed, her emotional detachment appears justified until the truth is divulged.No thriller is complete without the ticking time bomb. In Put Me Back Together, the impending explosion is the release of Brandon Tomko from prison. Brandon committed a crime for which he blames Katie. Through texts and written notes, he confirms he’s coming for her next and she’s ready for him, believing Brandon’s violence will settle her karmic debt.The tale magnifies the power unexamined childhoods can have on who we become as adults. While Katie’s past is horrifying her puerile revisionism of the events damage her self-esteem, allowing her to believe she deserves to be hurt. Katie’s not alone in presenting the theme. Lucas, once the university’s star basketball player and Casanova, drops off the basketball team and becomes moderately reclusive also because of his childhood. However, Lucas’ examination of his childhood results in him being his own person, while Katie’s revisionism inhibits her life.The gnarling of romance into thriller turns pages quickly. I normally think of books as appropriate for this season or that, but Put Me Back Together is a year-rounder. The romance lightens the mood while the tango between Brandon and Katie quicken the heartbeats.~Originally posted at PageCravings.com