OVER MY DEAD BODY by Bruce A Borders

BOOK BLURB: 

How far will a man go to protect his family?

When the director of Child Protective Services uses his position to exact a personal vendetta in removing three-year-old Ashley from the Blake’s home, Jeff Blake, a financial advisor, responds to the threats in the only way he feels he can – violently. By the end of the short encounter, three people are dead and Ashley, the daughter, is still taken and placed in temporary foster care, so the tragic fiasco gained Jeff nothing. Or, so it seems.

Matters are further complicated when Amy, the wife and mother, winds up for a brief stay in a mental ward due to the trauma she witnessed in her home. It seems as though everything is against the Blakes. Understandably, the police, as well as the Courts, are not too concerned with the needs of the family. Complete with many twists of fate, the story looks at the common problems of a typical family caught between love and the law.

MY REVIEW:

This is a story of Jeff, Amy and their 3-year old daughter, Ashley, being manipulated by an overstepping Director of the Child Protective Services. When the CPS and police officers show up to take Ashley away, Jeff is forced to protect his family anyway he can. Due to his actions, he lands in jail, facing a life sentence or a death penalty. The story outlines Jeff’s struggle to win his case in court against all odds.

With my personal experience with firearms and the people who keep firearms, plus the procedures put in place by local police departments regarding the drawing of a firearm, let alone the use of a firearm against a prep or a civilian, I don’t see this scenario as plausible.  Now if we were talking about the FBI or the CIA.  Yes.  Remember Ruby Ridge or Waco?

That being said, I did find the beginning of the story quite dramatic with the slapping of the bullet into the doorframe.  I just wish the story maintained that suspenseful pace.  But it didn’t  Some of the problem was too much passive style writing versus aggressive writing.

The plot was the same little man against the government theme with a few plot twists.  Unfortunately, Bruce gave so many hints throughout the story, that I had it figured out way before they were revealed.  No surprises.  And to be honest, I figured them out without the hints.

The settings were mainly in Jeff’s jail cell, Amy’s house or the court room.  Amy’s character did develop along the way, but I didn’t see any development in Jeff’s character.  Bruce did a decent job of showing the emotions the husband and wife was going through with the numerous trials: the loneliness, despair and feelings of helplessness.  The one true emotion he didn’t show at all was guilt/remorse.  Unless you are a socio-path or a hardened criminal, you are going to feel guilt/remorse over taking a person’s life.  Jeff and Amy were only centered on themselves.

I felt the progress of the story was very slow.  Some of the slow pace was the constant jumping back and forth between Jeff and Amy reiterating the same feelings.  Also, there was no definition of character between the two.  If it weren’t for the dialogue tags, you wouldn’t know which character was talking or thinking at the time.

Bruce has a very good use of vocabulary, and as mentioned in a previous review, no foul language.  But there were a few words that jumped out at me like he didn’t know what they meant.  Like blind sighted instead of blindsided.

For me, this was a ho-hum read and definitely did not keep me on the edge of my seat.  Anyway, I give the book 3 feathers.