What Child Is This?

I went to my friend's house months ago and picked two books from her library. Just yesterday, after having no electricity for a while, I decided to look through my school books when I found this book I had collected. The title wasn't catchy, but after reading the brief synopsis on the back cover, intrigued me enough to delve deeper.

For a moment , I felt as though I was in the author's head while reading this book but that illusion shattered, bringing me back to the sad reality that I'm just the reader when I couldn't foresee the plot twist that awaited me in the final chapters.

What Child Is this authored by Karen Young is a novel that delves into themes of domestic abuse, love, fear and pain. The story unfolds after a patient named Phyllis Long, seeks treatment at the hospital where Dr Hamilton, (also known as Keely), and Dr Luke Jamison work. Her situation in my opinion was that of “if you need help, blink twice” because from the look of her situation , she needed help but just couldn't own up to it as her husband who made a fuss at the hospital possessed traits of being an abuser.

Dr Hamilton, adept at handling patient affairs advised Phyllis to take precautions by leaving her marriage and even made her speak with Dr Barlow, a minister whom she thought could talk sense into the woman, but Phyllis remained fearful, believing her husband would find her no matter where she went.

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Days later, on a chilly night, Phyllis arrived at Dr Hamilton's house with her four year old son, Matthew.

Phyllis in despair and desperation asks Dr Hamilton to keep Matthew until it's safe for her to return for him as her husband, Billy, was on a rampage and she swore he'd kill her and her son if he found them. So, until it was safe, someone trustworthy had to keep Matthew. Phyllis had tried reaching out to Dr Barlow, the minister, before going over to Keely's but he wasn't at home so she asked Keely to take Matthew and when she's able to reach Dr Barlow she should beg him and his wife to keep Matthew for her until it's safe to return for him.

With her that night was a gun which she thought was a good self-defense tool. Keely had no choice but to help the poor woman who looked completely torn apart that night.

That same night, Luke Jamison, learns all about Phyllis's escape plan but Luke is against Keely taking Matthew to his uncle, which is Dr Barlow because he was sure they hadn't gotten over the death of their daughter and wouldn't be open to welcoming another person's child.

True to Luke's thought, the Barlows, especially Mrs Barlow, weren't receptive in any way. She was still mourning the death of her child and didn't want any child to occupy that space in her heart nor that of her husband.

It was now left for Keely to take care of the four year old and to make sure he was safe as he kept reminding them of how leery he was of his father Billy. Luke swore he would never get involved with a child but as Matthew and Keely are now involved, things took a different turn.

Days later, news reaches Keely and Luke that Phyllis Long has been murdered and obviously the next target was Keely, as someone began stalking and threatening her life, asking her to return his son.

Keely becomes extremely scared for her life and that of Matthew and involves the police. Billy Long is later apprehended by the police but he denies being the one that murdered Phyllis Long and then the question arose, who killed Phyllis Long if not Billy Long? At this point, the novel reached its climax and my heart raced erratically as I tried to guess who the murderer was if it wasn't her husband, Billy.

There were other secrets which Phyllis didn't disclose to Keely, and it was up to me to find out by reading till I uncovered the secret like the reader-detective I became at that moment. I became a detective because I was also trying to connect the dots to figure out who would have murdered Phyllis Long if not her abusive husband Billy but to be honest I couldn't guess my way through it.

The fun part of this novel is the thrills I got while reading it. I liked that I couldn't guess my way through it. I liked the hunger I felt in my stomach to uncover the secrets. I was almost forced to turn to the last page but I had to discipline my hunger by being patient lest I missed an important part of the story.

Another thing I liked was that despite the bad happenings in the novel, the author skillfully weaves romance amidst the suspense, providing a thrilling yet emotional experience.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely! It's a moving story that entertains in ways one wouldn't have imagined. You should grab a copy to find out who the killer was. Hehehe. I didn't want to run spoilers all the way to the end so as to not ruin the story for anyone interested in reading it.