Truly, Madly, Amy-Wilkinson-Fiction-Available Now

I’m a huge Kerry Wilkinson fan. A one-click psych thriller author for me. Therefore, I was equally excited and intrigued to see Truly, Madly, Amy listed as a general fiction/romance novel.

First, I have to commend the author for taking a step outside of the psych thriller genre. I imagine that it might get boring to write the same thing all the time. Or it might be challenging to come up with delicious plot twists that keep the reader guessing.

At any rate, Truly, Madly, Amy is a definite departure. And while I like the premise as a whole, I didn’t think it was entirely successful.

Now, let me preface the rest of this by saying simply because of the era in which the book is set, I had a hard time relating to the characters.

The action, aside from the last chapter or two, takes place in 1999. And while I thoroughly enjoyed the Prince song of the same title, by the time the actual year rolled around, I was approaching 30 years old. I was teaching high school, engaged for the first time, and going through many personal life changes.

Actually, now that I think about it, that’s probably one of the things that saved the book for me. My students at the time would have been the same age as Joe and Amy. I didn’t think about it during reading.

But it is probable that I understood them in a detached way – in relation to my students but not me. Anyway, that made it difficult for me to understand the characters’ points of view on things.

The story is not heavy with 1999 references either. There was no atmospheric nostalgia of pop culture that could have re-created that era. Good fiction set in the past usually has that aspect.

What the book does have, however, is an exquisite look at how much one person can impact your life. One person who is there at a pivotal moment, who understands enough to know exactly what needs to be done.

That’s what Amy does for Joe. It isn’t a big, sweeping gesture, it is more just a good person being in the right place at the right time.

I am still not sure how I feel about the ending. It reads as if the author is trying to work out the past few years via the characters in the story. I get it, I think. But it seemed almost too reflective and cynical for the rest of the story.

If you go into Truly, Madly, Amy with the understanding that it is more character-driven, you will certainly enjoy it. The author successfully captures the feeling of a summer of endless possibilities. I’ll be interested if the author jumps into plain fiction again.

Author Bio:

Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.

He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.