“Is it too late to tell him you love him when you are looking down the barrel of his gun?”An English debutante transforms from Miss-Perfectly-Correct to criminally insane as she breaks the bonds of her rigid upbringing. Sheriff Hank Gephart tries to reel her in – but she’s out of control and she’s not hitting the brakes.What happened to the genteel lady in twin-set and pearls? And why did she … And why did she shoot Mr Right?
Brake Failure is set in 1999 in the months leading up to Y2K “meltdown” when the US government was spending $150 billion preparing for Armageddon As Lionel Shriver says in her novel, We Have To Talk About Kevin: “1999, a year widely mooted beforehand as the end of the world.”
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Ruby Mortimer-Smyth is a prim and proper, perfectly behaved English lady. She’s been brought up to be the best, can cook a three course meal from scratch at the drop of a hat and knows the etiquette rule to follow for every occasion. After she marries an advertising executive and her dreams of a Paris transfer get crushed, they get sent to Kansas and she finds herself rapidly drifting away from her perfect self and breaking rule after rule in order to escape the restraints of her seemingly perfect life.
In Kansas she will meet a sexy Sheriff, an even sexier American Indian; she’ll befriend an unorthodox story teller, a handful of small town housewives turned Y2K survivalists as well as a group of Hell’s Angels; she’ll learn to drink, swear and will knowingly break the law.
This book is one of the best surprises I’ve come across this year. It’s unique, laugh out loud funny, suspenseful and unexpected at every single turn. It’s smartly written, the characters have a large range of emotions and the story kept me interested from beginning to end. It doesn’t matter what I thought, I could not foresee where the author was leading and I loved every minute of it!
If you want a fun, smart read of a fish out of water without erotic scenes, you should give this book a try.
4.5 stars
I have not laughed this much while reading a novel in a while. You know the kind that makes you feel you are about to pee yourself? Oh my, Brake Failure by Alison Brodie had me in a laughing frenzy, and by the end, I was all smiles.
The story began with a law enforcement officer suffering from a gunshot wound and the last name on is lips before he lost consciousness was Ruby. I was curious to know why her name would be on the wounded officer’s lips. Was she the one who shot him? The story rewinds sixteen weeks earlier providing me with the opportunity of meeting Ruby and getting the answers to the questions on my mind.
Ruby, a hypochondriac, is originally from England. She grew up living in the shadow of her stepsister. Everything with her was a competition, which led to their relationship being less than sisterly. As a result, Ruby felt like an outsider and saw herself as the one to least likely to succeed. At least according to her stepsister. She dreams of one day having the confidence her stepsister exudes and living her life. The opportunity for her to achieve this arose when her husband’s job would require him to move to Paris. Now she would have the life her stepsister dreamed of having. However, where Ruby is concerned things have a tendency not to go as planned. Instead of moving to Paris, she ended up relocating to Kansas.
I enjoyed tagging along with Ruby on her journey as she learns to adapt to life in Kansas. She appears to be making inroads. Slowly she transformed from a woman who had no confidence to one who was confident in her own skin. I saw a different side to her. She was funny and sassy. She takes on new challenges, which sees her leaving her comfort zone and embracing her inner vixen. She became a woman her husband could not relate to, and one whom men found attractive. She became sociable and made friends for the first time in her life. Her interactions with whom she came in contact in her new surroundings was delightful and fun. I especially enjoyed her interaction with Hank, a police officer/bull rider. Even though I may not have agreed with all her actions, I loved her. I could not wait to see the effect the choices she made would have in the end.
The story featured an eclectic mix of characters, which made it rich and vibrant. The characters were relatable and well developed and I enjoyed meeting them all. My least favourite of which was Claire, Ruby’s stepsister. I honestly do not know how Ruby survived her all those years.
The story, which moved between the past and the present, is set in the time leading up to Y2K. There is romance, but it was not the focus of the story. This is not a story I can go into detail without introducing spoilers. All I will say is this; it is funny, engaging, well written and fast paced.
Conclusion/Recommendation
If you are in the mood for a life changing adventure that will keep you laughing as you flip the pages, then Brake Failure is the book for you