The temporary respite they find in their separate world is soon destroyed by the presence of a soul sucking entity who feeds on their pain by absorbing their memories potentially leaving them as a vacant shell of their former selves. Dorothy soon realizes that she must stop this threat and launches on a campaign to save the boys, but it will come at a severe cost to herself. Her fight with this evil force will leave her currently in a vegetative state and housed at an upscale rehab facility in the hands of Ellen, the administrator. Ellen is tasked with bringing Dorothy back to reality with the help of a mysterious benefactor. Once Ellen learns the whole story of how Dorothy came to her facility she begins to realize that all these characters and worlds, including herself, are intertwined in a way she could never imagine.
My review: In his debut novel, Christopher J Finn spins a remarkable tale that prods the mind into pondering the vague line we place between fantasy and reality. Dorothy and the Glass Key forces us to confront the struggle of children dealing with post traumatic stress, and the human tendency to find something to drown the pain. Predominantly the story deals with the issues of these children but there is also an undertone of the same struggle among adults. Dorothy is the victim of an alcoholic father whose actions lead to the disturbing death of her mother. Charlie is an innocent casualty of the Blitz of London, who's father was killed in the battle and mother turned to alcohol to soothe her pain. Ragesha, an Indian boy surviving the death of his father as a result of disputes prior to a rebellion. All these children have one thing in common. All have found a key that astoundingly transports them to another place and time where they can all be together as children in a seemingly perfect world.
Through their journey they encounter increasingly dark forces and eventually realize that the evil plaguing their new world is slowly devouring their very essence. With this analogy we are reminded that in our lives the temporary bandages we use to mask our traumas are doing the same. The characters presented are a mirror of the reality that so many people face in the world. We are so eager to escape to some other place where these thorns do not exist but we don't always realize that these experiences make us who we are. This book goes so much deeper that just the fantastic tale of these three children.
A unique twist is presented when Dorothy has a different reaction to her key than the boys, or rather the key reacts different to her. In her story line a moment in time, a chance encounter, can have such an intense effect on the future of her existence. This shows us that every moment of our lives whether good or bad serves its purpose in the end. Finn presents this story with an excellent prose which flows smoothly and examines such intense issues without becoming too verbose or difficult for the reader to process. The ending is not entirely a cliff-hanger but the revelation leaves the reader both astounded and in eager anticipation of a continuation. It is clear that Christopher Finn will soon be a well-known author in the fantasy genre.
My Rating: 5 Stars
About the Book:
Publishing Date: August 28,2019
Publisher: Austin MacCauley Publishers LLC
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