Rainer Maria Rilke

"Live a while in these books, learn from them what seems to you worth learning, but above all love them. This love will be repaid you a thousand and a thousand times, and however your life may turn,-it will, I am certain of it, run through the fabric of your growth as one of the most important threads among all the threads of your experiences, disappointments, and joys."--Rainer Maia Rilke


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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Hard To Pin Down

Illusion by Frank Peretti
(Adult Fantasy)

This book is really hard to classify into just one genre.  Is it romance? Tragedy?  Thriller? Science Fiction? Fantasy?  Usually, a book leans more into one type but this one just didn't.  It just kind of dips its toes into each of the genres.

Clearly, the beginning of the story is a tragedy.  Dane is grieving over the grisly death of his beloved wife and magic partner.  He decides to honor her last wish and move to a small farm in Idaho.  Nothing seems to help him past his grief.

Flash backward forty years to Mandy, a young girl at a county fair, enjoying a magic show.  She blacks out and is suddenly thrust forward in the future.  She doesn't know how or why such a thing would happen and can't answer the authority's questions.  She is sent to a mental hospital but knows that she isn't crazy, even if she is having such weird waking nightmares.  All she does know is that she just doesn't quite fit in this time period and she escapes the hospital to find some answers.

Inexplicably, Mandy is drawn to magician Dane who agrees to train her.  They are both shocked to find that she is extraordinarily good and no one can seem to explain her illusions.  Dane is more than mesmerized by the young girl and can't shake the feeling she looks remarkably like his recently dead wife.  It can't be true, can it?  Is he losing his mind?  How in the world can such a storyline be resolved?

Overall, I liked the book.  The story was sweet and it doesn't take a giant effort to suspend belief for all the unbelievable things that happen.  If you are a true science fiction buff, this one might drive you mad.  The science just doesn't add up but if you like romance with a little fantasy, this one will be sure to please.  A light read, but a hopeful one---one that will make you believe in the magic of long lasting love.  Very sweet!

(I received a free copy of this book from Howard Books, for my honest review.  The opinions expressed here are my own.)

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