How Lucky by Will Leitch

 

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I saw this last month in my BOTM selections and decided to take a chance. After finishing it, I think this is a novel that is a "word of mouth" kind of novel. It's touching, funny, suspenseful, and has an incredible main character. 

Daniel is twenty-six and lives by himself in Athens, Georgia. He is wheelchair bound with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy); a degenerative neuromuscular disorder. It will kill him at a young age. The fact that he's made it to twenty-six is a testament to his strength, support, and just good luck. 

Daniels spends his days as an online customer service rep for a regional airline. He's limited to just using his left hand to work his iPad, but he makes it work and has adapted as he has slowly lost his ability to speak and the use of his right hand and arms. He's got his friend Travis who visits weekly and helps take care of him and treats him as a normal person; Marjani is his caregiver who comes every morning to get him dressed, fed, and in his chair. He has two helpers who come in the middle of the night to turn him in his bed so he doesn't choke. 

I know. It sounds horrible. But Daniel is not a pity party at all. He's always looking on the bright side, and grateful for everyday he wakes up. 

One morning, Daniel is sitting on his front porch, and observes a young Chinese college student walking along the street. She's been regularly doing this, and Daniel knows her schedule. This one day, a car approaches and stops. She bends down, smiles, then gets in the car. Strange, thought Daniel. 

He was right. Ai-Chin has disappeared, and across the college campus, alarms are raised and search parties are formed. A hotline is set up with the police. No one knows what happened. Except Daniel. 

He enlists Travis' help, but the police are slow to respond, and just being in Daniel's company makes them very uncomfortable. What could Daniel possibly know to help them? 

Daniel persists and posts online--and he gets a response that sends this tale off in another direction. Is he playing with fire? Is he in danger?

The kidnapping is just part of the story. Daniel's life and how he lives it is another. He always says he is lucky. Lucky to have lived. He also says he is lucky because he knows he'll die before he will have to experience losing loved ones, and he won't have to grieve. He'll go first.  Oh, that got me in the heart. He's a funny, thoughtful, smart character. 

I'd recommend this novel for anyone who is looking for disability focused characters and plot. It's also just a good story; one that will keep you engaged as Daniel races to help find Ai-Chin, and puts himself in danger doing so. He's no scaredy cat! 

Rating: 5/6 for a strong central character who sees no limits in his life; a twist at the end, and a loveable cast of characters. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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How Lucky by Will Leitch

Grace is Gone by Emily Elgar

This novel actually arrived in my mail a few weeks ago, thanks to HarperCollins Publishers. It was a welcome surprise, and gave me the chance to read a new author that hit it out of the park with her first novel, If You Knew Her. Her second effort--wow, it really does sit with you for some time after you've finished it. 

The plot is fairly simple: Meg and Grace. Mother and daughter. Meg takes care of Grace full-time; Grace is almost eighteen and has lived most of her life as a very ill young girl. She's in a wheelchair, has a feeding tube in her stomach, and suffers from seizures, food issues, headaches... you name it. Meg has spent years taking Grace to doctors and specialists, getting her every bit of care she can find. Both Meg and Grace are beloved by the small town of Ashford, in Cornwall. Folks around there see Meg and Grace as their own, and are fiercely protective of them. 

The novel begins with the horrific murder of Meg, in her home, in her bed. Grace is missing. Jon, a journalist who wrote an article about the two women that riled up the town and made him a pariah, hears about the murder and can't help but drive over to see what is going on. His article questioned why Grace's father Simon wasn't allowed to see his daughter. Meg has told everyone that Simon is abusive and crazy, and pushed her down the stairs. Everyone in Ashford agrees with Meg, and Simon is never allowed to see Grace. Jon, reeling from the effects of the article on his marriage, still feels on edge about the article, and knows something just isn't right, but doesn't know what. 

Cara, the young woman who finds Meg, has known Meg and Grace for most of her life. She befriended Grace when they moved in next door, and even though Grace was a few years younger, Cara felt a bond with Grace. She was always amazed at the obviously close relationship between mother and daughter. Except in the last few years, Cara has gone away to school, and seen less and less of Grace. She's haunted by the idea of Grace being kidnapped and without her vital medications. Is she still alive? Who took her? Everyone believes her father Simon did it all, and there's a manhunt out for him. Meanwhile, the whole town gears up for a search effort, with their minds already made up that Simon must be the murderer. 

Cara and Jon meet, and between the two of them, they slowly start to pick up little clues, and the whole novel is the two of them putting the puzzle together. It's sharp observation, going over and over the little bits of information they do have, and following their instincts that lead them to resolving the disappearance of Grace, and the murder of Meg. It's quite the twist at the end.

It took me a bit to get into the story. Everyone, seriously, is a disaster. Jon's marriage is falling apart, he's sleep deprived, has to stay on the down low so no one recognizes him as "that reporter". Cara is traumatized by finding Meg and her guilt for not being there for Grace. Simon is nowhere to be found, but his story is one of a troubled man driven mad by grief. The whole town is under the spell of Meg and Grace, and ready to paint Simon guilty without any shred of evidence. 

I figured out really quickly what exactly was going on with Meg and Grace, but that's only part of the puzzle. It's a big part of the puzzle, but there's much more to it. Slowly, the story gathers steam and then races along towards a conclusion that will keep you thinking about all of it long after you've finished the book. I'm still putting it all together a day later. Definitely a good thriller!

This novel will be out  in the U.S. on Tuesday, January 7th, 2020 in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook. 

Rating: 4/6 for a thriller that seems fairly simple at first, but has many layers that will have you working along with Jon and Cara to figure it all out, and wow--an ending that packs a wallop. A big thanks to HarperCollins for the advanced reading copy.  

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Grace is Gone by Emily Elgar