Guilty

Creative and daring, but it missed the emotional tenor after they found him in his new home. Think the Tim stuff was a weird distraction. Fine have him f$ck her once, send the photo and then fade to black once he got released. Tim was a stupid misdirect. As was the whole premise that her f$cking Tim once when she was lonely, hurting and vulnerable was so how the main course. Compared to the rest of the hellish situation and him being cut off at the knees, that was a molehill on a mountain. She had filed, severed him from her and her daughter's life, and she screwed Tim once. Big deal. At least comparatively speaking. But the emotions portrayed the MC are just odd later on the story. He woukd have PTSD from his experiences and his abandonment. I coukd se forgiving the daughter. She is 16 and believed what society and her mother and grandparents were telling her. Thr parents? Screw them. They had 40 some years to know the man he was. As he said they could have said they are under a lot of pressure and can't help much now. But Megan? Sure she comes off as massively contrite and willing to do any penance. And in reality he probably IS better of with her in the end. But getting yo that stage woukd be hellishly rough due to his trauma and the nasty divorce. Understanding what she wrnt through and he went through woukd need to be mediated by a counselor. The emotional pitch should have been 10 times higher to reflect real life imho. I stead it wad just kind of limp and bedraggled. And thr reconciliation by her stalking was just to fast and too simple. Seriously he didn't even communicate with her about his time in jail for 5 months. How he looked over and over to commit suicide but had no recourse. How thr lawyer wad a joke. How they all railroaded him. Claiming he had a weapon - his pliers and wrench. There is now ay they get back together without her clearly communicating what she was told, felt, and why she did what she did. There is a bit of that but it is terse. But there is also no way they reconcile without him fully venting his spleen about the betrayal of trust and the abandonment of their love. One could make the counter argument that they got swept up in the media and social frenzy but their actions were no different than watching a large mob force him to crucify him without lifting thrn lifting a finger. I am not saying (for some people) that reconciliation would not be possible, but not so easy and not without considerable counseling. And he needs major therapy. NOT just watching waves. Karen was a saint. And while Megan was not evil, she did not remotely even try to question him. He was immediately guilty in her eyes and those of the others. Cannot see the relationship with the parents ever be the same. Cannot see any desire to be anywhere with the friends. So the daughter. Sure. Hard but not unreasonable. Megan? Maybe. But only if a lot more emotional fireworks, lengthy time gap, and serious counseling and therapy. Thr parents? Not much probably. Some platitudes but a strained relationship until they die. Maybe some facade for them. For the friends. Nothing.

For me this is four stars, but if the distraction had been removed at an appropriate time and the emotional falllout had been remotely realistic, then even if a reconciliation (not a RAAC, everyone suffered (except Tim)), this would have been a stellar 5 stars. Too bad. A missed opportunity from a talent writer.

The raac loses 3 stars. Look...a well written reconciliation is fine, but not a far fetched raac.

Bizarre...

Five stars for the original concept of the story. One star for the unbelievable RAAC at the end. No possible way to EVER get back with his ex-wife or family. They are truly despicable people.

A little difficult to like a story where everybody is a piece of shit. Well, Karen excepted.