Review: It's Complicated
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2013
Most people think their own personal lives are boring, but if you could be an observer of any random person's life I'm sure a story full of drama and complications would be revealed and a mini soap opera would appear.  No one is perfect and we all have our own secrets and flaws as well as our better traits.  Scott Kelly has worked to reveal this imperfect, and often contradictory quality of human existence through his main character Derek and the other characters who come in contact with him.Derek, a talented, struggling artist has a drinking problem and the fact that he is employed as a bartender in a casino doesn't help matters.  One day while driving home from his job during rush hour one of his auto's tires explodes, causing him to lose control and slam into a another vehicle.  This accident puts him in a coma and kills the family in the other vehicle.  When Derek awakes from the coma he is immediately threatened by the brother of the father killed in the accident.  He also soon learns that the blow to his head has caused him some permanent brain damage that has taken away his ability to recognize human faces, including his own. He can't remember any of the details of the accident and therefore is left guessing whether he was intoxicated when the blowout occurred.  The family of the victims is consumed with trying to achieve justice, believing that Derek was drunk.  The police officer who was first on scene reported smelling alcohol on Derek, but Derek's blood samples have gone missing, leaving no concrete proof of Derek's possible intoxication. So Derek struggles with the guilt of having caused the deaths of the family while at the same time living in fear of random attacks from the brother.  And, of course he can't recognize his attacker, leaving him totally vulnerable. There are also several other interesting and flawed characters in Derek's life, such as Derek's ex-wife Natalie, Derek's alcoholic attending physician, and the lawyer hired by Derek's father to defend him during his trial for vehicular manslaughter.Through Derek's story the reader is confronted with the problems and questions that each of us as human beings face in one form or another throughout our lives.  For example: Why do bad things and/or good things happen to individuals?  Is there any meaning to all of it?  How does one cope with guilt and is there really any true justice in the world? The reader is also shown how life's events cause ripples that can have profound effects on many other lives.I wouldn't call this a fun read but the story is filled with episodes that keep the reader interested.