Hardcover: 300 pages Publisher: Tyrus Books; First Edition edition (May 3, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 193556238X ISBN-13: 978-1935562382	Order book here:
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Characters

Whitley “The Kid” Darby – 11 Year Old boy who hasn’t talked in a year.
David Darby – A widowed father trying to raise his son.

Synopsis

A year has passed since Lucy Darby died. Her 11 year old son has not spoken since that day. Her husband David is left alone to deal with raising his son the best way he can. David works as a trauma site technician. While helping others get rid of their traumatic memories, he can’t shake his own. Whitley only communicates through notebooks. At one time he was a live, vivacious young boy who enjoyed putting on his own talk shows. Then his mom died, and he shut down.

Review

This was a really good story. There were minimal characters, but the ones that existed were well drawn out. You could feel Whitley’s pain and suffering as he is bullied from just about everyone in school, while internally he thinks the reason the other kids hate him is the same reason his mother left.

David is left to clean up after others have decided to depart this world on their own. His job finds him being broken down more and more as each subsequent death pulls him further into questions about his own wife’s death. Questions he’s never wanted to answer.

I think the author did a great job on this story. The conflicts are real, the 11 year old seems like a real boy. The overall story reminds me in some ways of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, in the sense of there’s not a huge plot, but it’s mostly about the relationship of the father and son. You can feel David’s struggle to reach Whitley.

If you get the chance, pick up this book, I think you’d really enjoy the story, and love the characters.

About the Author

Scott O’Connor lives in Los Angeles. His 2004 novella Among Wolves was praised by the Los Angeles Times Book Review for its “crisp, take-no-prisoner’s style” and hailed the author as “one to watch.”

*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to LeYane at FSB Associates for a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review. You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

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