The Mistaken by Nancy S. Thompson

Tyler Karras is newly married and planning to buy a house to start a family with his wife when he learns that his brother Nick, who recently fell asleep at the wheel, killing their parents and sister, has become involved with San Francisco’s Russian mafia. Ty urges Nick to quit running errands for the Russians—that is until his pregnant wife becomes the victim of a heartless crime. Clouded by alcohol and anger, Ty asks the Russians for a simple exchange: he’ll give them the woman responsible for his wife’s death if they promise to free his brother from his debts. However, Ty makes a devastating mistake: he kidnaps the wrong woman. Recently separated from her wealthy, cheating husband, Hannah, instead of feeling like a helpless victim, purloins her strength and independence and promises to help Ty.

The Mistaken is a success in two distinct ways. First of all, it is a page-turning thriller with fascinating plot twists that grip the reader. But secondly—and more importantly—it is an intriguing look into what drives people to act in violent ways. Ty is a seemingly stable and kind man at the start of the story, but the unjust death of his wife and unborn child and the alcohol-fueled rage that burns in him drive him to seek a sickening revenge. Sex-trafficking is a horrific fate, even for the heartless woman who caused his wife’s death, but Nancy Thompson paints a picture of Ty’s backstory and motivation to make the reader understand his logic and to wish for his redemption in the end.

The story is told in first person, mostly through Ty’s perspective, but the reader often hears Hannah’s side of the story and even gets a glimpse of Ty’s wife’s point of view before her death, which accentuates their relationship and fuels the reader’s desire to see Ty’s enlightenment. In Hannah’s point of view, we see a strong woman firm in her self-awareness, which removes altogether the propensity for a damsel-in-distress type character, even though she is an innocent victim. Her strength makes her likeable and inspiring.

If the novel has one weakness, it is that in the beginning of the novel the characters’ tragedies seem almost too numerous to be realistic, but the reader is quickly swept up in the plot, and the characters are well drawn enough to feel real in their own right. Though Hannah and the criminal woman being doppelgangers may seem to be a bit of a plot device, it is necessary to the story.

This book bends the formula for the crime thriller genre—in only the good ways. Nancy Thompson has a firm grasp on human motivation, what drives good people to turn to the dark side—and what can bring them back. The Mistaken is an adrenaline-pulsing read. 

Some Are Sicker than Others by Andrew Seaward

Emotionally raw and harrowingly real, Some Are Sicker than Others is a moving story of redemption. Crack-addict Dave Bell and alcoholic Monty Miller both struggle through the consequences of a life-changing event: Dave’s mentally disabled son, Larry, accidentally ran him over with a golf cart, injuring his leg and putting an end to his athletics career, while Monty’s fiancée, also a recovering alcoholic, was killed in a car accident, after which Monty relapsed, embarking on a suicide mission. These two troubled men meet in a rehabilitation center in the wintery mountains of Colorado, their paths intertwining more than they could have imagined.

The thoroughly cultivated iced-over setting provides a backdrop for the story; one can easily concoct in one’s mind the snowy, mountainous landscape Seaward paints with his words. The perfect pitch of the language in developing the mid-winter Colorado setting and the deep-cutting emotional environment is perhaps the novel’s strongest point.

Due to the subject matter of the book, it can be difficult to read in many places, though it is important to absorb every word in order to get the full effect of the story. While some events can appear too intense or too harrowing for the reader to take in all at once, the events are never unrealistic. Always plausible, even inevitable, the mistakes these characters make are mistakes that the quintessential addict makes. The violence, disturbing behavior, one-sided motivations, and lack of compassion, especially in Dave, are so well-drawn and realistic that it can be emotionally draining to read, but in a good way, if a novel about drug addiction can do anything in “a good way.”

Each mistake is vital in Dave and Monty’s path toward redemption, even, or perhaps most particularly, in the scene when Dave is finally caught by the police; driving a school bus full of terrified high school volleyball players, as well as the eleven-year-old Larry, Dave accelerates upwards of ninety miles per hour, and when he is pulled over and arrested for the possession of crack, his mentally challenged son is tasered for attempting to defend him. One often finds oneself literally begging Dave to get a hold of his problems, to see beyond the haze of his addiction, as if he were a character in a horror movie about to open a cellar door where a monster resides. This is another of Seward’s strengths—he drags the reader into the character’s head so deeply that no matter how disturbed his mind is, the reader yearns for his redemption. Dave and Monty’s motives are clear, the reasons for them going down the path to addiction defined, and their denial and emotional toil distinct.

Though Some Are Sicker than Others is unrelenting, gut-wrenching, and needs to be taken in a chunk at a time rather than in a few sittings, it is the gritty truth of how addiction can ravage a human life—but it also offers a glimpse of the capacity of human forgiveness. 

Books Released This Month - October 2012

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

2 October 2012

Historical Mystery

An archaeologist travels to the Scottish Borderlands after reports of sightings of a Roman warrior ghost in the area.

The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony

2 October 2012

Historical Fiction

In the 1600s in France, lace was illegal. This is the story of a group of people smuggling the expensive and delicate lace across the border from Belgium to France.

The Mistaken by Nancy S. Thompson

18 October 2012

Psychological Thriller

After Tyler Karras’ wife is murdered, he agrees to hand the woman who killed her over to the Russian mafia, in exchange for his brother, but Ty makes a dangerous mistake and kidnaps the wrong woman. Now he must do whatever he can to protect her, while finding a way to rescue his brother. 

(Link goes to Nancy's blog!)

The Perils of Sherlock Holmes by Loren D. Estleman

18 October 2012

Short Stories

A new collection of Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

23 October 2012

Fiction

An artist agrees to forge a Degas painting in exchange for a gallery show, but when the missing painting appears at her doorstep, she begins a search, believing it is itself a forgery.