The Unfinished Child


Fiction - Literary
376 Pages
Reviewed on 10/13/2018
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Unfinished Child is an accomplished work of literary fiction by author Charles D.J. Case. In a fragmented narrative that reflects the mind of our unstable narrator, we follow the life path of Aidan Benjamin Conway, a lawyer facing devastating consequences pending a corruption inquiry in which he is implicated. As his present day life spirals out of control, episodes of his past blend into the tale. We learn that his childhood was bizarrely traumatic, haunted by the loss of his baby sister. When Aidan was very small, his mother and father were destroyed by her loss, and this emptiness has haunted him long into his adult life, causing a monumental breakdown as he is driven to totally insanity.

As with most works of literary fiction, you have to be sure you want in before diving into this debut novel by Charles D.J. Case. For readers committed to detail, piecing together the tangled webs of threads that make up Aidan’s life story is a very rewarding experience, fraught with small, seemingly anecdotal moments that come back to haunt him in full living color. As the title suggests, Aidan’s broken childhood is riddled with secrets and extraneous moments that he doesn’t remember or understand, and trying to backtrack those as an adult seems to be his only way out of the descent into madness he is experiencing. Charles D.J. Case does a remarkably authentic job of replicating the disjointed, fractured way of thinking, and I’d definitely recommend The Unfinished Child to any reader ready for a serious mind game.