Novel Review: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
Review: Nicholas Sparks' latest love story, SAFE HAVEN, is easily one of the best he's written. His fans will love it.
Katie has moved to a small town on the east coast, where she is looking for a new start. She's scraping by, barely making ends meet as a waitress. Alex is a prematurely gray haird, ex-Army officer, who runs the general store while raising his two young children after his wife died. Standard sparks stuff, of course. The novel is set apart by the Katie's past. Once she tells her story midway through the novel, you'll be rooting even more for her. Carly, Alex's deceased wife, provides a powerful emotional punch not found in other Sparks novels.
Of course, the novel has the standard Sparks writing problems. He's often too wordy, and the use of up to three character point of views over the span of a couple paragraphs can confuse the reader. But, Sparks isn't going to change. Why should he with the success he's had.
SAFE HAVEN is a powerful novel from Sparks. The man in Katie's past and his descent into obsession is truly terrifying and frightenly realistic. Supporting character Jo turns in a few great moments herself. It is one his fans will enjoy and it will make a great movie some day. You must read this book
Description:
When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.
But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.