A Lovely, Indecent Departure: A Novel by Steven Lee Gilbert

Book: A Lovely Indecent Departure: A Novel

Author: Steven Lee Gilbert

Release date (if applicable): Published

Synopsis: After being given custody of his 5 year old son, Oliver, Evan Meade must track him down when his ex-wife and Oliver's mother abducts him and disappears. She is being hidden in Italy by family. Can Evan find his son? Is all that appears on the surface true or is it what appears under the surface the true reality? Does Evan have ulterior motives for locating his son?

My rating: 4.5 Stars

My opinion: What gripping emotion this book held and that everything on the surface isn't quite what it appears. This author utilized words and his storyline masterfully to keep me, as a reader, engaged.

I loved that the book wasn't written in such a way that the abductor (Anna Meade) wasn't an "awful" person and that Evan Meade or his new wife weren't quite the stellar individuals that one would see in most books, which comes off as black/white.

Now, on a side note, I must say that I took the storyline a bit different and felt that the antagonist/protagonist roles a bit differently than a number of other reviewers. In the beginning, I truly felt that it was Evan as the protagonist and Anna as the antagonist (she did kidnap her son after all). What was truly rockin' about this book, is that the author was able to turn that around (in my head) and elicit sympathy for Anna, who then became the protagonist with Evan as the antagonist. What was masterful is that, in my humble opinion, he was able to do this with the slightest of moves and underneath the surface. Although in the book's description, it describes Evan as mean-spirited, as one reads the book, it came across to me as "eh, it is just your typical  he said, she said divorce situation". However, as one continues to read it suddenly becomes apparent that that is probably not the case.

The quality in this book is a perfect example of Indie authors being able to hold their own in regards to larger publishing house authors and that those readers who dismiss Indie authors are truly missing out.  The thing to boot, is that this is a debut author. Imagine what is to come from this author!!

So, why not a full five stars. I felt that there was SOME redundancy or "information" thrown into the book, particularly related to the private investigator and sheriff. I thought scenes could have been either tighter writer or omitted all together.

Source: Author

Would I recommend? : Yes

Stand Alone or Part of a Series: Stand Alone