Review by kjd1783 -- Duplicity by Fin C Gray
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kjd1783
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- Latest Review: Duplicity by Fin C Gray
Review by kjd1783 -- Duplicity by Fin C Gray
[Following is a volunteer review of "Duplicity" by Fin C Gray.]
Tom McIntyre has it all with his beautiful wife and two kids. From Tom’s point of view, his life is a mess. Between piles of bills, a nagging wife, and bickering children, all he wants is out. It is only with the death of his wife that he realizes he was wrong, and his life truly starts to come undone. One too many bottles make Tom distant from the rest of his family. One too many secrets cause a rift in his relationship with his son Daniel who is struggling with his own issues. As Daniel tries to find his place in this world that has wronged him, he pushes Tom out and lets a dangerous stranger with a beautiful smile in. In Duplicity by Fin C. Gray, the choices of these characters lead Daniel down a path of destruction, and Tom sorrowfully ignorant of the pain he has caused. I rate this book three out of four stars.
I really enjoyed how Tom and Daniel mirror each other and call back to the title. Both accuse the other of being addicts but refuse to see it in themselves. Daniel’s willingness to ignore the truth about his emotionally abusive relationship with his roommate is reminiscent of Tom’s denial of his wife’s condition and the crumbling state of his family. They both ignore the problem and continue to add to it. This cycle of pain between father and son was very realistic and an aspect of the story that I liked. I also enjoyed how Gray was able to make me emotionally sympathize with the characters. His choice of words and well-written descriptions perfectly depicted his characters’ sadness and anger, and it made it easy for me to feel those emotions along with them.
I would have liked to see more done with Jenny. While I don’t mind how she seems like an afterthought for most of the book--especially since this idea is reinforced towards the end--I would have liked to know more about her. How deeply did Tom and Daniel’s actions affect her life choices? Did she try to help or understand Daniel? Were there any secrets she was keeping? I felt knowing this would have rounded out the family, and fleshed out the idea that a person's actions affect the people in their life.
While I enjoyed Gray’s use of flashback to tell the story, the order in which the story was revealed made me lose interest in Tom and Daniel. For me, there wasn’t much mystery in how the characters ended up where the reader finds them. In Daniel’s case, the prologue revealed enough about his fate and choices that I wasn’t on the edge of my seat with questions. As for Tom, he didn’t change or make much of an attempt to as the story continued. I felt I knew him enough to know his choices, and that took some of the mystery away. I found myself more interested in characters like Jenny who were outside of Tom and Daniel's struggles. The story was well written, but outside of wanting to know the aftermath of the prologue, there wasn’t much that kept me reading. That is why I rated it a three out of four.
The book seems to be professionally edited. I hardly noticed any errors. I would not recommend this book to anyone who can’t handle profanity, explicit detail of sexual and murderous acts, and who are easily offended by portrayals of Muslamic religion in regards to terrorism. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes irony, a character-driven story, and unhappy endings.
******
Duplicity
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Tom McIntyre has it all with his beautiful wife and two kids. From Tom’s point of view, his life is a mess. Between piles of bills, a nagging wife, and bickering children, all he wants is out. It is only with the death of his wife that he realizes he was wrong, and his life truly starts to come undone. One too many bottles make Tom distant from the rest of his family. One too many secrets cause a rift in his relationship with his son Daniel who is struggling with his own issues. As Daniel tries to find his place in this world that has wronged him, he pushes Tom out and lets a dangerous stranger with a beautiful smile in. In Duplicity by Fin C. Gray, the choices of these characters lead Daniel down a path of destruction, and Tom sorrowfully ignorant of the pain he has caused. I rate this book three out of four stars.
I really enjoyed how Tom and Daniel mirror each other and call back to the title. Both accuse the other of being addicts but refuse to see it in themselves. Daniel’s willingness to ignore the truth about his emotionally abusive relationship with his roommate is reminiscent of Tom’s denial of his wife’s condition and the crumbling state of his family. They both ignore the problem and continue to add to it. This cycle of pain between father and son was very realistic and an aspect of the story that I liked. I also enjoyed how Gray was able to make me emotionally sympathize with the characters. His choice of words and well-written descriptions perfectly depicted his characters’ sadness and anger, and it made it easy for me to feel those emotions along with them.
I would have liked to see more done with Jenny. While I don’t mind how she seems like an afterthought for most of the book--especially since this idea is reinforced towards the end--I would have liked to know more about her. How deeply did Tom and Daniel’s actions affect her life choices? Did she try to help or understand Daniel? Were there any secrets she was keeping? I felt knowing this would have rounded out the family, and fleshed out the idea that a person's actions affect the people in their life.
While I enjoyed Gray’s use of flashback to tell the story, the order in which the story was revealed made me lose interest in Tom and Daniel. For me, there wasn’t much mystery in how the characters ended up where the reader finds them. In Daniel’s case, the prologue revealed enough about his fate and choices that I wasn’t on the edge of my seat with questions. As for Tom, he didn’t change or make much of an attempt to as the story continued. I felt I knew him enough to know his choices, and that took some of the mystery away. I found myself more interested in characters like Jenny who were outside of Tom and Daniel's struggles. The story was well written, but outside of wanting to know the aftermath of the prologue, there wasn’t much that kept me reading. That is why I rated it a three out of four.
The book seems to be professionally edited. I hardly noticed any errors. I would not recommend this book to anyone who can’t handle profanity, explicit detail of sexual and murderous acts, and who are easily offended by portrayals of Muslamic religion in regards to terrorism. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes irony, a character-driven story, and unhappy endings.
******
Duplicity
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Duplicity by Fin C Gray
