Hello!
So I would like to welcome you to todays post, a review for the fabulous sci fi thriller The Connection by David Billingsley. I would like to say a huge thank you to David for offering me a copy of his ebook in return for an honest review, I can only apologise that is has taken me this long to read and review it. It was certainly worth the wait though! Lets find out more about the book.....
Blurb
A drifter appears...this town will never be the same. Again...
Not much happens in the small West Texas town of Dinley, and radio DJ Sandy McAllister is fine with that. Following the tragic loss of her husband and son, she's carved out a steady, solitary existence. No more deep friendships, no more love, no more loss.
But a loud boom on the outskirts of town followed by the sudden appearance of a drifter is about to upset Sandy's carefully scripted life. His mysterious arrival on a warm summer evening coincides with the eruption of addictive and powerful feelings she cannot control or deny. And she's not the only one.
The bond, the connnection, with this stranger threatens to turn her life inside out and polarize her town.
And it's not the first time this has happened in Dinley.
In the tradition of Billingsley's previous books, The Connectionis an emotional ride with a few twists and turns, but this time with a little sci-fi thrown in...
My thoughts
This was a very complex and intriguing book with lots of twists and turns. It kept me hooked from the beginning and I'm only sad I didn't start reading it sooner! The story delves into the topics of grief, loss and trauma for our main characters, they have all had their fair share of despair over the years and many have skeletons buried deep. As the story continues its path these many skeletons begin to be unearthed and the inhabitants of Dinley realise that they will never be the same again.
The addition of sci fi aspects into this sleepy American town were very clever, I thought Jakes character was really interesting and longed to find out more about him as the story progressed. David wrote about the characters really well and gave them all depth, his exploration of their thoughts and feelings when around Jake was extremely insightful. It was great to see the effect this character had on the residents and their reactions towards this stranger. I loved the characters of Mona and Sheriff Swenson, they seemed to be steady rocks of the community and held the other characters together with a fine thread.
I loved the links with past and present and the effects of these 'different' characters on the town and their nature. These links were explained slowly over the course of the story which made me desperate to keep reading and find out what exactly this mystery was that had rocked the town so many years ago and how it was linked to the events of present day. These mysteries were slowly unveiled throughout the tale and the pace was great.
This was a really exciting and unique story, I loved the originality of the storyline and found it really exciting to read and uncover the mysteries within the town. I recommend this if you are a fan of mystery, suspense, thrilling action and sci-fi.
About the Author
David Billingsley is from Texas but now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. His goal is to write "just a good story" for his readers. He's up to three books: The Redemption, The Switch, and The Connection, each similar in style and storytelling, yet different enough. There's plenty of genre fiction out there; if you want something unique, try one of his titles. Are they suspense? Are they mysteries? Love stories? The answer is yes.
Does this sound like something you want to add to your TBR? Let me know what you think in the comments!