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    Mute Witness
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    Mute Witness
    Unavailable
    Mute Witness
    Ebook388 pages6 hours

    Mute Witness

    By Rick R. Reed

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The abuse of a little boy turns a community against a loving gay couple, and nobody comes out of it unscathed.

    Sean and Austin have the perfect life: new love, a riverfront home, security. Their love for one another is only multiplied when Sean’s eight-year-old son, Jason, visits on the weekends.

    And then their perfect world shatters.

    Jason goes missing.

    When the boy turns up days later, he's been so horribly abused he’s lost the power to speak. Immediately small-town minds turn to the boy’s gay father and his lover as the likely culprits. What was a warm, welcoming community becomes a lynching party out for blood.

    As Sean and Austin struggle to stay together amidst innuendo, the very real threat of Sean losing the son he loves emerges. Yet the true villain is much closer to home, intent on ensuring the boy’s muteness is permanent.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamspinner Press
    Release dateFeb 9, 2016
    ISBN9781634763455
    Unavailable
    Mute Witness
    Author

    Rick R. Reed

    Rick R. Reed is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than fifty works of published fiction. He is a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Entertainment Weekly has described his work as "heartrending and sensitive." Lambda Literary has called him: "A writer that doesn't disappoint…" Find him at www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his husband, Bruce, and their two rescue dogs, Kodi and Joaquin.

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    Reviews for Mute Witness

    3.5/5

    12 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Well written, roller-coaster of a ride. Suspenseful (even though the reader knows who the villain is from very early on) and a bit draining. The characters are believably flawed.

      It's a little bit too crammed full of trauma, though, and that made it feel a little like bashing my head against the wall (it felt so good when I stopped). I couldn't put it down because the writing was fantastic and I really needed to know how it ended, but, even as a parent who has nightmares about some of these very scenarios, I didn't really emotionally connect with Shelley or Sean.

      But it was a riveting story that I couldn't tear myself away from. Like a car accident, I just couldn't not watch.
    • 5/5
      Being a big fan of horror author Rick Reed, I was a bit surprised when I read his book Mute Witness. It was quite different than anything I’d have expected. The story dealt with a topic which is most disturbing, and at times I found it difficult to even continue reading. Eight-year old Jason Dawes is the victim of child sexual abuse. He suddenly comes up missing and is later mysteriously dropped off at a hospital emergency room where it is discovered that he’s been raped. The boy is so traumatized that he has been rendered mute. A mystery unfolds as authorities and family try to determine who is guilty of this horrendous crime against such a helpless and innocent little boy.Jason’s parents, Sean and Shelley, are divorced. Sean is openly gay and in a committed relationship with his life partner Austin. Shelley has remarried, and her new husband is Paul. The married couple has custody of Jason, and Sean has merely been awarded visitation rights.Due to the fact that Sean is gay, the narrow-minded prejudice of the small Pennsylvania town lends credence to ill-founded speculation that Sean may in some way be responsible for the molestation of his son. A series of heart-pounding, page-turning events ensues which take the reader on an emotional journey typical of Reed’s fantastical storytelling.The strength of this story, in my opinion, is the raw portrayal of the depth of parental love. The unconditional, all-consuming love that these parents have for their missing and then victimized child is touching and palpable. Reed’s ability to convey this emotion is remarkable and very convincing.The plot was fast-paced, and arguably a bit crowded. It contained so many shocking elements that it was almost unbelievable. These include two rapes, a kidnapping, a near-fatal automobile accident, a police chase, and even an afterlife paranormal sex scene. I was nearly out of breath just from reading it all. There is no denying, however, that it is an exciting read.Overall, I was indeed thrilled by this novel, and do not hesitate to recommend it highly. As I may have expected, it moved me to tears on more than one occasion. I commend Reed for having the courage to tackle this very contentious and potentially violable topic.Mute Witness is a must-read. I give it four-and-a-half stars.