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The Reckoning, Patricia Tyrrell
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Reviewed by Jan Treliving-Brown (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Do you remember The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold? The Reckoning by Patricia Tyrrell is reminiscent of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, the storyline spare though engaging, with two decent hooks.

It's OK to self-publish three hundred 300 copies of a novel you've written and believe in. It's not OK to inflict poor editing on 300 readers. The Reckoning may have achieved a place made on the shortlist for the Encore Award, but robust editing might also have improved its chances of winning.

The plot goes like this: A three-year old girl, Cate, is snatched from her tent while her doting parents sleep. The kidnapper is Les, an aging recovering alcoholic who figures the responsibility of raising a child will keep him dry.

Twelve years pass and the story is picked up when, at 15, fifteen, Cate needs to be returned to her now-solo mother. Major lawless stuff has happened and Les can no longer give a recalcitrant teenage girl all she needs.

Here the book begins to sacrifice its authenticity. I have no doubt that confronted with my now-grown daughter's abductor, I would be calling the police. But no, Cate's mother has her own way of dealing with this potent situation. It did cause me to stop and think, though – what would it be like losing a three-year-old daughter and regaining her at 15? Could she actually have a genuine, loving relationship with the man who had ostensibly raised her?

All of this is perfectly acceptable if you're a reader able to suspend reality and enjoy the ride. I found the degree of all-American fantasy plus the sub-standard editing too much of a double-whammy. I stuck it out to the end purely to find out what happened.