Book Review: Always Watching by Chevy Stevens

Synopsis

She helps people put their demons to rest.

But she has a few of her own...

In the lockdown ward of a psychiatric hospital, Dr. Nadine Lavoie is in her element. She has the tools to help people, and she has the desire - healing broken families is what she lives for. But Nadine doesn't want to look too closely at her own past because there are whole chunks of her life that are black holes. IT takes all her willpower to tamp down her recurrent claustrophobia, and her daughter, Lisa is a runaway who has been on the streets for seven years.

When a distraught woman, Heather Simeon, is brought into the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit after a suicide attempt, Nadine gently coaxes her story out of her - and learns some troubling parallels with her own life. Digging deeper, Nadine is forced to confront her traumatic childhood, and the damage that began when she and her brother were brought by their mother to a remote commune on Vancouver Island. What happened to Nadine? Why was their family destroyed? And why does the name Aaron Quinn, the group's leader, bring complex feelings of terror to Nadine even today?

And then, the unthinkable happens, and Nadine realizes that danger is closer to home than she ever imagined. She has no choice but to face what terrifies her the most...and fight back.

Sometimes you can leave the past, but you can never escape.

Rating

3.5/5 Stars

Review

For a quick paced read, I recommend the book Always Watching by Chevy Stevens. The plot is easy to follow and it keeps your attention. Stevens crafts an interesting story with a few twists that will keep you up until you finish it. There are a few holes in the story that the author glosses over to keep the story moving. Cults are an interesting part of history. Many mainstream religions started out viewed as cults. However, the commune described in the book reminds me of Scientology. With that in mind, it makes the book even more fun to read. Always Watching did tie the story up in a tight little bow, leaving no chance for a sequel. 

The characters that fill the book are fully fleshed out. Aaron, the leader of the cult, gives you in the impression that he is in control, calm, and completely manipulative. He creeps you out just as he is supposed to. Nadine is a very orderly, efficient doctor, and, who after the death of her husband, seems lonely. Heather, the patient who jump starts the events of the book, casts suspicions over the cult from her first scene.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone to read, especially if you are looking for a nice escape from the every day. Stevens has three other books published with another on the way and I look forward to reading them all. I'll have to thank my mother-in-law for introducing me to Chevy Stevens.

Happy Reading!