Customer Reviews

Torn Apart (Storm Front)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was much better than the first in the trilogy. So much so that it almost seems like 2 different authors. Sharon Sala does seem to be either a big hit or a big miss for me. The suspense was high throughout the book. It is not often that I wish over and over again that a character would just die. But in this one I did.

Small SPOILER below:

At first I was not sure that I would be able to read a book about a young boy being kidnapped by a pedophile since I have 2 young boys myself. For those who might feel as I do, the boy is never actually molested. That made it bearable for me. The boy is well written and I think responds appropriately for a child his age, not seeming older than he was, which is a problem in many books.

The love story was not really a main element in the book. The hero and heroine were separated at the time of the kidnapping but they still loved each other. As soon as the hero gets back to the heroine all their romantic type problems are over. So if you're looking for a traditional romance here, you're not really going to get it. It is sweet when they get back together and become stronger than each is alone, but the thrust of the story is finding and saving Bobby.

The author winds the story through the POVs of several characters showing the trail that eventually leads to Bobby's rescue. It is very well done and never intrusive or abrupt when the POV changes.

I'm glad I stuck with the series after the much weaker first volume.

Sharon Sala's 2nd book of the Storm Front Trilogy is superb! You should only read it if you can handle child abuse. I was in tears near the end and hyper-ventilating prior to that. This suspense has it all and its handled well. This is definitely a stronger book than the 1st one but, I enjoyed that also. But this is vintage Sala.

J.R.; Katie and Bobby Earle are the perfect family until J.R.s job requires that the family move to New Orleans were Katie's parents died during hurricane Katrina. Although Katie came across as fragile and scared. She made a good recovery before the book ended. Their marriage problems were handled well but, it was clear Bobby was the center of this book.

Bobby was the perfect little boy, he knew his Dad was coming and he wanted his Mother. The perspective of both Bobby and his attacker were very well developed. I can only guess what it took to write this story. Details are vivid and will be remembered.

Sala is still tops to me. You feel like you're living through this with the characters and I appreciate that this cold be a stand alone book. Although events from the previous book are mentioned they don't take up a lot of time.

You have to read this book!

When a storm rocks bayou town of Bordelaise and many townspeople take shelter in a church cellar, Katie Earle emerges to discover that her son has disappeared. Bobby could have been a casualty of the storm, but a parental abduction seems likely. When she meets up with her estranged husband (they are separated by his job; she was not willing to relocate to New Orleans with him after her parents died in Hurricane Katrina), she discovers that he does not have Bobby, and when a friend of Bobby's comes clean about seeing him leave with someone, the clock starts ticking on trying to find the missing boy.

Sala's second novel in the Storm Front series is a bit chilling, as the abducted child is stuck with one of the creepiest villains I have ever come across. Squeamish readers may want to avoid this story, as it is hard to take at times. But it is a fast-paced nail biter.

Their marriage apparently died several months ago due to his employment and her need to remain in her hometown of Bordelaise, Louisiana keeping them apart. However, Katie and oil troubleshooter J.R. Earle stay connected though separated because they both love and want to be involved with their preadolescent son Bobby.

While J.R. is on an offshore rig, a tornado hits the town causing several deaths and plenty of property damage. Bobby is reported as one of those who died though his body has not been found. However, Bobby's friend Holly Maxwell who suffered a broken hand, insists she saw a stranger take Bobby with him. Not willing to wait for either the law tied up with the tornado emergency or for J.R., Katie goes after her son.

The second Bayou Storm Front romantic suspense (see Blown Away) is a fast-paced thriller that provides long deep looks into the townsfolk struggling with the emergency including the deaths, and the fears of father, mother and son; especially harrowing is Bobby's viewpoint as a kidnapped victim. Although the profound character perspectives mute the suspense somewhat, readers will appreciate the lioness vowing to get her cub back from the monster as she refuses to wait for the cops, the Amber Alert or her estranged husband

Harriet Klausner

I got my book before the date stated and it was in the condition listed online. very happy with my purchase.

It is as though the author has lived the parts, great story line, keeps you wanting the story to go on.

Katie and J.R. are a married couple in Bordelaise, Louisiana. The couple has a deep love for one another and solid commitment to the marriage and to raising their son together. They are experiencing some realistic problems - he's away from home a lot for his job, and she's still grieving over her parents' deaths.

Life throws in a monkey wrench, as life is wont to do, and this seemingly tiny thing puts a serious crimp in the marriage, leaving the two living apart, with neither willing to move forward on a divorce.

On Dad's weekend with Bobby, a big storm hits, one that does serious damage in the Gulf of Mexico, and touches down twisters in other parts of Louisiana, including Bordelaise. As this twister rocks through Bordelaise, Katie and J.R.'s son, Bobby, goes missing.

Now, we get to the meat of the book.

What happens next is heartbreaking, and yet shows the lengths to which people will go for each other in times of life-threatening peril. The story of how Katie finds herself, and how J.R. returns to Bordelaise, and how together they find Bobby is gripping and heart-wrenching and life-affirming, and unstintingly straightforward. Sala tackles two incredibly difficult subjects - child abuse and mental illness, and does it without hesitation.

If this book is a random sample of the caliber of Sala's writing, I cannot recommend her highly enough. I'd never read anything by Sharon Sala before, and I'm going to hit the library to find some more, as quickly as I can. I hope the rest are as good as this one.

This is the worst book of the series. When something goes wrong there is a coincidence of why it went wrong or a happenstance that right the wrong. These coincidences are written one after another until you get tired reading almost the same thing twice or thrice. You can skip this book. Read the frist and the third and you'll save yourself some money and some time.

Ms. Sala has never disappointed me yet. The characters and premise of the story are finely drawn and completely related. The storm damage and resulting mayhem are true to life and the vultures waiting to take advantage are even scarier by being humanized.

I received this book in record time. It was in good shape/
Thank you very much.