4 out of 4 stars
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In The Sanctity of Revenge is the story of how a Chicago man’s life falls apart after his employer doesn’t pay him the high commissions he’s earned, and then fires him. Jack Hanlon’s desire for retribution has serious repercussions in his personal life. At the same time, his elderly neighbor Mrs. Kelly is conned out of her life savings by a roofer and also seeks justice.
Jack is a happily married father of three who always played by the rules. He is a salesman for General Systems (GS). After landing a lucrative client, Advanta, Jack starts earning huge commissions due to an incentive in his employee contract. Anticipating a large increase in income, he impulsively withdraws most of the family savings and deposits the money in the Illinois pre-paid tuition fund, for his sons’ education. Unfortunately, the company never pays him any of the commissions. When he sues General Systems for the money he is rightfully due, the VP of Legal Affairs advises the company to walk away from settlement negotiations and fire Jack. As his lawyer continues on with the lawsuit, Jack becomes obsessed with getting justice and his life begins to fall apart. His family life is affected, his stay-at-home wife has to get a job, and he has to work as a used car salesman just to make ends meet.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is well paced, and I was swept up in both Jack's and Mrs. Kelly’s problems. Although there is an excellent plot, the real strength in this book is the detailed character development and setting descriptions. I felt like I knew every single one of the characters, even the minor players. I not only cared about Jack and Mrs. Kelly, but Jack’s wife Amy. These people could have been my friends or neighbors. The descriptions of their daily lives are vivid and I could picture all of the characters in my head. Chicago comes alive here with a real feel for the local neighborhoods. You feel the icy cold on a winter’s night, the walkability, the historic bungalows, the local shops.
The weaknesses in the book are few. I found the beginning of the book a little hard to follow, from a time standpoint. The first few chapters kept jumping back and forth in time, while at the same time switching between Jack’s and Mrs. Kelly’s storylines. As a result, I became a little confused in the early chapters as to what time period was being referenced. After a few chapters, the time period tended to stay constant and moved forward, so it became easier to settle in to the pacing of the storyline.
There were some grammatical and spelling errors, as well as run-on sentences, throughout the book. There is incorrect word use, such as breath instead of breathe, desert instead of dessert, and passed instead of past. Although I felt this made the writing appear a bit unprofessional, it didn’t distract from the story.
I didn’t care for the ending, and found parts of it a little farfetched. The resolution to Mrs. Kelly’s storyline felt a bit abrupt and I would have liked a little more detail to her story. Still, the book is a real page turner and thought-provoking. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.
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