Review Detail

This is one of those books that you continue to think about after you have finished it. It stayed with me, I suppose literally 'clawing' its way into my brain. It wasn't at all what I thought it would be.

Jed Berg has it all. Fancy house, a cool car to drive around in (his dad's), good parents, good grades, a hottie girlfriend, number one spot on the tennis team&life couldn't be any better for him. Any reader worth their salt realizes by now that something is going to happen to change all of that.

That something is a girl named Laura who informs Jed that his father is having an affair with her mother. As they try to figure out what to do about it and what they even want to have happen, Jed and Laura grow closer (against their better judgment and instincts). Their unfolding romance is an interesting one and the glue that holds 2/3 of the novel together.

Then they take the big plunge and give the cheating parents an ultimatum. Things take an unexpectedly tragic turn from there when Laura's little sister loses it and Jed and Laura have to chase her down into the woods. That trip ultimately costs Jed everything he has come to love.

The last section of the book deals with the aftermath of that tragic afternoon. Jed has fallen as low as he can possibly go and only by the very end of the book is he starting to claw his way back out again.

This isn't a happy book, but it is a well-written one. The tragic accident seemed a little too convenient for me (a medical helicopter just happens to crash?) but Jed's slow and steady descent is a gripping one. I recommend this book for readers aged 12 and up, though likely older teens will get more out of it than younger ones.