"My Husband’s Son" is an incredibly readable, uncomplicated, suspenseful affair and easily a one-sitting read. It provided an immersive reading experience with its rolling domestic suspense and the minute by minute torment that only parents of a missing child could truly comprehend.
The marriage of Jason and Heidi resulted from the common ground of experiencing just such a horrendous event. Despite their individual mental scars they each go to work, prepare dinner and treat new sightings warily, as the chances of locating Jason’s boy after five years grows slimmer. As Heidi herself says, other people must think that after a tragedy of this magnitude there’s some secret law that permits you to devote your time to an all-expense paid grief trip. But the electricity bill still needs paying, whether you feel like switching the light on or not. In my ignorance, I’d never given much consideration to how people genuinely cope with day-to-day tasks in the wake of such an event.
As the story revolves around Heidi’s possible ‘Barney’ sighting her behaviour understandably becomes erratic to say the least. However, she’s ignores anyone’s better judgement to find herself at the centre of some degrading and reckless situations, and all to get a closer look at the boy she claims is "My Husband’s Son".
It’s like an alternative version of Groundhog Day where she obsessively repeats mistakes over and over. I’m afraid those ruddy ridiculous stilettos she insists on wearing for impromptu stake outs / a spot of stalking / wheelie bin mountaineering weakened her character unnecessarily. It made this otherwise emotionally courageous lady appear rather foolish as she was on the ground more times than she was standing up!
Who could predict how anyone might react in a situation like this? Mercifully it’s not something most of us have or will ever find ourselves in. And yet, while I raced to the end of the story I couldn’t help but find some of her actions a touch insensitive on occasion.
Okay, nit-picking aside. My advice is: ignore the reviews (yes, even this one!) and judge this book for yourself as it holds a few surprises.
***Actual rating: 3.5 / 5***
The marriage of Jason and Heidi resulted from the common ground of experiencing just such a horrendous event. Despite their individual mental scars they each go to work, prepare dinner and treat new sightings warily, as the chances of locating Jason’s boy after five years grows slimmer. As Heidi herself says, other people must think that after a tragedy of this magnitude there’s some secret law that permits you to devote your time to an all-expense paid grief trip. But the electricity bill still needs paying, whether you feel like switching the light on or not. In my ignorance, I’d never given much consideration to how people genuinely cope with day-to-day tasks in the wake of such an event.
As the story revolves around Heidi’s possible ‘Barney’ sighting her behaviour understandably becomes erratic to say the least. However, she’s ignores anyone’s better judgement to find herself at the centre of some degrading and reckless situations, and all to get a closer look at the boy she claims is "My Husband’s Son".
It’s like an alternative version of Groundhog Day where she obsessively repeats mistakes over and over. I’m afraid those ruddy ridiculous stilettos she insists on wearing for impromptu stake outs / a spot of stalking / wheelie bin mountaineering weakened her character unnecessarily. It made this otherwise emotionally courageous lady appear rather foolish as she was on the ground more times than she was standing up!
Who could predict how anyone might react in a situation like this? Mercifully it’s not something most of us have or will ever find ourselves in. And yet, while I raced to the end of the story I couldn’t help but find some of her actions a touch insensitive on occasion.
Okay, nit-picking aside. My advice is: ignore the reviews (yes, even this one!) and judge this book for yourself as it holds a few surprises.
***Actual rating: 3.5 / 5***