The Baltimore Review: “A riveting page-turner, grips the reader to the very end”

The Baltimore Review has published a review of Setting the Family Free, calling it an “engrossing read” that “raises interesting questions about dominance, trust, instinct and love.”

The reviewer (A Balanced Life author Patricia Schultheis) made a keen observation that is at the heart of the novel:

“Goodman reveals a disturbing truth about human relationships: none of us is the same person to two or more others. Just as each of us is unique, so each relationship between individuals is unique. In giving their impressions of Sammy, Goodman’s characters reveal those facets of themselves that responded to Sammy, but none answers the key question: What drove Sammy Johnson to collect wild animals? That answer Goodman wisely keeps to the one chapter told from Sammy’s point of view.”

What fascinates some readers annoys others, and there’s no getting around that. Schultheis found the few short animal chapters to be “awkward,” although another published review cited those precise sections, writing “he excels at making the animals in this novel believable and sometimes sympathetic.” Other readers have described the animal sections as “rare and wonderful” and “boring” and “fascinating.” This is just one small aspect of the book.

In the end, Baltimore Review  gave Setting the Family Free a riveting review, calling it a book that “creates a tension that grips the reader to the very end.”

Read the full review in Baltimore Review:

https://baltimorereview.org/index.php/blog/post/setting-the-family-free-by-eric-goodman-a-review-by-patricia-schultheis