Book Review: Red Leaves

Reviewed By: Cheryl - RAM

Red Leaves     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Thomas H. Cook
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Fiction   Thriller   Psychological Suspense   Kidnapping

How much do we really know about ourselves and our closest relatives? Most of us prefer not to think about this too deeply. Of course we love our relatives! - well, most of them - they love us. We've been together for years. And of course, we know all about our family members - our common histories, their likes and dislikes and of course their personalities and characters. With Eric Moore, Thomas Cook has created a character who, in the face of suspicion aroused by the disappearance of a young girl, begins to question everything he thought he knew about both his family of origin and the family he created. Like the displaced African tribe in a book he is reading, he has no foundation, and his entire being is .sunk in shifting sand'.

The reader becomes as uncertain as Eric when he begins to doubt, not just his teenaged son who had been the missing girl's babysitter, but all his other relatives, living and dead. Has he truly been deceived all these years or is he becoming paranoid?

While this is a mystery novel - with a stunning plot twist at the end - the focus is on Eric and his struggles to find his balance again after a horrifying allegation makes him doubt everything he held as certain about himself and his family. Many people can identify with Eric's confusion and his often ineffectual efforts to reach out to his wife, his son, his father and his brother even as they find Eric somewhat pitiful and annoying. For readers who prefer the psychological to the plot puzzle type of mystery, Eric's voyage through doubt and suspicion should be very rewarding.

Cheryl - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Cheryl - RAM