Fractured
Persona
Author: Harry
James Krebs
Genre:
Fiction/Mystery
Summary:
A west coast structural engineer, Richard Fornek, awakens from a coma in a
North Carolina hospital in full possession of a lifetime of memories—including
the recollection of his rocky thirteen-year marriage—but not in possession of
his body. A glimpse in a mirror and the evidence of a driver’s license prove
that Fornek is trapped in the body of warehouse worker Daniel Curtis.
Frightened and enraged, Fornek insists that he is not Curtis, that somehow his
persona became interchanged with that of another man. To avoid being admitted
into a psychiatric hospital, Fornek has no choice but to live as Curtis;
including accepting his marriage to Curtis’s spunky wife, Elizabeth. Their relationship
develops, and it isn’t long before he falls in love with her.
However,
Fornek’s newfound happiness is decimated when he becomes the lead suspect in a
homicide when the Holly Springs police find the strangled body of Curtis’s
pregnant lover. All evidence points to Curtis as the woman’s killer. Fornek is
now facing the death penalty, and time is running short. Refusing to believe he
could be a delusional killer and dealing with the wake of personal destruction
that Curtis left behind, Fornek’s search for answers forces him to reveal his
true identity to his only confidante, a Baptist minister named Reverend
Walters. A mystery with many layers, Fractured Persona takes numerous twists and unexpected
turns before reaching a climax guaranteed to keep readers on the edge of their
seats to the very end.
Review:
Two strong plots could collide in this book, one being a murder mystery, the
second being an identity crisis of some kind – not the case with Fractured
Persona. Yes, Fornek
has to figure out why he is in the body of Dan Curtis, but once he becomes the
number one murder suspect a homicide investigation nothing else matters – that
becomes the main plot. Krebs does a wonderful job of
making the reader see it is more important to figure out who killed Heather
Grimaldi (the pregnant lover) than why Forneck is in Dan Curtis’s body. There
are several suspects that could have killed Grimaldi including Dan Curtis. The
problem is Fornek can’t remember what Dan did that night; so technically he
could be the killer in the investigation. There is also his new wife he’s
fallen hopelessly in love with, she could have killed her, and his two friends,
one with a real shady past. Oh
yes, there’s the Baptist minister, he has a secret too – too much
information. I don’t want to give
too much away, but this was a book that kept me on my toes to the very end and
had me change my murder suspect twenty pages before finishing, of course, I was
wrong, but this is what a good writer intends.
Now, the later sub-plot why did Forneck’s soul find its
way into Dan Curtis’s body? Krebs did not leave you hanging with that one, and
it brings up a good quote from a favorite of old Southern writer of mine,
Flannery O’Connor.
“The novelist always has to create a world and a
believable one. The virtues of art, like the virtues of faith, are such that
they reach beyond the limitations of the intellect, beyond any mere theory that
a writer may entertain. If the novelist is doing what as an artist he is bound
to do, he will inevitably suggest that image of ultimate reality as it can be
glimpsed in some aspect of the human situation. In this sense, art reveals, and
the theologian has learned he can’t ignore it.” Mystery and Manners
Again, I’m not going to tell you how Krebs answered the
question of soul jumping, but I will say the Dan Curtis’s Baptist minster could
not ignore the ultimate reality presented in the book. Krebs created a
believable world, not just in the mind of the Forneck, but in the reader’s that
went beyond mere intellect and hung on more than a small strand of faith – this
was a rope. I highly recommend Fractured Persona to a mature adult audience and
one more thing…
I’d like to add one word about the characterization of
Richard Fornek
who became a better Dan Curtis – ‘Great’ and he had a dog named,
Baloney.
I’d follow him anywhere.
What more do you need?
Fractured Persona can be found at Barnes & Noble, and
Amazon.
I have to say, this sounds like a scary book. Good review!
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