Never Tear Us Apart

December 7, 2015
Murphy’s uneven contemporary romance relies on the overused device of alternating points of view. The perspective swings dizzily among Katherine Watts (both at age 12, when she is kidnapped, and at age 21, when she recalls her ordeal); Ethan Williams, a man who’s obsessed with 21-year-old Katherine; and 15-year-old Will Monroe, who rescued 12-year-old Katie from certain death at the hands of her abductor. The technique might have worked better if all the voices were speaking from their own present times. Instead, the characters’ younger selves are merely recollections of the past by Katherine and Ethan/Will, who changed his name to protect himself from a miserable family history. That aside, the premise and the follow-through do make for an intriguing concept: Ethan manipulates vulnerable, clueless Katherine into falling in love with him by exploiting their inescapable childhood bond. Murphy imbues these characters with genuineness and plausibility, and even readers who don’t love the structure of this story will look forward to the promised sequel. Agent: Kimberly A. Whalen, Trident Media Group.

December 1, 2015
Twelve-year-old Katie Watts was kidnapped from an amusement park, chained, and raped until she was rescued by 15-year-old Will Monroe, the son of her abductor. It's been eight years, but neither has forgotten the connection they felt that day. When Katie appears on television, Ethan Williams (Will's new name) feels compelled to track her down and see how she's doing. Once again, he comes to her rescue and then convinces her to have coffee with him. The connection between them is just as powerful as before, and Ethan can't let her go, but he also can't tell her who he really is. By having Ethan and Katie take turns narrating alternate chapters set in the past and the present, Murphy (Stealing Rose, 2015) has written a compelling and emotional love story of two severely broken people, each of whom can be healed only by the other. This is the first book in a two-part series, and readers should be warned that it does have a cliffhanger ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)