Violation

Rating:
Summary: "Violation" a massive word for such a fluffy story
Review: Lured by the title "Violation" I picked this book seeking to learn and to be entertained at the same time by a fictional story describing the trauma suffered by an adult woman after being raped during high school. I thought that the plot followed a consistent previous investigation by the author

The tale revolves around three main characters very well developed at the beginning, Thea the raped woman who suffers post traumatic stress disorder after such tragic event, David his estranged son, the product of that rape, and Jack and ex LAPD cop who happens to be Thea's landlord and who learns to like the kid

When David becomes a teenager, he begins to wonder about his mother weird behaviour and his own past, so one day makes the decision to find out who his father was and runs away from home with outside help, traveling to the opposite side of the country, Thea shocked, runs after him and Jack also very attached to the boy goes after Thea, hereafter the story loses realism.

My criticism toward this book points towards the lack of purpose, you do not really undestand if the author objective was to explore the feelings of the woman after the rape or write a mystery tale leaving the former on the background

In fact, characters are well drawn, but suspense and actions are not, let me elaborate some situations to clarify my point:

It is difficult to understand how Jack, with computers a layman, uses Thea's password after founding it "casually" written in a paper placed near the computer and then access to all her private recorded internet chat conversations, on top of that he prints them out, consequently it is very difficult to understand how Thea, a phobic, leaves her password written on a paper that can be found by anyone

It is difficult to understand how Thea took a cross-country flight carrying a weapon and being undetected

It is difficult to understand how Jack and Thea get face to face interviews with important secluded people of the upper crust of Long Island on arrival, without an appointment and even without mentioning their names in advance

Finally, I can also notice that the author was unable to create logical connections between events, some of them very confusing. The story loses almost all credibility

At one point, there was a ray of hope to improve what was done, with a sudden turn of events, that was when Thea learned that the jailed rapist turned out not to be the actual rapist, that situation could have been exploited far better than it was and "Violation" would have probably been a very interesting read from that section

Due to the reasons mentioned above, to rate this book two stars is too much, one
will suffice

Rating:
Summary: Complex and compelling story
Review: Some events are not easy to forget. For Altea (Thea) Auben that life altering event was the rape and beating that left her comatose and pregnant at seventeen. Now thirteen years later despite little actual memory of the event she remains a fearful and isolated women, the mother of a thirteen year old boy who is beginning to wonder about his father and to rebel against the isolated and abnormal life his mother and he lead.

Thea lives with her son, David, in a remote cabin in the woods of northern California. She has some money in a trust fund and earns a living by doing computer research for distant clients. David spends his time on the computer or reading about astronomy, but he wants to live a more normal life. Her landlord, Jack Verrity, is an ex cop with problems of his own. He befriends David and wonders about the kid's attractive but distant mother.

Though, for David's sake, Thea tries to interact with Jack she is too scarred and scared by her traumatic past to accept a man' presence. Then David runs away to search for his biological father. Thea and her deceased mother have kept the truth about his birth from David but somehow he has discovered that he was conceived on Long Island. At first Thea blames Jack, but soon she is forced to join forces with Jack in the search for her son.

This is a complex story and Darian North provides frightening insight into the obsessive fears and uncontrollable behaviors that are the result of the trauma of rape. This book is very well researched and compassionately written. The story is compelling as are the characters. I'm looking foward to her other books.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant, incredibly moving and disturbing novel
Review: There is no proper way to discuss the emotional wrench thrown into this well written thriller. The characters are both flawed and flawless. The storyline was great, but the discription of the emotional scars suffered after this brutal, sexual assault makes you want to renounce your male identity. I recommended to my son's private school principle that this book should be required reading for all male students over 16 years old. He read it and agreed. This book is wonderful and disturbing at the same time. When I finished the book, my wife immediately asked me if I liked it. I sat there speechless. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth a look.