Review: An emotional and gripping story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2012
I purchased a copy of Out of Breath on the recommendation of a friend. Being a Santa Cruz resident and a writer, I was interested to see my adopted town of 34 years portrayed by another local writer.Alyssa Buchanan has a stormy relationship with husband Seth, owner of a local surf shop. She loves him, but hates that he is absent from their marriage much of the time and acquiesces to drugs and alcohol to get him through life's difficulties. When their toddler daughter Nevaeh drowns under Seth's watch, Alyssa's forgiveness turns to rage. A dirty drug test is damning evidence at odds with his story of being clean. Alyssa takes five-year-old , now mute, Daisy, and moves in with her grandmother.Grief-stricken and stripped of his parental rights, Seth enters AA and tries to repair the shambles his life has become, while Alyssa combats her own despair by turning to a childhood friend, local police officer Greg Wallace. Greg has long loved Alyssa, but he fights his own demons-a failing marriage, grief over his brother's death and, at times, an uncontrollable rage.Local therapist Katherine Middlebrook, in an odd quirk of fate, takes on all three as clients, not realizing that their lives are intertwined. But Katherine has her own secret-a child who died many years ago. Her grief runs so deep that she hasn't been able to reveal this to her closest friend. In addition, Katherine's own life is disrupted with the recurrence of her mother's cancer, making her own life unbearably stressful.Ms. Salluce tells a strongly emotional story in first person from the viewpoints of each of the characters which is quite effective and allows a window into their souls. The reader grows to understand that each is damaged and flailing in the undercurrent of life. Good writing (with the exception of a few misspellings, notably the use of "alright" for "all right"*), excellent pacing and emotional drama permeate this story of loss and recovery amid the backdrop of Central California's liberal surf community. Also present is a commitment to God, a rediscovering of ideals lost and regained that give the reader and the protagonists hope in a brighter future.(*Note: "alright" is not considered an acceptable English word at the present time.)Bravo, Ms. Salluce.