Heather’s Bookshelf: Pieces
Author: Damon Lamorea
Released: 08/02/24
Genre: Adult Thriller
“As he drove, he glanced over at his daughter as she had her head resting on the door window and was smiling while cuddling her pink teddy. He couldn’t help but smile as well. He had had an amazing day with her, and he was happy he could finally make something like this happen.”
“Pieces” introduces Marc, a real estate agent with a young daughter, Melissa, who lost his wife to cancer two years ago.
Diving into his work and his relationship with his daughter, Marc tries to move forward with his life after his wife’s sudden illness. His sister-in-law, Veronica, moves in to help care for Melissa and the household.
Understanding the need for one-on-one time with his daughter, Marc plans a daddy-daughter day including a trip to an arcade and movie. On the way home, a car accident rips through their lives, leaving Marc in a coma. When he awakens, he does not remember much from the accident. Dealing with the consequences of the accident, his mind also trying to heal, pieces of his memory try to come back.
But his memory isn’t lining up with what he’s being told and no one seems to be helping him find the truth. Determined to find justice, he sets out on his own investigation. But will Marc be able to find the truth?
Trigger Warning: cancer-related death, child death, car accident, adult language
Overall, I enjoyed this story. It’s not a feel good kind of a tale, but it’s a truly emotional story. On the shorter side and closer to a novella, it doesn’t take long for the author to pull you in and get you hooked on the main characters. However, I think getting to “see” more of Marc’s life with Judy and Melissa before everything happens would have provided more of a connection and understanding into what Marc goes through. Regardless, I felt horrible for Marc and hoped for him to find some kind of peace or resolution. In the end it arrives, but not without its’ obstacles and in a very different manner than what I expected. It’s a bit of a twist at the end that adds to the narrative of what the human mind is capable of. The one character I did not feel connected to was Veronica. I felt her essential replacement of her sister to be a bit “single-white-female” and half expected the end of the book to take a different turn entirely. Though that thankfully didn’t happen, I just didn’t get her connection to her sister or Melissa- again perhaps some more background, flashbacks, etc may have been helpful. Otherwise, she could have been any housekeeper or nanny for hire. The pacing is good throughout the book with the intrigue of wanting to know what happened invites you to continue flipping the pages. The ending ties up everything nicely with clear resolution for the main characters and especially Marc.
As a side note, my day job is as a physical therapist and it bothered me a bit about the depiction of and interchangeable use of physio and occupational therapist as they are different professions and typically focus on different areas of rehab. Probably just a little close to home and not anything 99% of people would note, but I would regret not making note of it.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A thriller with significant emotional undertones and an empathetic protagonist. A lack of connection or background to some ancillary characters are restrictive.
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