4 out of 4 stars
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Ralph wakes up with vision issues in his left eye and trouble remembering what caused it or how he ended up in a small, badly-thrown-together shack. He soon realizes there's a way out, but when he walks out of the shack he's choked and yanked back. It's then he realizes it - he's chained up and can't escape after all. To make matters worse, when he turns to return to the shack he's hit by something repeatedly until he's knocked out. When Ralph awakens he's in great pain and is trying to figure out what's going on. Who is this man? Why is he being treated this way? Where is his family? Why won't anyone he hears nearby come save him when he calls out for them?
C.A. King, author of When Leaves Fall describes her book perfectly as "a dramatic thriller with a twist". I was hooked from the first page, wondering where Ralph was, why he was there and how he would escape. He's given scraps of food, only the gristle and fatty pieces, but he becomes so desperate he even eats those happily. He's in constant pain, forced to use the bathroom just outside the shack where he can still smell it and does little more than eat and sleep. Things become so hopeless that he even decides the next time he gets the opportunity he'll fight back against his captor, figuring either he'll be let free or killed. Death, Ralph believes, would be better than how he's living now.
C.A. King wasn't lying when she said the book had a twist, and this one is one of the best I've ever seen in any form of media. It kills me to be unable to talk about it, but I know it would ruin the experience if I did. Let me just say this - you'll be blown away! I actually set the book down for a moment and went back to re-read a few pages I was so surprised! This isn't the type of mystery novel where loose ends and plot holes abound, in fact it's exactly the opposite - even after going back through and hoping to find things that go against the surprise I couldn't find a single mistake. The book is expertly written, kept hold of my attention from the first page and never let go. Despite being only 56 pages in paperback it managed to become one of my favorite books of all time.
In addition to the twist and the plot, the writing here is smooth as silk. I noticed only one grammatical error and I breezed through reading the book in record time. My eyes never once stumbled while reading and the scenes are set excellently. There's also an invaluable (surprise) theme here at the end that I'm sure many folks can relate to, and it made the perfect icing on the top of an exceptional book.
There's no question, my official rating for When Leaves Fall is 4 out of 4 stars and I can't recommend it enough. If you like suspense, mystery or a good twist you'll love it, and even if you typically shy away from those genres you'll love it too. The book very briefly covers violence and there's no gore, brutal violence, sex or cussing. It was so good that I looked up what else C.A. King has written, and now I want to read the rest of her books as well! If they're anywhere near as good as this one she's definitely an author to follow.
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When Leaves Fall
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