Review: Beautifully Raw!  Powerful and Haunting!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 17, 2012
Laura and Adrian are a young couple living in a small, Midwestern town. Their lives are relatively normal with close family and friends nearby. Though they don't have a lot of money, these two are obviously in love and hopeful of their future together as they allow themselves to start trying to get pregnant. They're understandably thrilled and nervous when they find out Laura is expecting. Laura's is a high-risk pregnancy due to her hard-to-control Type 1 Diabetes. Even with the health and money worries, Laura and Adrian's relationship grows equal to their excitement over the impending arrival of their daughter whom they've already named Kaylynn.Their labor and delivery are beautifully described by the author and as a reader, I felt like I was right there in the room with them when baby Kaylynn came into the world. I also felt the wind knocked out of me when the doctor walked in and out-of-the-blue informed the young parents that their daughter had died while in the hospital nursery of SIDS.Beyond devastated, Laura and Adrian live through a gut-wrenching time of dysfunctional mourning. The author, again is so crisp in her description of these events, I walked around in a daze for a while feeling as though I was experiencing the death and loss a little more than vicariously.Time doesn't heal the wounds between the two, and while Laura finds solace in her work as a reporter, Adrian comes home from his work as a mechanic only to play hours of violent video games. Six months after their loss, Laura leaves for a two-week conference where she happens to meet a man named Ben. Ben reveals to her that he is an angel of God and he was sent as a messenger to tell her that her daughter Kaylynn is still alive and being raised by a couple with whom she is acquainted.She returns to her home and tries to convince Adrian of what she was told. He thinks she's gone mad with grief. Desperate to get her daughter back, Laura struggles with her own morality. Another being, an angel of Satan named Ryan, fuels the fury and venom Laura feels toward those she feels betrayed her. The battle over Laura's soul is intense--a tug-of-war between good and evil.I loved the spiritual elements in this story. Lana Bradstream is fearless in her portrayal of the battle between God and the devil. I felt a sense of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters as I read this story. Very well done, and highly recommended!