No time to wave goodbye

I can't say I've been waiting with bated breath for a sequel to Jacquelyn Mitchard's debut novel, The deep end of the ocean, 13 years ago.

Having enjoyed that book, which focusses on a family in crisis following the abduction and eventual return of their three-year-old son, I was keen to read the follow-up when I happened across it.

I'm not sorry I did - but I'm sorry Mitchard felt a sequel was needed. It's not nearly as engrossing as its predecessor and is overcrowded with characters and with references to the original story.

Twenty-two years after Ben was abducted, the Cappadora family is still in crisis. Mother Beth is fragile, father Pat finds solace in work and Ben - called Sam by the man he regards as his father, the husband of his kidnapper - has an uneasy connection with his birth family. Vincent has always felt blamed - and blamed himself - for Ben's disappearance. Only daughter Kerry, a baby when her brother was taken, seems relatively unscathed by the past.

Now the troubled Vincent has emerged as a film-maker, capturing hearts with his acclaimed documentary No Time to Wave Goodbye. The film, focussing on five families whose children have been abducted and whose fates are unknown, attracts unwanted attention too, throwing the family into a repeat of that earlier horror.

Despite the action, despite the storyline, I found it difficult to care about the Cappadoras and their plight. Read it, by all means, but read The deep end of the ocean first.

Rating - I give this 3/5
Not bad!

Get this from the library (link to catalogue)
Reviewed by Jan@ Ballarat Branch