Exposure

Exposure by Brandilyn Collins

We all have fears and the majority of us manage to work around them.

But what if you couldn't?  What if your anxiety caused issues in your daily affairs?  And what if your worst fears came true?

Kaycee Ray writes a newspaper column that pokes fun at her own paranoia.  Her claustrophobia, her fear of bees, rollers coasters, dentists, heights ... the list goes on.  Her paranoia helps her reach out to others, helps them overcome their own issues, but it also publicly alerts everyone to her less than reliable state of mind.  The local police have come to expect her frantic phone calls of being "followed", of being "watched".

But when Kaycee stands alone in her house and a camera set on her table takes a picture of her - all by itself - she knows this is more than just her irrational fears talking to her.  Then the child of a close friend runs away from home to live with Kaycee, but never makes it to her house.  And pictures of a dead man, the smell of blood, the sound of footsteps and screams are all too real for her.

Kaycee thinks that she inherited her irrational fears from her mother, but in reality, she finds that her mom had more than a vivid imagination to fear.

This was a freebie on my kindle that I'd downloaded months ago.  I'd begun the book several times but never got very far into the first chapter.  I can't really tell you why, just that it hadn't spiked a real interest.

I sat down with it again, determined to get through it, and was somewhat surprised.  It was definitely an interesting look into paranoia and fears that can stop a person cold.  Having a fear of heights myself, I am familiar with the anxiety the author described.  I was also drawn into the suspense and mystery behind the stories.

What I didn't enjoy?  I'm not a fan of books that switch perspective from once chapter to the next.  This book was really two stories - one of Kaycee and the happenings in her current day life, and one of a mafia run bank heist that involved a family with a sick child. The book goes on to bring the two stories together, but for me, it's just a personal peeve of mine to jump back and forth.  I always tend to find one side more interesting than the other, so I tend to feel the book drags out.

This book is listed as Christian fiction, but religion did not play a huge part in the book.  I actually read a review or two that expressed upset over the fact that it seemed to be missing.

The story itself was good, suspenseful and well thought out.  I don't have much experience with the mystery/suspense genre, but it was an easy read for when I didn't have a lot of time to invest at each sitting.  I did figure out the connection of the two stories fairly early in the book, is that normal? or just a sign of too much crime drama TV??  ;0)