Name: The Resentment
ISBN: 9780999218358

T O Paine

The Resentment

T. O. Paine

You’re only as sick as your secrets . . . Lauren Kaine has everything she ever wanted — a fabulous home, a shiny Lexus, a bright sixteen-year-old son, and a loving husband with a lucrative internet career. Tonight, she walks hand-in-hand with William beneath the lustrous Seattle sky, celebrating twenty-two years of marriage. But they’re not alone. A mysterious black Audi comes out of nowhere and chases William onto a bridge. He shouts, “They’re here for the card,” and falls to his death. Enraged, Lauren attacks the car, but the tinted windows hide the driver’s face, and it speeds away. Still mourning, she sets out to find her husband’s killer when a stranger calls and demands the card. William never mentioned a card, and she doesn’t know where it is. The stranger follows her. He torments her. He threatens to kidnap her son and throw him into the same river that killed William. And it’s not just the stranger. Black cars lurk around every corner. William’s co-workers refuse to talk to her. Her brother-in-law resurfaces after years of silence, and he knows something, but she’s running out of time. She searches for the card, and the past pulls her back to the first time someone kidnapped her son. Back to her resentment. Back to the truth.

Thanks to T. O. Paine for sending me a copy of his book.  As always, my review is my honest opinion of what I read.

Lauren Kaine's life is shattered the night that she is unable to save her husband, William, when he falls over the edge of a bridge after a car accident.  He tells her as he is falling that they will want the card, but she doesn't understand or realize how much trouble the "card" will cause until she and her son, Mason, are threatened.  While she is grieving and trying to control her anger issues, Mason is trying to decide how to come out of the closet.  Lauren needs help, but she can't ask her brother-in-law, Ryan because she still hasn't forgiven him for leaving 3 year old Mason alone in a hotel room to go on a bender.  Lauren, Mason, and Ryan must come to terms with their personal issues before they can solve the mystery of the missing card.

The Resentment is an interesting character study into what can happen to a family that doesn't communicate.  While the three protagonists are well developed, they aren't particularly likable and live in a situation that is pretty depressing.  Unfortunately much of the mystery is buried under the psychological and emotional issues faced by these three, causing the gripping premise behind the "card" and its importance to get lost for much of the book.  Overall, The Resentment would work well if marketed as literary fiction, but as a thriller, it isn't as successful as it could be.

Lynn Braden

Thanks to T. O. Paine for sending me a copy of his book.  As always, my review is my honest opinion of what I read.

Lauren Kaine's life is shattered the night that she is unable to save her husband, William, when he falls over the edge of a bridge after a car accident.  He tells her as he is falling that they will want the card, but she doesn't understand or realize how much trouble the "card" will cause until she and her son, Mason, are threatened.  While she is grieving and trying to control her anger issues, Mason is trying to decide how to come out of the closet.  Lauren needs help, but she can't ask her brother-in-law, Ryan because she still hasn't forgiven him for leaving 3 year old Mason alone in a hotel room to go on a bender.  Lauren, Mason, and Ryan must come to terms with their personal issues before they can solve the mystery of the missing card.

The Resentment is an interesting character study into what can happen to a family that doesn't communicate.  While the three protagonists are well developed, they aren't particularly likable and live in a situation that is pretty depressing.  Unfortunately much of the mystery is buried under the psychological and emotional issues faced by these three, causing the gripping premise behind the "card" and its importance to get lost for much of the book.  Overall, The Resentment would work well if marketed as literary fiction, but as a thriller, it isn't as successful as it could be.

The Resentment

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