Patrick Cusimano is a young man alone. His brother and father have turned against him after he turned in his father for a drunken hit and run in which he killed a small child. The town has turned against him because it took him 24 hours before he could turn him in. He works the late shift at a convenience store, and has fallen in love with his brother’s girlfriend.
Verna Elshere is a freshman in high school, the daughter of fundamentalist parents. She is the victim of school bullies because her father led the charge to have a popular teacher fired over teaching sex ed. She falls in with her sister’s friends, a collection of Goths who have dark plans for her.
Patrick and Verna are tied together by Verna’s sister Layla, a beautiful Goth girl who develops a strange fascination with Patrick. As he spends more time with her, she unknowingly puts both him and Verna on a path towards finding their inner peace, but not before they become involved in a dangerous plan.
Save Yourself is the third book from Kelly Braffet and it’s as dark and twisty as a great thriller and as compelling and rich as the best dramas. I picked it up to read a few months back for work, and wasn’t sure what to expect. This book enthralled me almost instantly. The characters resonate with emotional honesty and you can’t help but feel their pain as they struggle on their way.
I don’t know if this book will get wide reviews or huge publicity. But it should. This is the kind of book that deserves to be on a lot o year end top ten lists. It will be on mine.
