Book Review: Echo by C. L. Kelly

Book: Echo: A Silent Plea to Be Heart, a Desperate Cry to Be Found
Author: C. L. Kelly
Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company; ISBN: 9780310263043
Date Published: July 1, 2007

Product Description:

In book two of the Sensations series, Cassie Dixon's getaway to the mountains with her friends and their thirteen-year-old deaf son becomes a high-stakes search when the boy disappears. Danger stalks the slopes.

Synopsis:

The trip to the Cascade Mountains had been Cassie's idea. But what she thought was going to be a time to rejuvenate and relax with old friends may cost one of them their lives.

Cassie Dixon just wants a little time away to forget and to heal after her failed venture in the perfume industry. A camping getaway with the Fergusons and their thirteen-year-old deaf son, Cody, seems like the perfect solution.

Cassie watches as Cody grows increasingly restless, chafing under the suffocating protectiveness of his mother. Encouraging him to explore and to have confidence in his God-given talents, Cassie aches for the boy, knowing that hearing is both the audible and inaudible ways in which we hear each other – and God.

Then Cody disappears … and Cassie feels responsible. Even if she manages to find the boy alive, she isn?t sure she can convince him that God has a plan for his life. But the danger stalking close at hand may settle that concern for both of them.

I picked this book up for dirt cheap in the clearance section at either Mardel or Family Christian stores. It is not often a person can read books, fictional or otherwise, that has deaf characters or is about the deaf. The synopsis was intriguing and the price was right.

For what it is worth, I didn’t realize that this book was part of a series. I just picked it up and started reading it. You don’t really need to read the first book, Scent, before reading this one because it stands on its own.

I found myself identifying with Cody who is also deaf. The author had an empathy and understanding of what it is like to be deaf in the hearing world. The difference lies in the fact that I was born severely hard-of-hearing (HOH) and became severely and profoundly deaf by the time I reached 6th grade. Cody lost his hearing when he reached age 6. So, he knew what it was like to hear.

This book really begins when Cody is about to reach age 13. Cody is very intelligent and well-read even though he’s pretty much isolated due to Mother’s over protectiveness. Cody is a very good lip-reader and speaks well. His Mother and the experts wanted Cody to learn to sign so that he would get everything – total communication. Cody refused because he thought it would rob him of all that the world could offer him. He wanted to be anything his heart desires. So, there was a struggle between him and his Mother over his refusal to sign and over his dreams. He was deeply angry and withdrawn.

This book is not just about Cody; but, it also deals with the characters of both of his parents.

I don’t wish to spoil the book for any of you who have not read it. Suffice to say that I really enjoyed it. It is Christian fiction with suspense and is introspective. At least, it was introspective for me. By the way, the suspense part did not start until the latter half of the book.

My personal rating: 4 out of 5 stars. But then, I may be biased. I have a slight identification with one of the characters than most people would have.