Review: Surprisingly good.  Possible spoiler
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 11, 2013
I got this book free on Kindle.  There were no formatting issues and only one or two "spell check" errors that I noticed.Like many, I have become wary of a freebie with tons of five star reviews, but the blurb on this sounded good so I took a chance and I'm happy I did.The book is narrated by the adult Dan and tells the story of a Christmas vacation from college when he killed a man.  This is not a spoiler as Dan makes it clear from the get-go that he will kill someone. Normally I find books with this book end format less "true" than books simply told in the first person, but in this case it works because we get some adult perspective on the matter.Possible spoiler belowI can only give this 4 stars (well really 3.5) because of the subplot about the parents marriage. These people don't talk to each other at all, they only occasionally eat together, and, although it's mentioned that they sleep in the same room, there is no hint of any intimacy between them.  Christmas Eve is a nightmare.  I have absolutely no idea why these two stay together.  All that would be fine as a backdrop to Dan's life and the reason that he so rarely comes home. But at one point Dan's father says something like, I've tried, but I can't make your mother happy. After which Dan begins to think his father may not be solely at fault in the miserable relationship.At the end of the book, back in the adult Dan's world, he mentions that he never sees his father any more.  I was puzzled. I thought Dan was beginning to understand the parents and come to some resolution about them, but no.  It would have made sense for me if Dan's wife was shown to be unhappy, no matter how hard he tried, but his wife is spoken of as being happy.Dan understands that the reason he got away with murder is that the victim is someone no one cared about.  I tried to conjure up a parallel between that and his parent's marriage and just couldn't make it work.Still and all, a decent read.