Burden of Proof

 

BOOK REVIEW:   A few months before his twenty-first birthday, Ethan missed the chance to save his brother's life. Adrian was murdered on the steps of the courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida. Ever since that fateful day, Ethan has sensed a deep disconnect between the man he should have been and the one he has become. His days play out a beat too slow, his mind rehashing the scene of his failure again and again. 

     When Adrian's widow appears, asking for his help in uncovering what was really behind his brother's death, Ethan is stunned. The legal case they were pursuing was more far-reaching than he could have imagined---it could even threaten the global power structure. 

     Ethan joins the search for answers at the ultimate cost. As he enters into his own past, will he discover a means to redeem the future?

     MY REVIEW:   The option to go back and redo life, to have a second chance and make things right is one that many of us would like to have. But truthfully, it just can't happen. I found this story line entertaining---searching for Adrian's killer and discovering why they were after him. But the unrealistic aspect rather threw the book for me. 

     As Ethan goes back into the past, he is struck by how different his life is this time around. He remembers how it was the first time, but now that he can base his current decisions on that, the results are drastically different. Entire relationships are changed and people he never liked become his closest friends. But his time is limited, and he won't have another whole lifetime with them. What really stood out to me about this is how a single first impression can form a prejudice strong enough to destroy our relationship with that person. Our choices impact our lifetime, and we need to take care in forming them. Unlike Ethan, we can't go back and change things. 

     Davis Bunn's books tend to have a deep political/economic/scriptural theme, full of detail requiring the reader to pay close attention as they read. The deep theme of this book is time and the quantum time field. Someone who enjoys this subject will likely enjoy this book. But as I prefer to live in the realistic realm, it disappointed me. As far as the writing and the story it was well done, but not my style. 

   I received a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review.