Review of The Ties That Bind Us

[Justine Ocsebio]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Ties That Bind Us" by Rhonda Jackson.]

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2 out of 5 stars

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The Ties That Bind Us by Rhonda Jackson is a novel that tells the story of a college student named Jan, who one day accidentally overheard his professor talking with a strange man in their school's computer lab. It turns out that Mr. Tallmage, her professor, is involved with selling NASA secrets to a Russian spy. Jan is conflicted on what to do with this information. She's afraid she might get into trouble, knowing that she's already struggling to pass her classes. Little does she know, a series of events will lead her to the ultimate perilous outcome.

First, I like that the main character is a relatable college student barely surviving college. I think it's interesting that she unexpectedly stumbled into an incident of a large scale, something that might possibly jeopardize national security. The plot was kind of typical of those revolving around Russian espionage. What I struggled with, however, was the way it was presented. The book quickly catapults you into the first chapter, showing the main character Jan and the inciting incident shortly after. The reader was left wondering what Jan's background was, as there was no introduction to her whatsoever. 

This is a very short book that feels more like a draft than a complete story. It is evident that exposition is severely lacking, as it feels like the gist of the story is only being quickly presented. The narrative suffered tremendously, with one plot point being abruptly disrupted by another. One time, the main character was curious about a mysterious instance. Instead of further thinking about it or acting upon it, she then decides that she should be thinking about her boyfriend instead. This happened randomly and was so poorly executed. The plot was being spoonfed with one character verbalizing what he was doing and what his motivation was, which was another case of poor storytelling.

After much contemplation, I decided to give this book 2 out of 5 stars. All the negative aspects mentioned above contributed to this decision. I didn't really enjoy the book and thought that the story still had plenty of improvements to make. The editing wasn't bad, though, as I only uncovered two errors. Readers who might be looking for a contemporary action and adventure novel might be better off picking something else if certain improvements aren't made.  

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The Ties That Bind Us
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[Emmanuel Menewe]

Truly short and straight forward story. It's not as descriptive and narrative as a story should be