Boy on Hold

It was Cabbage Night, 1991. The traditional night of pranks, which takes a disturbing turn when a violent crime rocks a small Adirondack town. Even more so, is when the only witness is a 7 year old boy. Hen trout, was out hoping to catch a pet hedgehog that night, sees Miss Sally become a victim.

Single mom Marcella Trout is blindsided when Tyler, her seventeen year old, is arrested for the very crime Hen witnessed. Now Tyler’s eerie mood swings seem dark and frightening and rooted in a family history Marcella has desperately tried to bury. She has to deal with the dark issues of loss, drugs and the undiagnosed of mental illness, that will change her family lives. As the criminal investigation churns on, the tenuous fabric of the trout family begins to unravel. And even Hen begins to question the truth.

The story was told by multiple viewpoints and the book is surrounded by mystery, and the story was told beautifully of how the trauma consumed Hen Trout’s family and their small town.
The author has done a brilliant situation of Capturing every emotion possible, especially telling the story from a child’s point of view.
A very enjoyable read and would highly recommend.

Boy on Hold is a bitter sweet crime story by J.D. Spero that is not your usual run of the mill crime story. This was my first read by the writer and I can say now that it is a story that any crime lover would enjoy reading. It is a story told from multiple point of views that pulls you even deeper into the story that is filled with twists and turns and heart ache and realities of addiction, mental illness, and murder.
In the center of the story is a seven year old Henry ‘Hen’ Trout who witness his neighbour’s, sweet old Miss Sally’s murder during the Cabbage Night in a small Adirondack town. He is a troubled child whose way of looking at the world will fascinate you and steal your heart. It is his older, seventeen year old brother Tyler that is arrested for the crime. All the evidence points to Tyler and his mother and his brother struggle with it being a possibility …
The writer takes us deep into the dynamics a broken family, a single mother struggling to keep it together and small town filled with plenty of shady characters. She tells the story in such a considerate way that even though one could think that surely this story is way too depressing; it never pulls you too down. Still, it is heart breaking and it stays with you for a while, be prepared.

Boy on Hold by J.D. Spero
4 of 5 Stars
A mystery, thriller young adult novel about a child who is the only witness to a terrible and violent crime. Set in 1991, on Cabbage Night, a traditional night of pranks in a small Adirondack town the night takes a disturbing turn when a violent crime takes place, shocking the small town. Seven year old boy, Hen Trout, is the only witness to the violence against Miss Sally. Hen had been outside in the dark hoping to catch a hedgehog when he saw the attack. Single mom Marcella Trout is devastated that her young son had witnessed such a violent attack but is then blindsided when her seventeen-year-old, Tyler is then arrested for the crime his brother had witnessed. Marcella now looks back on Tyler’s mood swings and they now seem dark and frightening to his mother, especially as she had been desperately trying to forget her family’s history. The Trout family begins to unravel as the criminal investigation goes on and soon even Hen begins to question the truth about what he saw and what really happened that fateful night. I find this an emotional read and also a thought provoking one. The issues surrounding teenage mental health is dealt with both honestly and sensitively. The characters really drew me in and I was hooked from page one of the novel. A fascinating read for both young adults and adults alike.

Boy On Hold by JD Spero was a great read! I was instantly enthralled in this novel, and couldn’t put it down! The imagery is amazing, the plot is great, the characters are incredible. I honestly felt like I was right there beside each and every character while I was reading this book. Not only is the crime part great, it was very thrilling and very psychological as well! I love reading books that have good psychology in them, and this one was no exception! This was the first novel I’ve read from Spero before, and I can’t wait to read more in the future!

Boy on Hold was my first reading of JD Spero, and I really liked it. My only complaint is the character of Henry was written to be a seven year old, but behaved and thought more along the line of a 5 year old. Once I got beyond that, I really loved it. I was struggling with not knowing what exactly Tyler suffered from, so I was glad to have answers by the end. It was weird at first that it switches between point of views, but in the end, I think I liked that best. We got to see the same story unfolding from everyone’s own perspective. I highly recommend this book, to any preteen or adult, with the disclaimer it does involve mental illness, drug use and murder. It was wonderfully written, and I felt like I could feel the pain and struggles along with the characters. I like that it was all a mystery until the end, slowly unfolding.

4 Stars

Boy On Hold is my first read by J.D Spero, and I am happy to say that it won’t be my last. This is a surprising little gem- a young adult thriller- with murder, crime, trauma, loss, grief, secrets, family dynamics, mental illness, love, emotion, forgiveness, drama, and suspense. The story is told from several points of view- which gave me a really well-rounded perspective of what was happening and added extra depth to the overall story.
When Henry Trout (Hen) witnesses a shocking incident, he is left reeling- and soon his (and his family’s) life is turned upside down when his older brother is arrested for the crime. His brother’s troubling behaviour, family secrets, and the truth all wrestle- while family bonds begin to unravel. Within all this heartbreak though, lies a wonderfully touching story full of hope. I don’t want to reveal too much- as this is one of those books I think is best read knowing as little as possible, and letting the story and characters reveal themselves along the way.
Well done!

Thank you, J.D Spero!

Boy on Hold by JD Spero. This book is geared toward young adult but I loved it and would read it again. Its the story of a single mom Marcella Trout and her boys Hen and Tyler. Tyler has just turned 17 and is the typical angry moody 17 year old. They live in a small town in the Adirondack’s. The family is very dysfunctional as are most families anymore. Anyway they have a tradition of a night called Cabbage night where kids go out and pull pranks all night. Hen has gone outside looking for a pet Hedgehog and instead sees something he will never get over. He witnesses one of his favorite people become the victim of murder and not long after his brother Tyler gets arrested for that murder. Does Hen have the answer to help his brother or did Tyler really kill his friend. As the Detectives begin to investigate some of the Trout families deep dark secrets come out. Will the Trout family survive all in one piece or will they break beyond the point of no return?

This is a heartbreaking story about a young person suffering from mental illness. It was really well written that allowed you to really understand what it feels like to suffer from this illness and how it effects everyone’s lifes not just the person who has it.

Henry loves with his mum and his big brother Tyler. Tyler is struggling with mental health problems but his mum is so focused on being a good mum and providing for her two boys that she doesn’t see the signs or her sons struggles.

That is until their next door neighbour is attacked in her home. No ones knows who has done it but the two main suspects are Tyler and his friend Derek.

All evidence points to Tyler as the main suspect but his mother and Henry don’t believe it.

Was it Tyler who committed the horrible crime or was it Derek? Was Tyler in sound mind or was it voices pushing him forwards.

This indie novel caught my eye on Reedsy. It received a glowing review there and it also has an eye-catching cover, so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s described as “a family-centered mystery that discusses addiction, mental illness, and parental relationships.” I was intrigued.

This story about a single mother, Marcella, and her two sons—Tyler and Henry—is a well-plotted story about a fatal struggle that the younger son witnesses late at night that leaves a neighbor—elderly Ms. Sally—dead. The older brother is thrown in jail, as he is accused of killing Ms. Sally, who also happened to be the family caretaker and friend to mother Marcella. The town contains plenty of shady characters as well Ms. Sally’s son, Bernie, who is a kind yet unassuming handyman.

Spero does an excellent job of plotting this intriguing story with a large cast of characters from a small Adirondack town. There are some genuine surprises as the mystery unfolds and the relationship between the mother and her sons is realistic and affectionately portrayed.

I did have a couple of issues with the book and they were quite glaring. One: the story is told in close third person and this unknown narrator takes on the view point of the focal character in each chapter, going so far as to use the terms of endearment the character would use for his / her parent and loved ones as well as slang or emotional state of the character. I found myself wishing that each chapter was told in first person instead, allowing the characters to speak for themselves. I feel first person narration would have added an additional layer of mystique to the plot. But instead, we get a somewhat creepy narrator who, for example, calls the boy’s mother Marcella in some chapters and Ma in other chapters. It was confusing and distracting throughout the entire novel. The neighbor was called Ms. Sally in some chapters the narrator and Mom in others. Huh?

Two: Spero could have used a really good line editor to help rework some awkward phrasing and word choices. For instance, there were dozens of references to stomachs performing flips and undulations, like this:

“His stomach flip-flopped… His stomach churned… His stomach betrayed him… His stomach turned… His stomach settled… Her stomach dropped… Ty’s stomach heaved… Her stomach went wiggly… Hen’s stomach lurched… Hen’s stomach went fuzzy… His stomach got all twisty…”

An excellent line editor would have noticed this, as I did, and helped clean up these awkward redundancies. However, the novel was edited for misspellings and grammatical errors, because there were none, and the layout of the book was excellent and well-organized.

Ultimately, the story was well told and the concluding chapter—which featured the tense criminal trial of Tyler—and the epilogue—which wrapped up all the loose ends—was deeply affecting and thought-provoking. As a whole, this novel was very good, just not exceptional. I will keep an eye out for Spero’s next novel. My only hope would be that she find an editor that help elevate the narrative text to the high level of her storytelling.

I would give this novel 3.5 stars.

Boy on Hold by JS Spero is a book that utterly took me by surprise and had me hooked right from the word go.
This is the first book that I have read by this author and I was a bit sceptical going into it. The description didn’t really grab my attention but I couldn’t detract from the amazing reviews. I decided to give it a go and I am so glad I did.
The story that unfolded as a complex and intriguing story. The characters we so compelling. It was a great story of family and mystery.
As an introduction to this author I couldn’t have picked a better book and I am certainly looking for were to reading more.