Title: Deliver Us
Author: Santino Reynolds
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: Senzuri Books
Publication Date: October 2012
Author Website | Goodreads
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions.
“I caused this, because I’m too afraid of…him.”
“I caused this, because I sat back and let life pass me by.”
“I caused this, because I let my anger and beliefs get the best of me.”
Three strangers share with you, the events that took place ten months ago that changed their lives forever.
Javier escapes his abusive relationship with Rick. But can he trust his traveling companion as they head to Arkansas for safety?
Ryan dreams of the world outside of Arkansas; his only way out is college. Meanwhile, Ryan’s friend returns for the summer with a shocking gift. Can Ryan stop dreaming and focus on the nightmare brewing around him?
Shawn is a family man whose hate becomes all too consuming. He pays the price for his hatred, but how much will revenge cost him?
Listen to three stories unfold and collide as Javier, Ryan, and Shawn share their thoughts, a twist you’ll never forget, and their fate.
Deliver Us is Santino Reynold’s debut novel. Fall seems like the perfect season for suspense novels, and Deliver Us is a great addition to the genre. It’s a quick read, but an intriguing one, as it combines three different storylines into a novel of despair, honesty, cruelty and love.
We start with hearing the start of the story from three different individuals. Ryan lives in Arkansas and works in the repair shop of his best friend’s brother, Jake. Ryan mainly works there to save money for college, where he wants to join his best friend Tom next year. Ryan may be ambitious when it comes to going to college, his ambitions toward the rest of his life, and the other departments like friendship and love, are low. He hasn’t heard from Tom in about a year, but he’s still eager to hear from him regardless. When Jake tells him Tom will come home, they both decide to hold a party for Tom at his Mom’s trailer. For some reason, they even invite prostitues. I had no idea it was still in fashion to invite prostitues to these kind of small, private events, but heck, what do I know.
The next person we meet is Shawn. He’s old-fashioned, religious and devoted to his soon-to-be family with his pregnant girlfriend, Diane. He works in a diner along with his little brother. I had trouble grasping Shawn’s personality. It seems like he’s a bit all over the place – not in a good way, but it’s interesting to read how the author portrayed this. There’s nothing wrong with the characterization – I think the author wanted Shawn’s personality to be like that on purpose. He’s a confusing character, with a lot of conflicting emotions. I didn’t like him from the start, because I had a faint sense of what was going to happen. I also didn’t like how he was so stuck in his own world to fail to notice the evolving world around him. Unfortunately, lots of people are like that.
Then there’s Javier. He’s from Spanish descent, and stuck in an abusive relationship with a man he’s been dating since senior year of high school. When Javier tries to escape from Rick’s clutches along with his best friend Claire, they end up in the middle of nowhere after Claire managed to trash their car. The nearest repair shop happens to be the one where Jake and Ryan work, and that’s when the character’s storylines become combined.
There were a lot of things I liked about this book, and some things I wasn’t so fond of. I didn’t understand the purpose of the prostitues in neither of the chapters they were introduced with, and honestly I thought they didn’t make me like the characters more or less either. For Tom’s party in the beginning, it would’ve made more sense to me had they just went to the strip club than invite the prostitues to their own home, seeing as how the Mom was there as well. I don’t know, I just thought it was awkward. What I wasn’t so fond of either, was the way gay relationships were treated at times. Being gay plays a large part in the book, but when gay characters suddenly start acting straight, you’ve lost me. I’ve met several gay people in my life, and none of them magically started acting straight simply because they were kissed by someone of the other sex, or something along those lines. I’m not saying it would never happen, but here, it happened a bit too conveniently for my liking.
What I did enjoy, was the three storylines ending up together in one big climax. I also liked how the author touched upon the subject of being gay, and how it’s still a taboo in a lot of communities, even anno 2012. Personally, I think that’s a shame. Gay people are people. We shouldn’t threat them any differently. I have friends who are gay, and quite frankly, I don’t care one bit about whether they’re gay or straight. It’s a shame some people still can’t get over ancient prejudices, like some of the characters in this book. Another element I enjoyed was the characterization. Even though it wasn’t made clear at the beginning of each chapter (which, admittingly, would’ve been easier) I could figure out who was doing the talking simply by how things were said. The main characters were well-developed, dimensional characters, and very different from each other.
I have to admit I liked Claire the most. There was something about her, her innocence and courage, her never-failing strength, that made me like her instantly. The character I disliked the most was Shawn. I didn’t understand his viewpoints, and didn’t want to either.
Deliver Us is a strong novel. It combines intriguing characters with a suspenseful plot. The pace is never too fast or too slow. This book makes for a great read during those stormy October nights, when you’re in the mood for a lot of suspense and a story that keeps you guessing until the end.
Giveaway
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Thanks for hosting a great giveaway! It sounds like a good one. Thanks for the review.
Beverly @ The Wormhole