Title: Destruction
Series: The December People #1
Author: Sharon Bayliss
Genre/Age Range: Contemporary, Fantasy, Adult
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Release Date: April 14, 2014
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20996178-destruction
David Vandergraff wants to be a good man. He goes to church every Sunday, keeps his lawn trim and green, and loves his wife and kids more than anything. Unfortunately, being a dark wizard isn't a choice.
Eleven years ago, David's secret second family went missing. When his two lost children are finally found, he learns they suffered years of unthinkable abuse. Ready to make things right, David brings the kids home even though it could mean losing the wife he can’t imagine living without.
Keeping his life together becomes harder when the new children claim to be dark wizards. David believes they use this fantasy to cope with their trauma. Until, David's wife admits a secret of her own—she is a dark wizard too, as is David, and all of their children.
Now, David must parent two hurting children from a dark world he doesn’t understand and keep his family from falling apart. All while dealing with the realization that everyone he loves, including himself, may be evil.
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
David Vandergraff is a happily married man to Amanda and has three children: Emmy, Jude and Patrick. Everything in his life is good, except he has been keeping a secret from his family that could destroy them. He has another family but they have been missing eleven years and when they are found, David's life starts to unravel. Xavier and Evangeline are his other children and they practice dark wizard magic. In their short lives, they have seen and experienced the unimaginable, suffering abuse at the hands of their step-father and then witnessing him kill their mother.
They are broken when David takes them home. David's revelation about his second family, reveals more hidden truths closer to home as he discovers that not only is he a dark wizard too but so are his wife and children. Secrets abound in this book as they all start to unravel.
A world of witches and wizards that is set in the human world. It is a world that is accessible and easy to understand if you are unfamiliar with it. The story is told in a very understated way and whilst it is still full of drama and lots of plot twists and turns, it is done in a subtle way. One thing is clear is that being a witch or a wizard still brings the same challenges of daily life: adultery, addiction, drunken teenagers, financial troubles, abuse and so much more.
While this book dealt with a number of highly complex issues, it dealt with them in an incredibly sensitive way and this is a huge credit to Sharon Bayliss. This was not an easy read because of the issues it dealt with but it was a story that pulled you in right from the first page to the last and kept you thinking long after you had finished the story.
Author Info:
Sharon Bayliss is the author of The December People Series and The Charge. When she’s not writing, she enjoys living happily-ever-after with her husband and two young sons. She can be found eating Tex-Mex on patios, wearing flip-flops, and playing in the mud (which she calls gardening). She only practices magic in emergencies.
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