Confessions of an Honest Man
Title/Author: Confessions of an Honest Man / Art Rosch
Genre: Fiction / Coming of Age
Publisher: Amazon Digital
Date of publish: February 2016
Pages: 426
Book Links: Amazon / Goodreads / Smashwords
This book follows Aaron Kantro and his family from the depths of childhood abuse to the clear hindsight of adulthood. The compellingly addictive story takes Aaron and his siblings through the depths of hell to even darker places and along the way they learn just what they are truly capable of.
It is a powerful story written by an author able to capture the emotional honesty of his protagonists. I wanted to hate the monsters, but understanding why they were the way they were, simply made me pity them and want to weep for the children who would bear the scars for their inability to with evil. Told as chronology, it was easy to stay connected to the individual characters. As each new date showed at the beginning of the chapter, I would hope that Sarah was finally chasing down her demons; That Aaron would find a way to listen to his inner angel; Cringe at what Mark and Mari-lee would be about to do next. My heart broke for Max, a product of his age, thrown into a seething chaos that no human being should have to endure.
The story is character driven and the characters are not short on story. Each person who glances through the various lives of the Kantro family probably could have supported an entire novel just on their back-stories alone. I laughed and I wanted to cry. Somehow the human spirit with its need to create beauty will try to find a way to survive but not all those who have travel in darkness will manage to find the light.
This is a brilliant story with multiple layers. It makes me want to explore other books by Arthur Rosch. This was definitely worth the price of the download.