The Edge of Normal
""...an ending that will have you second guessing all you have been told... " "
Synopsis:
Reeve LeClaire was just 12 years old when she was abducted and held in captivity for four years, before a freak accident saw her escape. Now in her twenties, with the help of her supportive family and long term psychiatrist, she has carved out a careful, but independent life for herself.
When a young girl is rescued in Jefferson County her parents ask Reeve if she will help with their daughters return to 'normality'. As the two begin to bond, the young girl tentatively begins to share the details of her experiences, and when the police discover a link to two other abductions Reeve realises that she may hold the key to finding the perpetrator, but is she strong enough to face her fears and find the truth?
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Review:
Carla Norton is an authority on how women survive the misery of captivity and rebuild their lives, after spending years working as a reporter and as the author of true crime book 'Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box', and this experience and knowledge shines through in 'The Edge of Normal'. The subject matter is handled expertly with the stories of what happened to both Reeve and the kidnapped girls being told with enough detail for you to connect and feel for the characters and their situations, without making you feel that the book is too graphic in detail. The story moves along at a great pace, but if I had to admit to one small bugbear it was that the protagonist Reeve, changes from a timid survivor to a courageous heroine a little too quickly. I would have expected the change to be a little more progressive, but it probably wouldn't have worked so well with the story. With an ending that will have you second guessing all you have been told, despite knowing from early on exactly who the true kidnapper is, 'The Edge of Normal' is a great debut and well worth a read, and I shall certainly keep an eye out for future books from this author.