Redemption | Jack Jordan
REVIEWED BY LINDA HILL
Evelyn and Tobias Moore have the perfect family unit with their son Joshua until Joshua is killed by Aaron Alexander in a hit-and-run road accident. Having served eleven years in jail, Aaron is now free and Evelyn is determined to track him down and kill him in revenge. Tobias is equally determined to stop her.
Redemption: book review & synopsis
Redemption is astoundingly good. It’s a terrifying game of cat-and-mouse where predator and prey become interchangeable, and it’s impossible to predict just how this dramatic narrative will be resolved. It’s a book that sizzles with tension. Add in the oppressive heat and the threat of wildfire, and this is a story that crackles with threat.
The pace is breathtaking: short, sharp chapters alternating between the viewpoints of Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias race past, increasing the excitement with every page. The story shows just how far we might be prepared to go to get our revenge – and just how much we might lose in the process. There’s drama and violence, but equally there are heartbreaking moments that are almost overwhelming in their impact.
Evelyn is a phenomenal character. She has waited years for Aaron to be released from prison and nothing is going to stop her taking her revenge.
As the story progresses, Evelyn becomes more reckless, more cruel and more out of control. However, as her desire for retribution borders insanity, the reader’s empathy for her grows. She is so consumed by grief that it’s impossible not to feel sorry for her. She is in desperate need of the redemption Tobias is trying to provide.
Tobias is a clear voice of reason
Through Tobias we see just how easily life can change in an instant. In trying to do the right thing, Tobias breaks the law and commits acts of violence and yet we forgive him completely. He illustrates the ways in which we don’t always have a choice, and how morality is never a simple selection of good or evil.
Jack Jordan gradually uncovers how Aaron came to kill Joshua, and Redemption peels back the layers of his personality until we realise there is no easy definition of who he is. Despite being brutalised by his childhood, dealing with his sexuality, feeling abandoned, and being responsible for a child’s death, his core remains pure and untainted, meaning the story is emotional and affecting as well as enormously entertaining.
Redemption is so good that you’ll be hard pressed to read a better thriller this year.
Redemption by Jack Jordan is out now (Simon & Schuster, HB, £16.99) and available from Amazon.
Read more fiction reviews by Linda Hill including Our Holiday by Louise Candlish, The Unforgettable Loretta, Darling by Katherine Blake, My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes, The Intruders by Louise Jensen and A Lesson In Cruelty by Harriet Tyce.
