Today  I am  reviewing the book Fascination by Kevin Brennan. I have read a number of books by this author, and the one thing that strikes me about all of them is how good the writing and interesting the story. Fascination is no exception and in some ways is the best book yet written by Kevin Brennan. (Of course, a statement like that has to be taken in the context of  the best of the best)

The story starts simply enough with Sally Speck whose maiden name was Sally Pavlou having to endure the pain of the suicide of her husband, Mason Speck. Sally could not believe Mason was capable of such and act and so she failed to accept the fact that he was dead. Sally is a masseuse and does that for a living. She also is an expert at the arcade game of the 1930’s named Fascination. Sally uses the game to supplement her income but importantly to help her self-esteem in times of trouble.

All her friends and clergy tell Sally to forget about Mason and have a memorial service and move on. Sally finds an airplane ticket jacket in Mason’s car and believes Mason has not died but left town. Her friend Tina Hightower finally in exasperation recommends a private detective she uses for her law firm named Clive Bridle.

The rest of the story is about the quest of Sally to find Mason and the desire of Clive to keep the hunt going as long as possible so that he can be near Sally. It seems Clive has been smitten. Brennan describes the first time Clive laid his eyes on Sally as a “parakeet fluttered ” in Clive’s chest. He goes on to say that Clive didn’t just find her attractive. No, Clive Bridle thought. “She is a genuine muse.”

The writing of this book is so darned good that it could be a lesson text on the proper way to tell a story. The descriptions are succinct yet full of the right details every reader needs to form mental pictures of what is going on. The sights smell and sounds of the scenes of this book are rich in detail yet open enough for the reader to become personally involved in the story by allowing the creation of personal images to go along with what the author has created. The author has also included many photographs that add to the flavor of the story.

Another interesting aspect of Fascination is the book can be bought directly from Kevin Brennan himself. My book is titled John Howell’s Fascination. It also has my name and Kevin’s signature inside. Visit Kevin’s WordPress site and click on “Order Fascination ” on the sidebar.

I would give this book five stars if it were on Amazon. Since it is not I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who loves fiction that is spellbinding and difficult to put down and who will be sorry to see the book end.