The Lucky One [Mass Market Paperback]

THE LUCKY ONE is another great read from master storyteller Nicholas Sparks. Here we are given a story with a slightly darker edge and far more suspense then his usual soppy romance. Dog lovers and fans of THE GUARDIAN in particular will appreciate this engaging romantic suspense.

One of the great (or not so great) things about Nicholas Sparks is that he doesn't always give you a happy ending and it was with this in mind that about half way through (just as the flood waters started to rise, secrets began boiling to the surface and I was completely invested in the characters and their budding love story) I began to get nervous for the ending. I mean you just knew something bad was going to happen, the clues were all there but the real question that kept me turning pages at a frantic pace was... to who?

Each chapter here has been written from a different characters POV incorporating Elizabeth; a divorced mother with a young son who along with her no-nonsense Nana run a dog kennel in their small North Carolina town, Clayton her ex-husband and the town sheriff (bully) comes from a influential family yet harbours some nasty little secrets and Thibault as our hero. An Iraq war veteran, Logan Thibault alongside his dog Zeus has walked (yes walked) from Colorado in an obsessive search for the unknown woman in a photograph he found during his three harrowing tours of duty in Iraq. He believes the picture to be his good luck charm and directly responsible for keeping him alive. In the end all the characters merge for a predictable yet ultimately nail-biting ending.

The last chapter is very, very sneaky with Sparks keeping you on pins for pages before finally giving up the ending of which I had no clue. I fell in love with all of these well fleshed out characters, each coming with rich personalities and history including several flashbacks. The love story is well done and as I said before not too soppy. Thibault is a quiet, tortured hero and just so damn lovely with Beth perfect as his caring yet tough partner. The antagonist is creepy and also well written yet because of who he is you can't really wish him dead. Sheesh, I even fell for the boy and the dog. So yeah, I highly recommend another Nicholas Sparks novel.

I found this to be an enjoyable and easy read. I appreciated the way the writer gave a chapter to each of the characters and thus their perspective on what was going on. Sparks doesn't always have a predicable ending and this didn't disappoint.

A good reading novel, kept my attention well during reading and a wonderful ending. A good choice for my reading