I don't normally review books, as my reactions to them are somewhat more emotional than cognitive and I end up sounding like I'm on some sort of high. I make an exception for this particular work of fiction not because it is so very good, but because it is not. This is one of the only 2 books I have ever actually returned to Amazon. I couldn't stand to have it in my house another second. It had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The ghost the of the tree that gave its life for the books' printing was postively screaming at me. The characters were flat, the dialogue was stilted, the relationships were abortive. If there was a rating in numbers less than 1, it would rate somewhere around there.