Review: sensitive and inspiring
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2011
This is an intriguing novel that, like her other work, is unputdownable. It has a heroine, Kelly, to love, and a hero, Drew, you know you can trust early on. There is Aaron, Kelly's autistic young son. With an ancillary cast to like. And in this novel, Richard, Kelly's ex- husband, a character to loath. A powerful succubus. He is a lawyer running for the senate, a spider whose web makes everybody helpless--almost. If you have ever been controlled by anybody for whatever reason, you will know Kelly's invisible prison. This is a novel of liberation. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic read. It is also complex and important and frightening to see what this horrible man gets away with and how he is prepared to frame her, and isolates her. To even talk with Drew expends from her such courage. Drew and Kelly have such knowledge of autism and awaken this child from inside to love. Ms Anderson's technique of writing is so good. There are two passages that show what you read has a sub texture that dazzles you. What's going on is not really what's going on. Maybe motives aren't what you think. There is a courtroom scene at the end that plays so beautifully with wonderful dexterity of such assured misdirection that, like the earlier scene, makes you marvel. A spider webbed. Yes, in this novel, I am saying Erle Stanley Gardner would have been proud of her. The timing is exquisite. Everything is precise. And the joy at the end is real. Aaron and the love and care and knowledge and determination to ease him out of his prison is the core of the book. Sometimes reality smiles over your shoulder and you want to say thanks.