New Book Review of Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins

I have read several of Brandilyn Collins books so when I saw that one of her books was up for review I immediately snatched it up!  Brandilyn is an ‘edge of your seat’ book writer who comes up with all kinds of surprising scenarios, each with a different twist to keep you coming back for more.  BUT, when I read the back cover of Over the Edge I thought, really, a book about Lyme disease?  I mean, how exciting can that be?! What can she do with this subject? However, knowing that this is Brandilyn Collins I thought if anyone can make something interesting it’s Brandilyn!  Seriously, how she turns a book centered around a disease into an all-out thriller is nothing short of amazing! In fact, I even feel smarter just for reading it! The details she gives about Lyme disease and the research that had to be done while writing this book was so informative and amazing and she wove those into her story without missing a beat!

The story opens with an apparent madman breaking into a house while a woman is sleeping.  As he creeps around the darkened house, you hear what he is thinking through the dialogue written.  Right away you feel as if you are right there creeping through that darkened house with him, listening to his every thought; you can almost feel his slow intake of air as he stalks through the house searching for his victim.  All you can think of is who is this and why is he doing this? Right away you realize this is not some fumbling idiot just out for a robbery or other ‘quick’ crime.  This is a very articulate person who knows what he is doing, and has some kind of medical background; his victim, the wife of a well-known doctor. Through his thoughts you are taken on a ride to the past, his past, when his young wife was taken with an illness that had gone undiagnosed and she eventually died.  His thoughts then drift back to the present, looming over a sleeping, innocent, woman...then with decisiveness he does what he came to do(which is extremely descriptive and slightly uncomfortable)....  If all went as planned, her husband, the good doctor, would change his mind on his stand on Lyme’s disease so that no-one else had to suffer long-term or die from this mostly undiagnosed disease.  Yeah, some saint he would be...

Janessa, a.k.a. the sleeping woman, comes down with a bad case of the flu – or so she thinks for awhile.  After being sick for over three weeks her symptoms (which are described meticulously) continue to worsen with no relief in sight.  She is also having this reoccurring nightmare which she tells to her husband, Brock the doc, of a bug-eyed man standing over her bed.  To make things worse, Brock has been really distant over the last year and Janessa doesn’t know why; long hours at work has made him disinterested in much of anything, or so she thinks.  But they have a beautiful little girl and a nice home in a nice neighborhood so things are pretty good Janessa reasons.

Fast forward to the middle of the book and you’ve got Janessa with a full-blown case of something (Lyme’s disease), a madman who is now calling her and admitting to being in her house, now threatening to harm her daughter as well, her husband – Brock the doc – denying everything that’s happening – the sickness, and the so-called Stalker Man’s phone calls AND to top everything off he has some bad news of his own to share with Janessa...just when she thinks nothing can get any worse!!

As Janessa battles all of the physical and emotional trauma, she is reminded that she has a very real and loving heavenly Father who cares about her.  Time and time again she turns to God for her strength. Her cries out to God, her faith that He will sustain her through everything she is going through portrayed a very real faith and was very believable.  She reads the Scriptures, especially in Psalms (which I have always turned to for comfort or to put my thoughts into a prayer); Psalm 69 “Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.” Janessa could definitely relate to this passage of Scripture!

After extensive testing at the hospital, a madman who makes house visits and calls her – terrifying her, no-one believing her to the point of thinking she is making it all up - her husband is denying there is anything real going on! Being so physically ill that she can no longer drive herself anywhere or even take care of her 9 year old daughter – which breaks her heart – and the hiring of a private investigator – something finally starts to make itself clear.  But what seems to be clear is not really clear at all!  There will be a final twist in the last few chapters that will make your head spin!

Well done Brandilyn!  You took me to a world I didn’t know existed – the world of Lyme disease wars, you pulled me in with your quick wit with exciting twists and turns and kept me drawn in until the final chapter! I recommend this book to those of you who would like to have a better understanding for those who suffer with Lyme disease, and those who are looking for a great thriller/suspense read with a different twist!

You can find Over the Edge here on Amazon.com
or B & H Publisher's website: Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins

Disclaimer: I received an ebook copy of Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins from B & H Publishing Group on NetGalley.  All that I have written is my own opinion and no-one has told me what I should say or not.