Book reviews by D.G. Kaye

Sunday Book Review – Watching Glass Shatter by James J. Cudney

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My Sunday Book Review for James Cudney’s – Watching Glass Shatter. An interesting family saga with lots of hidden secrets revealed.

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb:

After 40 years of marriage, Olivia Glass thought she could handle the unexpected death of her husband. But when Ben’s will reveals a life-altering secret, she suffers a blow no widow should ever experience.

Olivia learns that she gave birth to a baby who later died in the nursery. Instead of telling his wife what happened, Ben switched the child with another. And as if that’s not enough, Ben’s will doesn’t reveal which of their five sons is truly not hers.

While an attorney searches for answers, Olivia visits each of her sons to share a final connection before facing the truth that will change their family, and discovers that each of them has been harboring a painful secret, just like their father.

Olivia challenges herself to re-assemble and save their relationships. But will the secrets destroy their family, or bring them closer together?

 

 

My 5 Star Review:

This book was an interesting read from Cudney. I’d classify it as a family saga genre as the story evolves around the widow Olivia and her five grown children.

Although the blurb comes right out with the fact that Ben switched the baby, making it sound rather cruel and deceitful, I didn’t find that was the case, as the baby switch was done with consent from the birth mother – still a big no no for Ben not letting his wife know until after he died, but nothing shady.

The plot focuses on what happens after Ben’s death with the will, the baby secret, and then we are taken into the lives of each of their children. Each son has a cross to bear in their lives. We learn this through Olivia’s decision after Ben’s death to visit each of her children to spend quality time with them before the reading of the will. Through each visit, we learn about each of her son’s redeeming and not so redeeming features – their lives, their misgivings, and some very surprising secrets.

Throughout reading the story we learn what propelled each character to become ensconced into each of their dilemmas. Olivia learns a lot about her children she never knew previously. And not until almost the very end do we learn about the story of the baby switch, which somehow didn’t feel like the highlight of the story anymore as we got caught up in the drama of each of the character’s lives.

The story was well written with interesting characters – some of them drew in my sympathy, some left me questioning why they acted as they did. But with a nice and satisfactory ending, I enjoyed this book. #Recommended.

 

©DGKaye

 

48 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Watching Glass Shatter by James J. Cudney”

    2. I have been very lucky with reviews. I thoroughly enjoy the Glass family, almost as if they’re right beside me. 🙂

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  5. This sounds very enticing, Deb. I enjoy a good family drama story and one with so many secrets is bound to keep me turning the pages. One thing that seems strange is why an attorney would be investigating…wouldn’t an investigator actually do a better job of snooping into the past? LOL. Being a writer of fiction I pick up on these irregularities. Plus, I have so much experience with lawyers and know that they do not investigate. They review case facts and that’s it. Haha.
    Thanks for sharing, Deb. I always enjoy your reviews and I’ll add this one to my TBR.

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    1. Glad to pique your interest Lis. You may have misconstrued. There is no investigation, the lawyer was simply going through the motions of his client’s wishes with the will 🙂

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    2. Hi. Thank you for taking a look at it. I agree with Debby… the attorney isn’t actually doing the investigating. He’s overseeing it, but the focus is definitely not on him or on the actual search. It’s about the existing family relationships, and then when the missing woman is found, everything comes together / falls apart. 🙂

      Have a wonderful week!

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  7. Hi,

    What a wonderful review! Thank you so much for sharing it with your friends and followers here. I really appreciate it. It was my debut novel, and I am currently working on a sequel… it’s very exciting to see what happens with the family in the future. I’ll be sharing this everywhere now! 🙂

    J

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  8. Deb, I have read this book and another one by Cudney. It is a well-written complicated saga of a family, each character grappling with his own demon. While I have reviewed his “Father Figure,” I didn’t review this one probably because I didn’t like the ending. Negativity dominates both his books.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your POV Balroop. I do have to agree with the negativity, which although belongs to the characters, reflects of the pages 🙂

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    2. Hi. I appreciate the kind comment you made re the books, as well as respect your opinion on the ending. I thought the ending on this one had a much more positive spin than Father Figure, but I absolutely understand different interpretations. My cozy mystery series is much more positive and light. 🙂

      BTW, I have one of your books to read in my queue for early next month!

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    2. I appreciate it. I have been on-off speaking with a production company about the possibility of creating a movie and/or series to pitch to Netflix about it. It’s moving slowly but perhaps one day in the future, things will align!

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  11. Hi Debby – this sounds a fascinating book – and how great James came on and commented … excellent public relations/ cossetting blogger love?! No – that’s a tease and I’m serious … good of him. I’ve noted to read at some stage – thanks for the review … cheers Hilary

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    2. Ha! Yes… I used to blog a lot more, but with 6 books and other marketing responsibilities, blogging has slowed down. Although, I do write 2 or 3 book reviews each week. I tend to comment only on blogs now, rather than on book site reviews as I want readers to be able to publish whatever they want without worrying what I’m reading on the reviews. On a blog tho, I think it’s a free for all! 🙂 LOL

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  13. Sounds like an interesting read, Debby, with just the right amount of intriguing stories and twists. I guess the baby swap isn’t the highlight, because otherwise it wouldn’t have been part of the blurb. It’s a known fact and it seems more interesting to find out about the lives of the sons and maybe what led to the baby swap. I wish I had time to read this one!

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    1. You are on the right track my friend, but I’m not going to add any spoilers here. What I usually do when I’m interested in a book is head over to Amazon and add it to my list for future purchase. That way I won’t forget about a good recommend. 🙂

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  14. What a fascinating idea for a novel, so many different directions it could take.
    Thanks for sharing your review, Deb. it’s always interesting to see what makes for a 5 star for other readers, even when some things leave questions in your mind – it really goes to show the importance of strong characterisation that leaves a lasting impression.

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  15. Wonderful review D.J. I read this novel several months ago and totally agree with your review. Each character was uniquely multidimensional and as the plot played out, continued to reveal additional facets of their personality. There are always psychological reasons why humans do what they do. How the author was able to evolve each character’s diversely individual personality, was similar to keeping many plates above them spinning on poles. Commendable – I’d definitely search out more from this novelist.

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  17. Pingback: New Series: Q and A with D.G. Kaye and Promote Your Book – Featuring James J. Cudney |

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