Customer Reviews

Violation

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some events are not easy to forget. For Altea (Thea) Auben that life altering event was the rape and beating that left her comatose and pregnant at seventeen. Now thirteen years later despite little actual memory of the event she remains a fearful and isolated women, the mother of a thirteen year old boy who is beginning to wonder about his father and to rebel against the isolated and abnormal life his mother and he lead.

Thea lives with her son, David, in a remote cabin in the woods of northern California. She has some money in a trust fund and earns a living by doing computer research for distant clients. David spends his time on the computer or reading about astronomy, but he wants to live a more normal life. Her landlord, Jack Verrity, is an ex cop with problems of his own. He befriends David and wonders about the kid's attractive but distant mother.

Though, for David's sake, Thea tries to interact with Jack she is too scarred and scared by her traumatic past to accept a man' presence. Then David runs away to search for his biological father. Thea and her deceased mother have kept the truth about his birth from David but somehow he has discovered that he was conceived on Long Island. At first Thea blames Jack, but soon she is forced to join forces with Jack in the search for her son.

This is a complex story and Darian North provides frightening insight into the obsessive fears and uncontrollable behaviors that are the result of the trauma of rape. This book is very well researched and compassionately written. The story is compelling as are the characters. I'm looking foward to her other books.

There is no proper way to discuss the emotional wrench thrown into this well written thriller. The characters are both flawed and flawless. The storyline was great, but the discription of the emotional scars suffered after this brutal, sexual assault makes you want to renounce your male identity. I recommended to my son's private school principle that this book should be required reading for all male students over 16 years old. He read it and agreed. This book is wonderful and disturbing at the same time. When I finished the book, my wife immediately asked me if I liked it. I sat there speechless. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth a look.

Violation - **1/2

I hate to criticize a book that tackled such a serious topic in a quite engaing story. Unfortunately, there were too many things that bothered me about the book to recommend it.

The story is great. The main character, Thea, has a disturbing past that creates a series of well-plotted deceptions. The book is fast-paced, so the story never gets bogged down with unnecessary details.

However, the dialogue is absurd in some parts, especially the dialogue from the online chat rooms. The online discussions were written with what looks like no experience actually using chat rooms. And there are some scenes where people's reactions make no sense.

And there was one HUGE flaw in logic involving genetics and skin color that drove me crazy.

While I liked the story and read through the book pretty fast, I just couldn't enjoy this book. Especially near the end with a twist that's really anticlimactic and an explanation that's so rushed, you wish the author had spent a few extra pages to make it more involving.

A fascinating story. Characters were all intersting and believable. Plot was distinctly palusible. In fact at times I thought I was reading something based on reality. It did leave me vaguely disturbed, most likely by the way the characters were ensnared.

Overall a very well written book that will keep you up till the wee hours of the morning ! So many twists that it will hold you with a grip so tight that you will think about the 'what if's' way after you've finished this book !

Violation offers a very different perspective on a crime novel which gives voice to the terrible damage done to surviving victims of violence. At the same time, a grateful reader witnesses a hazardous, stumbling journey toward healing and resolution. A very enlightening and satisfying read.

I've been a fan of North since her first novel came out, not even aware the she was a she until this particular novel! As I was reading it, I kept thinking it had to be written with input from women as background or how else could this man have such insight on women's thought processes! I stumbled onto the interview with the author when I wrapped up the novel. What a pleasant surprise! I've since passed on my copy to several people and highly recommend it if you're into a strong and serious subject matter, with a tight storyline to accompany it. You won't be dissapointed.

This author took a good story and ruined it for me by failing to research the simpelist of things such as Airport Security(no guns on planes), Law(statute of limititation on rape)and court procedure(reversing convictions). A romantic willing to overlook these things will probably enjoy this book. As a retired police officer it made no sense.

I thought this book was great. It had so many different plot twists and turns, I was on the edge of my seat reading it. This is a book that you can't put down!

Why is everyone so nuts over this book? True, it was an original storyline, but it was written so poorly and incoherently I couldn't even figure out what the characters were doing. And the characters! Seems to me they went from a smart 13year-old to a child idiot..a 3-dimensional woman with severe psychological problems to a flat mother/girlfriend who's perfectly fine....and a WONDERFULLY cynical pessimist who again changed overnight. Incredibly bad storytelling. BOO!