Every day we each make thousands of decisions. Sometimes it’s the big ones that change our lives, sometimes it’s the tiny ones. What if all the choices not made led to billions of alternate realities where different versions of our lives unwind?  On a cold and rainy night in New England, the paths of two strangers collide-a young man fleeing from his past, and a forty-something woman dreading … dreading what her future holds. When his past catches up to him, the two of them embark on a journey of danger, adventure, and self-discovery. Ultimately, they each need to face the question, How far would you go to help someone in need? K. P. Kyle’s debut novel is a riveting technothriller/road trip/parallel universes combo with a healthy dollop of romance. It will keep you hooked until the very end and make you ponder the choices you’ve made in your own life.
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I first became aware of Kyle’s debut novel at the Thrillerfest conference, when she participated in the debut author program. I was intrigued by the premise, since I love parallel universe stories, and immediately purchased a copy and was lucky enough to get it signed.
There are so many things that I love about this book! The premise, of course, but also the characters, the storyline that had me reading way too late into the night, the wry, subtle humour, and the ending.
The characters are likeable and compelling, and I particular enjoyed the complexity of the two main characters, Brigid and Jason, who are significantly flawed but still manage to be the heroes of the story. I always love stories that have regular people thrust into extreme circumstances and this definitely delivered. The point of view switches between these two throughout the story, and Kyle does an exceptional job of this. In fact, for a debut novel, I found the entire novel to be extremely well executed, especially her handling of the explanations of parallel universes. She provided just enough information for the reader to understand what is happening without overloading us with details.
The book starts with Brigid, who is middle-aged and at a low point in her life, picking up a hitch hiker in the middle of the night. That hitch hiker is of course Jason, who has been on the run for months and is a cold and starving. Brigid offers him a place to stay, since her need to help people is one of her overriding traits, and when someone breaks into her apartment that night, trying to abduct Jason, the story goes from there and doesn’t ever stop.
Throughout the story, the internal dialogue of Brigid and Jason provides moments of giggle worthy humour as well as some of the interactions between the all too real people. Which establishes a layer of warmth to the whole story that is a big part of why it is so compelling.
The ending! I’m not going to go into details because I don’t want to spoil it, but I thought Kyle handled the ending beautifully. Lots of resolution but also with a good dollop of uncertainty. My favourite kind of ending. I’m not sure if this was to set things up for a sequel, or it was just the ending the story needed, but regardless, it works!
Needless to say, I loved this book. Kyle has pulled off an action-packed compelling story with a warmth and humour to it that captivated me throughout. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes parallel universe stories, or just stories about flawed individuals doing their best to do the right thing.
Author KP Kyle thrusts her heroine Brigid, a forty-something telemarketer losing her mother to dementia, right into a life-altering choice — Ignore the young man on the side of the road, or open her car door to her fellow man and his problems. Without spoiling the story, it can be said that the young man, Jason, is on the run, and the trouble on his heels is far more serious than Brigid and her trusty dog Lithium had anticipated. Alternating between Brigid and Jason’s point of views, Kyle’s technothriller grounds itself in the tangible real-world questions of love, loyalty, and justice, wrapped in the hard-hitting action of a Bourne Identity book/movie. Kyle’s fast-paced style handles both chase scene and techno-speak well, slowing down only to concentrate on what really matters in the end: the people who help us on our journeys.