Review: Darkly, deftly twisted story of love and loss
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 3, 2014
RJ Samuel’s “A Place Somewhere,” is like nothing I’ve ever seen in this genre. In fact, I’d go out on a limb and say this is genre-bending fiction because it is much more than pure les fic romance and much darker than others in its class.“A Place Somewhere” is not a lighthearted romp, nor is there the humor we saw in Ms. Samuel’s excellent “Falling Colours.” But that’s okay—sometimes a dark, edgy story is the one that needs to be told, and Ms. Samuel obviously needed to tell an intricate story that speaks to the emptiness and pain inside those of us who have experienced profound loss.“A Place Somewhere” is a tragic tale of love and loss that unearths the ugly side of meeting a potential partner online, with many twists and unexpected turns. It is a romance, a mystery, and a ballad all wrapped into one. But where there is loss there can also be redemption.In RJ Samuel’s “vision painter” books, she added something extra by inventing a profession that only existed in her imagination. Once again, Ms. Samuel adds a delightful extra goodie for her readers in “A Place Somwhere,” by teaming up with singer-songwriter Sharon Murphy to co-write the recorded song that bears the same title as this book—a song that ties in very neatly and directly to the story.Bravo to RJ Samuel for once again giving readers the unexpected, keeping us guessing right up until the end, and making us think about what truly defines love.