Review: Surprised and Perfect
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 3, 2014
Ford Aston may very well be one of my most favorite characters of all time.  Because he is razor sharp, bloody brilliant and so damn complicated, it’s almost impossible to unravel completely.  He’s utterly unpredictable.  Utterly dangerous.  Utterly unlovable.  At least to those who don’t pay attention.A day in the life of Ford is full of driving, of doing an incredible amount of favors for other people, of realization.  A day in the life of Ford, at least this day, is completely the opposite of what you would expect it to be.  Especially because this day is Christmas Eve.Men like Ford are above holidays.  They don’t celebrate or propose toasts or buy gifts.  They don’t go to grocery stores.  They don’t give a s*** about centerpieces or place settings or garnishes.  They construct their days based on a ledger: to-do, owed and paid back.And yet, this day sees Ford buy three presents from a child.  This day sees him forgiving people around him for a gigantic mistake.  This day sees Ford with a friend and family.  This day sees Ford at church.This day shows Ford at his worst and then at a crossroads – we get glimpses of who he could be if he wanted to be – and being in his brain is not as cold as one would expect – he the very definition of three dimensional, infused with passion and trying hard to be the man the people around him want him to be, need him to be.And we get one super surprise in this book that I hope we get some follow up on at some point in the future – that child that Ford bought Christmas presents from?  Yeah, that is Sasha Cherlin and she is bada**.  She’s wicked smart and can see right through Ford from the very beginning.  We get to see a very different side of Ford and a different inflection on his inner monologue thanks to Sasha and I would very much like for her to be his sidekick sometime in the near future.JA Huss constructs brilliant characters – Ford being her masterpiece.  And for her to give us this day that so perfectly illustrates all of Ford’s idiosyncrasies is a gift all of its own.  The cadence of her writing pulls in all of your senses until you feel like you’re walking right next to the characters – and the scenery is more than rewarding.The one benefit to coming to this series late is not having to wait to get my next fix.  And for that I am grateful, because to say that I’m addicted to this series is a vast understatement.