Published
by Enigma Books, 18 May 2024. ISBN: 978-1-91590534-5 (PB)
“ ‘How I wished I wasn’t trapped with him, that we weren’t
glued together in a nightmarish tandem!’
Sixteen-year-old foster child Jack Kennett desperately
wants to be part of a loving family and live his best life. There’s just one
thing stopping him – the other Jack Kennett; the one who’s sharing his body and
who threatens to ruin Jack’s life when he takes control of his host’s mind and
actions. Each time this “alter” identity asserts himself, Jack is unable to
resist whatever his dangerous companion chooses to have him do. Even more perturbing is that Jack often cannot
recall what has happened.
‘It was rare that I could see what Jack was doing or
remember what he had done.’
School friends and his foster parents see only one
teenager, they don’t understand Jack’s predicament and blame him when his “alter”
behaves badly. Over time what began as inappropriate
behaviour escalates to violent sadism and Jack realises that he, and those he
cares about, are in jeopardy. On the
brink of despair, he turns to the one person he feels he can trust, but is it
too little too late?
The plot of this gripping thriller
is tight, edgy and unpredictable as it explores Dissociative Identity Disorder,
previously referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, through the eyes of a
child who is living with it. Whilst the
subject is treated sensitively, there are some events that are both shocking
and disturbing as the book outlines Jack’s defilement, mental and physical, by
his “alter.” The novel is told through two first
person narratives. This allows both identities
to describe their battle and highlights the contrast between the host Jack and his
“alter.” Jack tries to subdue his
“alter” whilst the “alter” is determined to dominate his host, even to the
point of destruction. Particularly
poignant is Jack’s perception that he is somehow to blame for his dilemma. Jack and I is a well-researched, thought
provoking, and inspiring story. Absorbing,
unusual and highly recommended. ------ Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent Laury A. Egan is the author of five crime
fiction novels. She also writes, Fantasy, Gay Romance and general fiction. Her work has appeared in over 85 literary
journals and anthologies. The
Psychologist's Shadow , was published 2023.
Dot
Marshall-Gent
worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer,
then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating
from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties.
She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute
of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about
educational issues. Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar,
banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.
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