Three Heart Echo

Three Heart Echo is one of those books that leaves you with a heavy heart, and the only quarrel you have with the author is over the fate of her protagonists. This is not a love story. It is a story that has love, both destructive and redemptive, and tries to show the differences between the two. It is, however, first and foremost, a tale of two tragedies that are connected to the human condition, of the meaningless suffering of innocents, because Iona and Sully are truly innocents and fantastical embellishments notwithstanding, are victims of society’s malaises. Iona is the victim of a megalomaniacal sociopath’s remorseless quest for power and her tragedy, while at a superficial level appears like a perversion of romance, will instantly be recognizable as the experience of abuse, manipulation, dysfunction, control and isolation in an intimate relationship. Sully, on the other hand, is a victim of the history of his forefathers, of the violent beginnings of American history, and of actions and events he had no hand in making, but must bear the consequences for. Iona and Sully are doomed from the beginning, and it is this pervasive sense of the ominous that also makes this a horror/thriller story. It is a testament to T. L. Keary ‘s sheer skill as a writer that forces the reader to emotionally invest in these characters and hope for them despite the mounting sense of foreboding about their futures.

Keary’s writing flows effortlessly in this well-paced narrative and she succeeds in sustaining the element of mystery at the heart of the plot. She plays with readers’ expectations in a way that the surprises and plot twists are rendered extremely effective. She has not only seamlessly woven flashbacks into the story to reconstruct the characters’ memories in an organic way, she has also used them as intelligent tools to explore the damage effected on a person’s psyche by the abuse they have suffered by someone they loved and trusted. She has created a believable world where the mundane and the magical uneasily co-exist and has imbued it with a sense of dark disquiet that in many ways mirrors the characters’ own despair. The characters are not necessarily particularly complex or even entirely likeable, but extremely believable and easy to empathize with, and on a personal note, they deserved better. However, as I said in the beginning, this is not a love story but a story of two tragedies with elements of horror and thriller. Even so, the message of the story seems to be very bleak – that sometimes there is no justice in this world, no matter your innocence and regardless of your best efforts, and that for some, death is the only end to suffering.

Did not see the ending. Completely threw me.

“Those caramel eyes of hers stare back at me searching, pouring over my soul like a fortune teller looking through a crystal ball into the depths of my dark and twisted soul.”

Gripping, haunting, at times creepy as all get out, this one had me happily lost in it’s pages until I finished the last word!! My heart broke, my mind churned, and my pulse raced. The balance between paranormal and real life was just so that it made it like this could actually happen, which upped the creepy factor. Reading alone in the dark may not be the smartest, but I absolutely loved every second! Both characters are beautifully broken, deserving of happiness, and their journey really caught my heart in their web…what happens next is a story I won’t soon forget.

~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog

Did not like this story. Though I did like the main male character. Disappointed by the way this tale evolved.

This book has it all, a cursed Hero with power to speak to the dead, a twisted villain who’s hold continues from the beyond, a heroine looking for answers. And yet I can’t stress how unique this story is. DEFINITELY NOT TYPICAL. Not even the ending…it’s not your typical HEA, but it also kind of leaves open what follows after the ending to your own interpretation. Loved this because it was so different and the characters were so well written.