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Only Son Kevin O'Brien 9781575662114 Books

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Only Son Kevin O'Brien 9781575662114 Books

I'm rarely willing to pay for ebooks, but when this one came through my discounted ebook list, after reading the sample chapter I just had to buy it and read the rest. It's a page-turner. I read it in one day & night, completely riveted to every step of this story's unfolding. It was fast-paced from the very beginning and never slowed down. The author doesn't bore you with lengthy descriptions of settings, but rather stays in the action of things as they progress and unfold. For the first 2/3 of the book, the story jumps back and forth between Carl's (the kidnapper's) point of view and Amy's (the mother's) point of view. The last 1/3 of the book adds Sam's (the kidnapped boy's) point of view to the other two characters'.

*Spoiler Alert*
I was surprised to find myself sympathizing and even pulling for the kidnapper (Carl). I found myself wanting him to get away with it, but at the same time, I wanted his son (Sam) to find out the truth once he got older. But I didn't want him to be ripped away from the only dad he'd ever known, and that's exactly what ended up happening, which made me sad for both him and his dad. I guess the way Carl and Amy worked it all out made for a decent ending, but I wish they would've handled it differently and kept Sam and his dad together, for Sam's sake.

I disliked some things, particularly what felt like an over-focus on the thoughts and practices of the male characters when it came to their sexual thoughts/practices regarding women. As far as sex scenes go, there were a couple of them, but they weren't overly-explicit and they were at least somewhat related to the progression of the story and the development of the characters.

There were a couple of plot holes, such as the fact that no child would be allowed to enroll in school without a birth certificate and shot records. The anonymous postcards Carl sent Amy would've been able to be used by detectives to track him down if she had only pursued that avenue, since he listed details that revealed what city they were in as well as one of Sam's injuries and subsequent doctor visits that would've been easily traceable...it's unlikely that a mother of a missing child would settle for being told by some lazy cops that these were not useful to the investigation.


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Only Son Kevin O'Brien 9781575662114 Books Reviews

Only Son strikes so many cords at once that it's hard to have a clear emotional response to it, at least while one's still reading it. Maternal instincts kept me sufficiently on guard throughout the entire book to ensure that I did not get suckered into liking the nice-guy-kidnapper...too much. But, when the last page was turned, my feelings about the book were crystal clear. Quite simply, I loved it. I've spent the last thirty minutes sorting out why.

The reason I shouldn't like it is obvious It's about a child-snatcher who is portrayed as a nice, even responsible, human being, instead of a monster. As a mother, I have a huge problem with that.

On the other hand, that's exactly one of the reasons I liked the story. It plants the seed of possibility - a slim hope - that not all kidnapped kids suffer gruesome deaths or fates worse than death. My own children are safe in adulthood (well, maybe not safe, but you know what I mean), but I know that if my child had disappeared without a trace, I would very much want Only Son floating around in my memory bank. The story seems very realistic due to characters and circumstances that are rendered wonderfully believable by the author's skill and sensitivity, which is another reason I loved the book.

The story of Carl Jorgenson pulls the heart into a tender and confusing place; one so universal that I believe Only Son belongs on the shelf of "great books", not just "good books". Through Carl's story, O'Brien takes us into that emotionally gray area where nice, ordinary people - people we truly care about - make terribly wrong choices that have irreversible consequences for themselves and others. And there is nothing left to do, but live with ambivalent feelings and make the best of the forever altered path.
This is one of those rare books that had me (at times), okay, a lot of the time, actually rooting for the antagonist, and no, the antagonist in this book was not a Dexter, who only kills serial killers, or one of the other antagonist we root for even though they are breaking legal and moral codes. The antagonist in this book is a kidnapper, plain and simple. Of course, it is never truly simple when you have a brilliant author who writes multi-faceted three dimensional and true to life characters.

The author does take us back into Carl's abusive childhood and he did want to be a father more than anything and it appears he suffered some sort of mental break with reality when his own wife terminated the pregnancy of their child without his consent or knowledge. While this may explain his actions, it in no way justifies them. Carl picks a certain son to be his child because after watching (yes stalking) the parents for a while he determines that they are trashy and do not take proper care of the infant boy. He has a particular disdain for Paul McMurray, who admittedly would not win any father of the year awards. In Carl's mind he is doing the boy a favor by rescuing him from a certain life of neglect, while satisfying his own burning need to father a son. He misjudges Amy McMurray (Bio mom) and during the years after her son is kidnapped, she divorces Paul, gets her mind and body healthy, finds a good and steady job, and a much later promotion and transfer takes her to the same city where her abducted son is living with his "dad."

I can't believe that I am writing this - that I truly had mixed feelings and at times I rooted for Carl and his "son," to make it, but the maternal instinct in me, also kicked in as I suffered and grieved along side Amy McMurray, who never gave up hope of being reunited with her son. Carl sacrifices his life for his son and is a wonderful, caring father who raises the boy to become a well mannered,well adjusted, good kid. He does suffer, however, because the older he gets the less and less believable some of his father's lies (about why they have no family etc.,) become and if weighs heavily on him emotionally, mentally and physically.

I never once forgot the true victims in this brilliant, emotionally compelling novel. Of course the kidnapped boy is the primary victim because he was robbed of a life with his natural parents and Amy is most definitely a victim in my eyes. I didn't see Paul as a victim in quite the same way as his wife (ex) and son. Paul is a hard man to like. After the divorce he remarries and has another family (not saying that is bad, he and Amy grieved differently,), but I couldn't get passed his attitude, the negative way he treated Amy and his total lack of support for own grieving. I was just turned off by this character, which I attribute to the headline-worthy skills of the author. Sadly, Amy never remarries and never has children. She works and thinks about her abducted son.

Carl gives the boy the best life he can. I realize that should not be enough for me to feel sorry for this man when the truth is exposed, as we knew it would eventually have to come out.

***Spoiler Alert ***, in the only ending truly suitable for this kind of novel, Amy is eventually reunited with her son and it is actually though the boy's own meddling and intuition that their long awaited reunion occurs. Carl is arrested (we think he goes to prison, but learn at the very end that a deal was made with the prosecutor, Carl and the McMurray's to spare Sam a/k/a "Eddie", from a trial, but Sam is unaware of this and it keeps him from attempting to contact his dad for the next four years.
Carl knows that he was wrong and it really hits him when he sees what a good person Amy McMurray turned out to be, but that in no way lessens his love for his "son," and he is as heartbroken as Sam when Sam is returned to his biological parents.

This was my second book by this author and nothing like the first (thriller), but I have already purchased more of his books. This is quite possibly one of the best books I've ever read and I'm an avid reader (average 100+ full length novels per year.) Only Son by Kevin O'Brien, unquestionably makes my short list of top ten all time favorite books, ever. It It takes an exceptional writer to pull off a moral, ethical/justice and right vs wrong premise/theme like this and show both sides of a terrible, horrific crime, the kidnapping of an innocent baby and the love, compassion and emotional roller coaster of all parties involved. The mother in me wanted to hate Carl for what he did, but I couldn't. Sam loves his father, Carl (the man who kidnapped and raised his for most of his life) with all his heart and that love does not lessen one bit even when he learns the truth. The saddest part for me is that in a situation like this, the child will probably always feel more love and more of an emotional connection and parent /child bond with the parent who raised him and that is horrible for his natural mom. She did nothing wrong and did not deserve any of this. Not only has she been robbed of watching her son grow into a teenager, she must live with the very real truth that he will most likely never stop loving the man who robbed her of that precious time with her only child - time that is forever lost and can never be regained. Sam, "Eddie,' had no choice in this. He was taken from his real parents and formed a loving bond with his abductor/father. Children grow up to love their parent/caretaker more than anyone else in the entire world (until they marry) and for Sam this will likely always be Carl.

That's what I mean about this book playing havoc with my emotions and my sense of right and wrong and morality. In the end, Amy must at least have some satisfaction that she has her son back, he was raised by a good, kind and decent man, he was not molested or abused and he was not murdered. He is alive and she has the rest of their lives to bond. I suppose the part about how Sam was treated by his kidnapper also allowed my mind to consider the millions of abducted children who are murdered, tortured, held captive, sold into slavery and I can hold onto a sliver of hope that in some child abduction cases, maybe, just maybe, the abductor longed for a child so badly that he/she kidnapped one. I need to believe and have hope that in this world we live in, that we share with narcissistic, sociopathic, sadistic pedophiles and murderers who take pleasure in torturing children ... somewhere out there ... some little boys and girls who have been taken are not being abused, have not been murdered, but are living a life with a parent who wanted them and loved them so much that they actually stole them.

One other factor that allowed me to empathize with Carl was the torment and remorse he felt for what he'd done so many years ago. Although it never outweighed his desire to keep Sam and raise him as his own son.

I highly recommend this book and this author. This is one of those agonizing, gut wrenching, harrowing novels that will stay with you for a very long time after the reach the end. I will struggle with the issues, probably until my kids are all in college. An author or book seldom has this kind of hold on my emotions and my mind. Bravo to you Kevin O'Brien. You are a provocative, masterful storyteller.
I'm rarely willing to pay for ebooks, but when this one came through my discounted ebook list, after reading the sample chapter I just had to buy it and read the rest. It's a page-turner. I read it in one day & night, completely riveted to every step of this story's unfolding. It was fast-paced from the very beginning and never slowed down. The author doesn't bore you with lengthy descriptions of settings, but rather stays in the action of things as they progress and unfold. For the first 2/3 of the book, the story jumps back and forth between Carl's (the kidnapper's) point of view and Amy's (the mother's) point of view. The last 1/3 of the book adds Sam's (the kidnapped boy's) point of view to the other two characters'.

*Spoiler Alert*
I was surprised to find myself sympathizing and even pulling for the kidnapper (Carl). I found myself wanting him to get away with it, but at the same time, I wanted his son (Sam) to find out the truth once he got older. But I didn't want him to be ripped away from the only dad he'd ever known, and that's exactly what ended up happening, which made me sad for both him and his dad. I guess the way Carl and Amy worked it all out made for a decent ending, but I wish they would've handled it differently and kept Sam and his dad together, for Sam's sake.

I disliked some things, particularly what felt like an over-focus on the thoughts and practices of the male characters when it came to their sexual thoughts/practices regarding women. As far as sex scenes go, there were a couple of them, but they weren't overly-explicit and they were at least somewhat related to the progression of the story and the development of the characters.

There were a couple of plot holes, such as the fact that no child would be allowed to enroll in school without a birth certificate and shot records. The anonymous postcards Carl sent Amy would've been able to be used by detectives to track him down if she had only pursued that avenue, since he listed details that revealed what city they were in as well as one of Sam's injuries and subsequent doctor visits that would've been easily traceable...it's unlikely that a mother of a missing child would settle for being told by some lazy cops that these were not useful to the investigation.