Wow! I’m going to leave this disclaimer here … I’m not going to say a lot in this review about Redemption, because this really is a book that you need to read for yourself. You can read as many reviews as you like, but no review (no matter how insightful or detailed) will allow you to truly immerse yourself in this story or feel the deep emotions that it evokes. Nor will anything else release the torrent of questions that will spill out of your addled mind once you’re done!
Blurb:
Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.
But for Joshua’s mother Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.
However, as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they soon find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself. Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.
Locked in a collision course set in motion eleven years ago, Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias are about to find out whether the road they have chosen leads to retribution . . . or redemption.
My Review:
So, as I’ve already said … I’m not going to give an in-depth review of this one, but I fully believe that if Jack Jordan puts aside his keyboard right now and says he’s never writing another book, then he (and every single one of his many fans) can be at peace that his work in this world is complete. But then again, having said this, I do hope he’s currently very busy with his next book (although I’m not quite sure how he’s going to top this one)!
Evelyn and Tobias are locked together in a spiral of desperation, grief and never-ending sadness after their young son is killed in a hit-and-run accident. But when Aaron, the perpetrator of this heinous crime is released from jail after serving just 11 years of his 20 year sentence, Tobias starts to realize that he and Evelyn aren’t quite as ‘together’ as he thought. Because while Toby is grieving, Evelyn is feeling something quite different and has been making plans for the day of Aaron’s release.
Who is right and who is wrong? Who is a victim and who is a criminal? When you read the premise of this book, you’ll think you know; you’ll think it seems crystal clear, so obvious. Even when you start reading, you’ll continue in your adamant thoughts that you know who fulfils each role. But as you read a little further, the lines will begin to become a bit blurred. Your convictions that at first were so clear will start to falter and you’ll realize that you’re starting to have questions. Indeed, you might even find yourself questioning yourself and your own moral clarity.
I’m not even sure how I felt about the characters in this book. Again … you go in with one opinion, but it changes as you go along. I must admit that my heart broke numerous times for Tobias. His enduring sense of loneliness permeates this story and started to seep into my soul. I felt genuine pain for him and for what I felt was his double loss: his son and then his wife. He so badly needed someone to cling onto, and someone to understand him and to grieve with him, but she just wasn’t able to grieve in the same way because her anger was like another entity that moved in and became the third person in their marriage.
And as for Aaron … all I’ll say is that I went on a bit of a journey with him, and so will you. In fact, this whole book is a pilgrimage of sorts. You will not be the same when you reach the end.
Thank you to Compulsive Readers for the Blogathon. Looking forward to 2025, when we’ll be taking a look at the 4 books from Jack Jordan’s back catalogue – these are his earlier books: Anything For Her, My Girl, Before her Eyes and Night by Night.
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