Review by Piper Mejia
The Book Club by Alan Baxter, draws the reader into a search for ultimate understanding; but the days are ticking down. Protagonist, Jason, is a devoted son, husband and father, who is forced to confront what he knows about his missing wife, her hidden life and the secrets of the mind. As he pulls the pieces of their lives apart to hunt for answers, Jason discovers that love and hate can bind a person for eternity.
For lovers of dark worlds, this novella will take you by surprise. The initial missing persons storyline takes a sharp turn into the obscurity of zeitgeist. Masquerading as a book club member, Jason discovers his wife has fallen into a group harnessing the power of time and space, and has gotten lost in her attempt to find herself.
Haunted by his wife’s cries for help, ones only he can hear, Jason finds the strength to follow her.
Unfortunately, the ending comes too quickly and without resolution, leaving the reader wondering if the journey was worth taking.
The Book Club is a great follow-up to Alan’s collection of short stories, Crow Shine, and well worth the read.
Blurb: Jason Wilkes’s life takes a turn for the worse when his wife fails to come home from her book club. Jason calls Kate’s ‘book buddy’, Dave, who assures him she left hours ago. Contacting the police, Jason finds them equal parts sympathetic and suspicious. He tells them almost everything, except that he’s been hearing Kate’s voice, calling as if from far away. He certainly doesn’t mention that he’s seeing shadows that reach for him.
With the police getting nowhere fast, Jason takes matters into his own hands, even as nightmare images and Kate’s distant cries continue to haunt his waking moments and his dreams, and the strange, grasping shadows persist. Jason begins to unravel the mystery, but he’s at odds with the police, he’s being lied to by Kate’s book club friends, and his chances of finding Kate slip ever further away.
It seems that everything is going to go as wrong as it possibly can.