Husband listens in on his wife's phone and learns too much.
Size: 80 KB (15,765 words)
Genre: Drama
Sex Contents: Minimal Sex
Tags: Ma/Fa, Consensual, Heterosexual, Fiction, Cheating, First, Slow
Review by Erik Thread [other reviews by Erik Thread]
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
It is really hard to talk about what makes "Jail Breaking" special without spoiling a new reader's experience. I could mention that it's about a cheating spouse, it's about a moderately successful middle-age man and his more vivacious wife. I could mention they meet in college (well, actually earlier, but with no romantic involvement). Or I could mention that she is very determined and ambitious and he's more laid-back and agreeable. And all that is true. And there are approximately 17,692 stories on SOL with the same plot and same characters. But "Jail Breaking" is so much more.
Woven into the cheating spouse is a very interesting "coming of age" tale--for a 45-year old. The characters grow and develop in the tale, both in actual changes for them and for an unfolding awareness of things not known at the beginning.
"Not known at the beginning" ... that sounds like I might find some trickery going on by the author who hides the gun under the bed and finds it at the end to spring a surprise. No, not so. All the secrets are laid out and disclosed in a very patient and well-developed way so I never felt the author was cheating me by pulling a surprise on me.
And author RichardGerald handles the formidable question of how should a husband deal with his cheating, now seemingly contrite spouse in a unique way I haven't seen before. In fact, when I finished reading the story it reminded me of Thomas Jefferson's most famous composition, about half-way through the second paragraph, beginning "that mankind are more disposed..." but I don't want to give away too much.
Many characters, but not too many to keep track of because they all have a relationship with David, the protagonist. The very minor characters are appropriately one-dimensional; the minor characters have some depth to them, and the main character is pretty well developed. The plot has some flash-backs and flash-forwards. Some introspection and some action. It's all very well paced.
Grammar and spelling are pretty good, especially when no second pair of eyes looked at it.
I recommend it as a good story, with some hidden ponderings beneath the surface--if you are that sort of reader.
