MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU by Darin Strauss
The story starts simple enough--a man, Josh Goldin, an TV airtime salesman, that works for Sparkplug, a television company. Walking around with the new person on the block. Smiling. Working his magic. Being the co-worker he always knew he could be, and then the call comes. His son is in the hospital.The 8-month-old vomited. But it wasn't just normal vomit there was blood in it, then he coded. Then he was all right. And then there were the doctors. Did Dori, Josh's wife remember to tell the attending ER doctor about the blood? What about the tests they did or did not do? And this is only where the story begins.
And it of course gets more complicated. There is the head of the Pediatrician unit at the hospital, Dr Darlene Stokes, who wonders about this family. Particularly the mother. And then there's Dr Stokes' mother, Alice. Her ex-con father Intelligent Mohammad (or Charles Stokes). Her now dead husband... her own son James.
But those are only the characters and the basic situations. What makes MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU one of the best reads I've had recently is the layering of information. The minute you think you "know" a character, it all changes. I was flip flopping from tender moments of intimacy with knowing what motivated a character (or so I thought), to gut wrenching scenes that had me gasping for breath. Who knew you could read along with the story and suddenly have everything you knew ripped from you?
It's a page-turner in and of itself since, once in the flow of the story, there is a need to keep reading. To find out what you didn't know three pages before. To find out what is going to happen to the characters that your suddenly caring about.
Of course, as with the real world, the book is also wrought with personalities, race, religion, morals, justice, and plain old life circumstance. But what makes it worth the read, is how these all play off one another. Does the book go "over the top" for the sake of fiction? Not really. It gives you a peak into each players head and gives you the reasons and motivations behind their actions--sometimes with disturbing effects.
It's truly a wonderfully crafted tale. There are twists, turns, suspicions, and a whole lot of good story telling. I am still breathless and caught up in what transpires. It's a book that will have to be read more than once to catch all the nuances the author, Darin Strauss, intended.
Oh and did I sound like I was gushing? Well, I am. The book took me by surprise and I love that. I'd read the blurbs, signed up to review and added it to the pile. But when I started reading? Well it became the book I didn't expect, but in a good way. Completely captivating and compelling read. Even though, there was more then once, I was a bit afraid what might be on the next page--or what dear character might throw me for a loop next. Trust me on this one, completely worth the read. Just get ready for a few surprises.
* This post brought to you by the lovely ladies at MotherTalk. Love that I get a chance to read and relate to these authors and their work. It truly is a labor of love.
Labels: books, MotherTalk, reading, reviews
