Cure or curse?

The Cure

By J. G. Faherty

 

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Pub. Date:  May 5, 2015

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

While reading The Cure by J. G. Faherty, I found myself questioning the idea of miracles. You don't have to be a theologian to realize everything worthwhile in our life comes with a price. When the impossible happens, we acclaim it as a miracle yet in our karmic universe do we really think that which is not earned by us will not exact a payment somewhere in the future?

That gets us to the plot of Faherty's very exciting and pleasantly exhausting novel. Leah DeGarmo is a veterinarian who at a young age discovers she has the gift to cure. But her gift has a dark side. What she cures goes into her and she must pass it on to another before it kills her. She uses her talent by curing the animals in her clinic and passing it to older terminal ones, never using it to heal humans less someone discovers her gift. yet once she is put into a public situation that forces her to save a young policeman's life, others find out and scheme to use her for their own needs. As she and the officer are placed in danger, she learns more about her skills and much of it is darker and more terrible than she realize.

Faherty doesn't miss a beat here. He knows how to move the story while building the characters of his protagonists into more than one dimensional fodder. The heroes are likable yet vulnerable and the villains are..well...they are fairly nasty. There is a romantic tinge to the story as Leah and her new officer friend John learn more about each other and become enmeshed in seemingly unending peril. Yet for the most part, The Cure is pure supernatural suspense thriller with a good portion of horror thrown in to scare you. It is a great summer read but, as mentioned at the beginning, it does seem to evoke some interesting themes as we find out more about her powers and discover others' reactions to what could either be a tool for good or a weapon. Here are some other points to ponder. Does our talents make us what we are? Does the way we use our talents forever mold us into what we become or can we reverse it if we choose? Is Free Will a gift or is Free Will a bitch?

So what I find in The Cure is an enthralling supernatural thriller that is a entertaining roller coaster ride but with a little philosophical leprechaun that keeps poking me in the ribs while I enjoy my roller coaster ride of a read. I like that feeling and I think you will too.