The Double Bind

The Double Bind starts out by completely grabbing your attention. The story begins with the detailed attack of the main character Laurel. While she was riding her bike along a path near the forest, a strange van pulled over in front of her. She realizes the danger, but continues on her path expecting to ride past the van. When two masked men jump at her and catch her on her bike, Laurel screams. Her biking shoes were clipped into the pedals so she was attached to her bike. The assailants try to rip her apart from her bike but Laurel keeps her shoes tightly clipped in. She narrowly escapes the attack because a group of bikers came to her rescue. But the aftermath of this ordeal left Laurel reclusive and damaged. I love the beginning of this book because it leaves you hanging on every page and has my complete interest. The author writes this part beautifully and I deeply enjoy it.

The next section of this book explains how Laurel recovered by staying inside and sleeping for a month. Then as Laurel recovers she switches biking in for swimming and never nears the bike trail where she was attacked. She starts volunteering a few hours at a homeless shelter, which in turn leads to her working there. She meets a slightly disturbed man named Bobbie who always carries around a box, but will not let anyone see what is inside. One day Bobbie passes away and the box is opened. There are countless photographs inside and Laurel takes the personal responsibility to catalog and review each one. She finds some pictures of her summer house on the lake and the houses neighboring it. Laurel has a hunch that Bobbie may be the brother of one of the richest families that lives on the lake, and she intends to find out if it is true. This part of the books considerably slows down. It drags on at times and although the plot is interesting, she over explains things. I like this book somewhat, but I miss the action it contained at the beginning.