The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart by Shane T. Clark is a suspense novel and revenge story crafted around a father-son relationship between an elderly man, Elmer Ray, and his next-door neighbor, Adrian Franklin. I received a gifted copy of the book in exchange for an honest review from the author via Booktasters, and here it is. 🙂
The characters of The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart range from hopeful, pain-filled, troubled, and revenge-seeking. Through these characters and chapters alternating between the past and present, we piece together the people and events that have been the catalyst to a present-day prison murder.
Surprisingly, a murder happening INSIDE the prison is what’s shocking residents of Sherman, Ohio, and has everyone’s mouths and ears ablaze. Although murder is no stranger to this small town, one such as this is. Everyone is gabbing about it except for Elmer Ray until he receives unexpected mail that could be the closure the city needs after such a horrific event.
That’s if anyone will actually listen to him. Elmer Ray can be a little long-winded (lol).
Admittedly, The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart took me more time to complete than it should for a 310-page book. It’s not because of the content that my reading experience proved difficult. It’s because of the following that it was such:
- The usage of similes and metaphors was heavy-handed or oddly placed.
- The overall story could have been better stitched, as the switching between years and characters was a little chaotic.
AND
- I was often lost when several people were speaking because there was a lack of differentiation between speakers. Thus, the dialogue felt unnatural sometimes and needed breaks between scenes. Funny enough, the characterization wasn’t the cause of my confusion. It was the formatting and sentence structure.
Hence, I share the same sentiments as a majority of written reviews in saying that this book needs an editor and some fine-tuning here and there.
Once you get past this minor-to-mid hiccup, the story is quite good. The suspense is there, the pacing is medium, and the story rarely dragged. It continuously had me asking questions and wondering if my assumptions were correct.
What I find most impactful about the story is how the author managed to tug on my heartstrings through the characters. In particular, there is one well-earned full circle moment for all characters that didn’t make me cry, but caused a reaction out of me. I may or may not have said “aww” and put my hand over my heart. I’m not telling. So, you’ll have to read the book to see if it evokes the same emotions from you. 😉
Please note that these are some content warnings that stood out to me. They are in no particular order and range from minor to moderate appearances throughout the book:
- Animal Abuse
- Domestic Abuse
- Alcoholism
- Violence
- Murder
- Sexual Assault/Rape of a Minor
- Fire
- Suicide
- Death of a Child
- Death of a Parent
Thank you again to Shane T. Clark and Booktasters for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. My review/reaction is voluntary, all thoughts are mine and unbiased, and receiving the gifted copy does not influence my rating and/or recommendation.
I hope this review of Shane T. Clark’s ‘The Devil Won’t Keep Us Apart‘ finds you well.
Until my next blog post, pick up a book, and most importantly, continue reading beyond the book’s cover! 🙂
