Second Skin

What a weird, fascinating book!!! It is not a book about Daniel Turner, but rather about his sister and her war damaged husband. The husband is suicidal and spiraling out of control and the only thing that seems to be able to save him is figuring out who killed one of his wife's students. From the beginning, the reader is taken on a roller coaster ride that never seems to end. This book goes off on different tangents at times and deals magnificently with the sufferings war veterans go through. The mystery and suspense are top-notch.

To say Second Skin is a powerful, thought-provoking novel is an understatement. It is a novel that leaves the reader raw and trembling, utterly aware of the depths of evil man is capable of. It is a personal tale, told from the perspectives of the various individuals involved. It is complex and messy in the way that life is messy.

Second Skin is a mystery, but it is not a whodunit. From the very beginning it is clear where guilt lies, even if you don't know the specific individual who performed the act. Good is in shades of grey. Johnny is a vet, broken by his time in the military, struggling to find his place. Lillian, his wife, is a teacher with a love of literature. When one of her students goes missing, she asks Johnny to try to find her. The next day, her body is found, and the police and family claim it's suicide. To appease Lillian and his conscience, Johnny goes to the scene and discovers evidence that Shaneel was murdered. His quest for answers puts him in the path of the wealthy and powerful Phelps family.

The Phelps family is chilling, because their wealth puts them above the law, able to buy their way out of any situation. When someone won't be bought or threatened, it is easy enough to pay someone else to get rid of the problem. Ordinary individuals are nothing to people like the Phelps family. Stephen Phelps, the family scion, is particularly disturbing. He is a rapist who feels entitled to whoever and whatever he wants, even the daughter he sired when raping his cousin as a teenager. Repeatedly he tells himself his actions aren't his fault. He has no conscience, readily abusing his wife and others. His father is no better.

As I read, i was so angry and felt so powerless. The Phelps family is fictional, but they reflect a truth that is ugly and frequently ignored.

Second Skin is a superb novel, dark and disturbing, but lyrical. Its effects will long be felt by the reader.

5/5

Second Skin is available for preorder and will be released November 1, 2015.

I received a copy of Second Skin from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Second Skin is a chilling piece of Florida noir http://muttcafe.com/2015/10/second-skin/
10/19/2015

Second Skin by Michael Wiley **** (4 stars)

An intriguing and exciting murder mystery

Lillian Turner is an English teacher who finds herself inexplicably drawn to one of her students, Sheneel Greene. When Sheneel is found dead, Lillian cannot help but be curious, and she and her Navy-veteran husband Johnny become increasingly embroiled in a mystery of dark and dangerous proportions.

I found it rather difficult to get into this book to begin with, but it was well worth persevering through the first few chapters, as the plot unfolded to become one of intrigue and excitement. After a while I found myself needing to know the truth about what happened to Sheneel, just as Lillian and Johnny were determined to find out. I hadn’t realised this was the second novel in a series, in which homicide detective Daniel Turner is present playing a secondary role. The book works well as a standalone, and I am now keen to read the preceding novel too.
Laura

A really good page turner. Who to trust? A good mystery read.