Tyler Falls
Author: Lori L. Clark
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Date Published: May 25, 2012
Buy Links: Amazon
Synopsis:
Tyler
has suffered from manic depression for as long as he can remember.
Through medication and therapy, he manages to keep his life together.
But when his parents are murdered, he decides he's had enough of living
as a broken person with a broken life. So, in thirty days, he plans to
stick the barrel of his Ruger SP101 into his mouth and pull the trigger.
Emma Perez's brother, Ethan Giovanni, sits in a mental
institution for the murder of Dr. and Mrs. Falls. Deemed mentally
incompetent and unfit to stand trial, Ethan has one weekly visitor --
Emma. She doesn't deny his guilt, he's her brother and she loves him
spite of the fact he's paranoid schizophrenic.
They say
when you cross paths with someone more than once, it's fate -- you're
destined to meet. Tyler doesn't know Emma is Ethan's sister, and Emma
doesn't know Tyler's story either. When Tyler learns who Emma's brother
is, the world he's rebuilt around her begins to crumble all over again
and it leaves both of them wondering why fate has such a cruel sense of
humor.
Chapter 1
Tyler
My name is Tyler Jacob Falls and I have exactly thirty days to live.
The
special school I attend -- not short bus special -- and my shrink Dr.
Dynerbaugh think talking about my problems will be great therapy, part
of my healing process. She wants me to open up and share my thoughts and
feelings more. Dr. Dynerbaugh even gave me a journal to write in, but I
don't plan on using it. I've got news for her; there are more pages in
that empty journal than I have days left.
I'm seventeen and live
with my aunt and uncle on Loon Island. I've lived here since April last
year. No, my parents didn't get a divorce or kick me out. Dealing with
that would be a piece of cake compared to what really happened.
My parents were murdered -- on Valentine's Day.
That
night, when I pulled into the drive after dropping Livi off, (Livi is
Olivia Barnett -- only the hottest chick at Fort Jupiter High School.
Yeah, I didn't always have the big "L" on my forehead like I do now),
the front door to our house stood wide open. It being February in Fort
Jupiter with a foot of fresh snow covering the front lawn, I knew there
was no way in hell the front door should be open like that. We had a running joke in our
family about my mom being like the Energy Nazi and she would flip out about someone's lack of procedure.
My
gut told me something was bad wrong so I pulled out my cell phone, just
as a precaution, and inched closer to the front door. When I walked in,
that bastard Ethan Giovanni was wiping the blood from the knife he'd
just slit my parent's throats with. He wore a sick, twisted grin on his
face. I had about two seconds to dial 911 before he spotted me.
For
someone who just offed two people in cold blood on their living room
floor; he showed no more emotion than if he'd just squashed a freaking
cockroach.
He had pure evil in his eyes. It's those eyes that
will haunt my dreams every night for the rest of my remaining life --
when I actually sleep. Giovanni tried to make me victim number three,
and the last thing I remember about that night was the distant echo of
sirens.
He tried to run, but they caught up with him about three
blocks from our house. But before running like the pussy he is, he
stabbed me four times. I spent the next six weeks breathing through the
pain of a punctured lung and took my meals through a tube attached to
needle in my arm.
My mom and dad were buried while I lay in a
semi-comatose state due to all the drugs they kept pumped into my body
in the ICU at Fort Jupiter Memorial Hospital. When they said I had healed enough to leave the hospital, I went to live with my aunt and uncle -- Nicole and Kyle Falls -- on Loon Island.
There are Three-hundred-forty-two residents on Loon Island -- forty two normal people and three hundred crazy people.
Those
numbers are subject to change, depending on what kind of day I'm
having, to forty-one Normals and three-hundred-one Crazies.
My
Aunt Nicole gets on my case for calling the residents of the nuthouse
Crazies. I should probably clarify something. Loon Island was named for
the bird and not because of the lunatics who live here. Oh and the Loon
Island Psychiatric Hospital is not the loony bin or even the insane
asylum. I wouldn't want to offend one of the nutcases or their families
by being politically incorrect. (Sarcasm.)
Ethan Giovanni. His
face and name are two things that will go out with me when I pull the
trigger. There wasn't a trial because they said he's not competent
enough. He's insane. Gee, ya think?!
How ironic is it that we
both live here on Loon Island? He's one of the Crazies I told you about.
He's in the maximum security part of the nuthouse -- supposedly on
suicide watch twenty-four/seven. If you ask me, they should give him a
rope and save the tax payer's money. Some people can't be rehabilitated.
I mean what's he going to do? Find God? Give me a friggin' break. Scum like Ethan Giovanni don't deserve to live.
We're
supposed to take the ferry to the mainland today. It's Monday, May 25.
Memorial Day. Aunt Nicole wants to take me to the cemetery where my mom
and dad are buried. It will be a day of firsts for me. The first day
I've been off the island in over a year and the first time I've been to
the grave site. Ever. I wonder if they'll bury me next to them.
Aunt
Nicole knocks on my locked door and I tell her I'm coming. Since she
knows I keep the door locked she doesn't bother trying to open it.
It's
not that I don't trust my aunt. On second thought... it kind of is. I
don't trust anybody. She works for the hospital sometimes. Her and my
uncle both work there. Most of the Normals on the Island either work at
the hospital or live with someone who does. She's a Criminologist who
studies the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in
people and in society. I've seen the way she watches me like I'm one of
her patients and I know she's just waiting for me to snap.
My
Uncle Kyle's a warden at the big house. Kyle's badass -- for an old man.
He's not old like ancient or anything, just older than me. He works out
every day and I know he could kick some serious ass without blinking an
eye. I know he'd kick mine in a heartbeat if I were to cross the line. Oh and just for the record... I'm no scrawny assed wimp.
I've
heard people say never trust anyone over thirty. I have a different set
of rules about trust. Don't trust anyone old enough to focus on you
with their eyes or manipulate you with a smile. So, except for newborn
babies and really old people, there aren't too many people able to earn
my trust.
I work out in Uncle Kyle's basement gym late at night
when no one's around to spy on me. Now, it's a matter of survival -- in
case they lock me up in the nuthouse again and not because I'm trying to
turn some hot chick's head. Dr. Dynerbaugh -- Dr. Dinnerbell as I like
to think of her -- says it's good to exercise at least thirty minutes
each day. It's supposed to help with my depression. She should practice
what she preaches. She's not depressed, she's just fat.
Review:
Tyler Falls is a wonderfully written YA contemporary novel. It focuses on Tyler Falls, who is trying to heal after the vicious murder of his parents. He has moved in with his aunt and uncle, has to take anti-depressants, go to therapy, and his life basically sucks. He intends on ending his pain by committing suicide on a specified date. He believes this is the only solution - until he meets Emma, who just happens to be the sister of the man who killed his parents. They don't realize who the other one is until it's too late - until their feelings for each other have been established. What kind of cruel world is this and what are they supposed to do now that they know the whole story?
I thought that this novel was deep and moving in it's honest portrayal of a suicidal teen trying to cope with his parent's murder and his subsequent world falling apart. The book is written in alternating points of view, so we're able to see what's happening in Tyler's world and inside his head, and then we switch to hear Emma's thoughts and feelings. This alternating POV keeps the story flowing and allows the reader to experience a bit of both sides of what happened that tragic night. Emma and Tyler are realistically written, so it's easy to identify with them and to feel their confusion and pain. The narrative is interesting and is fast-paced, which makes this book a page-turner until the end. I recommend this book to fans of YA contemporary fiction.
About the Author:
1. I’m an only child.
2. I love dogs!
3. I was born in Iowa City, Iowa and lived in Iowa my whole life until January 2007, when I moved to the STL area.
4. I worked as a professional psychic reader for 2 years.
5. I’m a Pisces Sun, Leo Moon with Aquarius rising.
6. I’ve written 3 books and am in the process of writing my 4th.
7. I don’t look or act my age!
8. I’ve been married twice and divorced twice.
9. I love 80′s hair band music.
10. I’m a claims payment analyst for Fortune 500 Magazine’s #16 “Top 100 places in America to work.”
Connect with Lori:
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading
Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the
author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction
Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review.
There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions
expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those
of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This
disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR,
Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in
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