Fatal Option by Chris Beakey Published by Post Hill Press on February 21st 2017
Genres: Suspense
Pages: 304
Format: eBook, Kindle Book
"A WINTRY TALE OF VIOLENCE AND REDEMPTION, ARTFULLY BALANCED BY A TOUCHING PORTRAYAL OF A FAMILY IN CRISIS" - Peter Swanson, author of THE KIND WORTH KILLING
On the coldest night of the year, Stephen Porter is pulled from a restless sleep by a midnight phone call. His 17-year-old daughter Sara is stranded in a blizzard near the top of a mountain beyond their suburban home. She's terrified and unable to stop crying as she begs him to come to her rescue.
Unfortunately Stephen went to bed just an hour before after a night of binge drinking. With his blurred vision and unsteady balance he knows it’s dangerously irresponsible to get behind the wheel. But he heads out into the snowstorm to bring Sara home.
High school teacher Kieran O’Shea is also behind the wheel, searching for his autistic younger brother Aidan, who is wandering aimlessly through the storm on that same mountain. Kieran is also terrified—of the voices in his mind, of the possibility that Aidan will be taken from him, and of the certainty that he will soon be arrested for murdering three women.
In a matter of minutes Stephen will encounter Kieran and drive headlong into a collision that will force him to unlock the secret of his wife’s death, avoid prosecution, and protect his children from violence that hits all too close to home.
**Special thanks to NetGalley & Post Hill Press for supplying my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
Fatal Option was a great option for me to read. I dived into this very gripping suspenseful thriller blindly without even reading the blurb and I am delighted I did.
To start with, Fatal Option is by all means a very gripping suspense novel. Although these words have been said a lot to describe thrillers before, but I truly couldn’t put it down. However, this is not the best part. The best part is that it is a thought provoking book with a philosophical aspect.
“Would you break the law for someone you love?” That’s the question at the heart of the novel. Please don’t rush into answering that. We all would say “No”. But to answer such a question properly and realistically, you should face the same situations.
Fatal Option has a very powerful opening where Stephen Porter, the main character, is awaken by a phone call in the middle of the night after spending a sad night drinking. In the blurred moments after sleep, he hears the voice of his teenage daughter over the phone desperately asking for his help. She’s stranded on the mountain in the middle of a blizzard. Her voice is scared. Stephen should do whatever it takes to rescue her. There is a wide cast of characters. Each character fighting his/her own daemons and agonies and each trying to do whatever it takes to make things better for himself. Teenagers trying to find their ways and to survive their desires, fights, hopes and even parents. Cops presented with the ever aching question “Would you do the right thing whatever the situation is?”. Parents trying to cling to their growing teenagers who are slipping away from them. Tormented people trying to make things right and put their past behind.
The main question in Fatal Option is how far you can go to save yourself and your beloved ones. Are people really either “good” or “bad”, and above all, what would a perfect person do when placed in the worst circumstances and can he still be the good person he used to be. And if not, will that make him a “bad person”. The reader is compelled by so many questions.
One of the best things about Fatal Option from my point of view also is the grand opening. It was really very gripping. I always think that the way a book starts is very important. Also Chris Beakey has a remarkable writing style. His choice for the surroundings is more than perfect. The storm, the snow, the night, and even the dark. He weaved all of those into a perfect suspenseful stage and went on placing his characters and tracing them into an interlinked web of suspense and hidden motives.
Finally, for those who enjoy suspense novels, Fatal Option is a great book to read. I highly recommend it.
About Chris Beakey
Chris Beakey tells stories of good people caught in bad places. He writes fiction from his homes in Washington, D.C. and Lewes, Delaware, as well as nonfiction as a ghostwriter for an organization that promotes bipartisan policies that strengthen the nation through smart investments in youth. His first, novel, Double Abduction, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.