Half-Past Dawn…

Oct 18, 2011 by Dee DeTarsio

Half-Past Dawn
by Richard Doetsch

Thanks, Richard Doetsch, for keeping me up until half-past dawn!

Synopsis:
Between life and death, between the deepest dark of night and the first rays of dawn, in that moment where we begin to drift from sleep to wakefulness, is where anything is possible . . .

Jack Keeler wakes up one bright June morning to the shock of his life. He gazes in the mirror and sees a half-healed gash over his right eye and a hastily stitched-together wound in his shoulder that looks suspiciously like the result of a bullet. He also notices an intricately designed tattoo—words written in a foreign script—covering the length of his forearm. He’s alone, his house eerily silent without the delightful chatter of his wife and two daughters. He has absolutely no memory of how, when, or why he ended up in such gruesome physical condition.

Jack gropes his way down to the kitchen to call his wife, Mia—an FBI agent—and to find some answers. But before he can pick up the phone, his eyes are drawn to the front page of that morning’s paper. He takes in a large photo of a bridge, the guard rail missing, a skein of tire marks on the roadway. Above the photo, in large black type, a headline that simply reads NEW YORK CITY DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACK KEELER DEAD.

Take a super smart, kick-ass hero, devoted to his wife and kids, and living the American dream.  Then stir in everything from doubt to danger to insanity and back again, and welcome to the mind-bending world of Half-Past Dawn.

The ticking time bomb–Jack has until dawn to save Mia–becomes further complicated by unbelievable cliff-hangers.  As both good and evil characters search for Mia’s mysterious evidence case (linked to a murder), time and pages speed by rapidly.

Yet the energy of this thriller revolves around Jack’s estranged father’s belief: Reality is all a matter of perspective.

The oddly appealing, creepy bad guy, Nowagi Cristos, who’s name means “risen ghost,” will stop at nothing to retrieve his father’s diary from the missing the case. The diary is part of Cristos’s heritage, and he believes it can predict his future.

Richard Doetsch’s detailed writing style comes with a sensitive side. I love the relationship between Jack and Mia, and belief in Jack and his quest to save his wife no matter what, builds tension to the very end. I was cheering for Mia, who is also smart, resourceful and resilient. Jack’s last gift to Mia, the blue necklace (which Cristos is also after),  grants “peace and love, healing and long life,” and provides the final, powerful twist.

What really does happen? I have to agree with Jack’s dad: Reality is all a matter of perspective!

Overall rating: ★★★★★★ 
Unboxed rating: ★★★★★★