"Downfall" by Terri Blackstock

Emily Covington has been clean and sober for nearly a year, and that's after completing a year-long rehab program.  Her family has moved away from her former haunts and she's enrolled in school, working hard to show the dramatic change that has taken place inside her - and then her car blows up.  Suddenly people are dying and Emily's mother's worst fears are coming true:  is Emily having a relapse?  Are the drugs, the lapses in time logical or the result of something more sinister?

While I've been known to laugh out loud or cry at a book, rarely do I have any other outward reaction, but there's something about the Covington family that makes me become more involved.  Several times during the reading of this book I nearly had to put down the book and walk away - only because I could see how Emily's current train of thought could lead her to trouble, and being unable to warn her, I had to take a breather.

Misunderstandings and communication issues caused many of the family issues in this book, and isn't that totally common?  Typical teenagers, Emily and her brother Lance assume that harm can't come to them because they have pure motives, while Mrs. Covington worries herself sick instead of talking matter-of-factly with her children about her fears.  The sheer reality of these problems made me think about how I might handle these issues with my teens, and I have a few years to go!

The best books write you into the script; you become the main character and channel their thoughts, feelings, and abilities, but in Downfall, you don't just become Emily, you are Lance and Mrs. Covington, too.  Blackstock writes each character so seamlessly and completely that your mind and emotions transition smoothly from one to another.  You see each side of every conflict, and the result is a more thorough examination of the Covington family and how you, the reader, might handle their issues.

Downfall is the perfect ending to the Intervention series.  Another wonderful suspense story from Terri Blackstock - I wonder what is next?

I received a free copy of Downfall from Shelton Interactive in exchange for an honest review.