Title: Mute Witness (2nd Edition)
Series: N/A
Author: Rick R. Reed
Genre: Contemporary/Suspense
Length: Novel (344 pages)
Publisher: DSP Publications (9 Feb 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: Moderate
Blurb: The abuse of a little boy turns a community against a loving gay couple, and nobody comes out of it unscathed.
Sean and Austin have the perfect life: new love, a riverfront home, security. Their love for one another is only multiplied when Sean’s eight-year-old son, Jason, visits on the weekends.
And then their perfect world shatters.
Jason goes missing.
When the boy turns up days later, he’s been so horribly abused he’s lost the power to speak. Immediately small town minds turn to the boy’s gay father and his lover as the likely culprits. What was a warm, welcoming community becomes a lynching party out for blood.
As Sean and Austin struggle to stay together amidst innuendo, the very real threat of Sean losing the son he loves emerges. Yet the true villain is much closer to home, intent on ensuring the boy’s muteness is permanent.
1st Edition published by ManLove Romance Press, 2009.
ISBN: 978-1-63476-345-5
Product Link: https://www.dsppublications.com/books/mute-witness-by-rick-r-reed-206-b
Reviewer: Prime
Review: I didn’t mind reading Mute Witness by Rick R Reed. I know it isn’t a ringing endorsement, but this being the second book I’ve read by Reed, I believe I have now come to the conclusion that I really am just not a particular fan of the author’s writing style.
I can enjoy a good plot, appreciate the emotion, when I read a story, but as I felt with this book, the writing style doesn’t reach out and grab me.
This book is about Sean and Austin. They have been together for a while and they are insanely happy. They have a pretty place together near the water in a small town and to make the family complete Sean’s son, Jason, visits them on weekends. But Jason goes and the small town predictably turns on the gay couple and the rest of the story becomes a bit of a mind-fuck.
There is drama within the couple’s relationship as well as the horror of the missing child and all of the things that emerge in the aftermath to shock the community. Most of the reactions to horror that has happened to Jason are very predictable, but I am unsure as to whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is quickly evident that the homophobia runs deep.
As I said, I never really felt emotionally attached to any of the characters. The book is written from numerous POVs. A bit of a bug bear of mine is when minor characters become the narrators, or more accurately characters which are not the titular couple, because this is where I feel all the emotion is lost. Another issue I had was it was sometimes too wordy, to borrow a phrase, five words are used where one would suffice. There were so many times I wanted to skip ahead and find out what was going to happen.
So, yes, I liked Mute Witness it was an interesting and engaging plot. It was also intense, I don’t recommend binge reading as I had been tempted to do but in the end just couldn’t. I didn’t mind the danger, the horror and the graphically real feel to when it comes to the abuse aspects within the plot.
However, the choppy feel of the book, though, means that I just couldn’t get completely and emotionally involved in the action and the danger. I certainly never got attached to any of the characters. There is some dream sequences throughout which I felt sometimes took away from the overall story.
So, the tricky part is the recommendation. This book isn’t strictly a romance. That is all incidental even though Austin and Sean are already an established couple. This is more about the thrill and suspense with some graphic depictions of sexual and physical abuse, which I am sure, is not for everyone.
If you’re the type that like watching a good old mystery on TV (British mysteries keeps coming to mind) and it sounds good to you, this is the book for you.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *