Finished 9-11-09, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2009

See, I think that’s Pete’s problem,” said Carolyn.  “He knew what was going to happen.  You know what I mean?  He could see it happen before it happened, and then it happened.”  (Of course I now know that even if for a moment I could see what was going to happen to Lisa Kim, I had no idea what had already happened to her and would not for a long time.)

Chapter 1

 High school teacher Pete Ferry (you may notice the similarity with the author’s name) sees a woman driving erratically one night and watches in horror as she crashes and dies.  The police say it’s an accident, but Pete is not convinced.  His guilt at not having stopped her fuels his obsession with finding out everything about that night and the victim, Lisa Kim. Pete’s distraction takes it toll on his relationship with his girlfriend of many years and he can’t seem to work up enough energy to save it.

Of course, this may all be a lie, a story.  Pete is telling this story to his students so they see how a great story is pieced together, with truth and lies.  What is real and what isn’t?  Or is it all a dream?

This clever concept was interesting, and it mostly worked.  I guess I had more of an issue with Pete.  I didn’t ever quite warm up to him or understand his motivations.  And if I was to take his character at face value I guess I didn’t really like him much. 

I thought it was original and I liked the alternating storylines and flashbacks.  It’s a solid debut that will keep you guessing to the end.  I liked it enough to try this author again.

I received this book from the pubisher.