Retro Reading: Safe From Harm by Stephanie Jaye Evans
This was Phoebe Pickersley’s story. Well, it should have been anyway.
It starts when Walker “Bear” Wells receives a cryptic text from his young daughter, Jo. The message consists of two simple words: Come home.
When Bear and his wife get to their home, they find Jo in her room cradling the lifeless body of Phoebe.
The big question here is why would Phoebe come to the Walker home and commit suicide? Jo thinks someone murdered her former friend.
Unfortunately, after the somewhat short flashback of Phoebe’s life, Evans drags the story on and on with really no good conclusion. However, Phoebe is the most fascinating and interesting character. She shakes up Jo’s foundation and Evans would have had a much better flashback story to tell had the novel focused on Phoebe.
Evans makes an interesting point though regarding death and dying through Bear’s mind and with a few short paragraphs, it’s some powerful writing.
Overall, the reader must suffer through pages and pages of useless dialogue which any auditioning actor could use for their monologue.
Near the ending (which is basically the same as the previous books ending) everything seems rushed and unorganized. A lot of that energy could have been used elsewhere.
I had read somewhere that a third installment was in the works, but I haven’t been able to confirm it.
I’m hoping that it doesn’t happen.
