Virginia

Virginia by William Edmont.
Death always wins in the end.
Or does it?
The day Ray Shelby has been dreading most has finally arrived. The torturous battle against his wife’s cancer is drawing to a bitter close, and her disease is about to steal her away from him forever.
Devastated by his imminent loss, and with time running out, Ray strikes a bargain with a shadowy organization whose promises to cure his wife sound too good to be true.
And they may be.
For as the bill comes due, Ray learns he must choose between saving the woman he loves and surrendering his own humanity to an unfathomable evil.
a very good read with good Characters. Couldn't believe he would do that though. 4*. I voluntary reviewed an advanced copy of this book from netgalley

What a horrible novella! By which I mean, it's an excellent horror story. If I asked you what you would do to spare your loved ones from suffering, you'd probably say anything. That's what Ray says when asked if he'd like to save his wife, Virginia, from certain death from a brain tumor. And... this is a very short story so it would be giving much away if I revealed any more about the plot. It's just amazing how the author can say so much, and flesh out his characters so well, in just a few short pages. This story will keep my mind running for a while. Five enthusiastic stars!

How far would you go to keep a loved one alive? If you had to kill people, how many would you be willing to kill to keep a loved one in your life. Just how much exactly would you be able to sacrifice?
This is the dilemma that is the focus of this story.
How far will a devoted husband go to keep his beloved wife alive?
Great story. I wish it were longer.
5 Stars

4 stars

Ray Shelby is awaiting the death of his wife by cancer. Wandering outside the hospital, he meets a man who gives him a card with a number on it to call for “help.”

Curious, he dials the number. He makes an appointment to see someone.

He learns that in order to save his wife’s life he must pay the price; but what a price. What an awful little story. But I mean that in a good way – I think.

This story is well written and plotted. This is my first William Esmont book, but I do believe I’ll look into his other novels/novellas.

I want to thank Netgalley and Devious Productions, LLC for forwarding to me a copy of this devious little book to read.

Ray Shelby is facing the immanent truth that his wife is going to die in the next week or so from a brain tumour. The idea of facing life alone after nineteen years together with Virginia is almost more than he can bear. Taking a break from his round the clock vigil by her hospital bedside, Ray gets a whiff of cigarette smoke and sudden desire for a long forgotten habit takes a hold of him, leading him outside to a sterile patient garden that every hospital seems to have. There he meets Eli Wolfram, fellow smoker and vigil holder. Almost offhandedly Eli asks Ray how long his wife has got, and then hands over a worn business card that has a thirteen digit phone number on one side and a barely discernible crest on the other. They can help Eli promises, even the hopeless cases, and to ask for Rasmussen.

Withdrawing back to his wife’s side, Ray is then told by the doctor that rather than a couple of weeks, Virginia has hours to live. When Ray and Virginia first got her diagnosis they threw everything they could at the cancer, but without a lot of financial clout there is precious little they could do. With nothing to lose Ray decides to ring the number, believing that it can’t hurt to find out more. As vowed, Rasmussen is able to promise that Virginia can be cured, but it comes at a terrible price. Ray is going to walk away, but Rasmussen, the perfect salesman, touches at the deepest part of Ray’s grief. How terrible could it be, wonders Ray, one crime to rid himself of the heartbreak of losing his wife? He then makes an unalterable decision.

This snappy little novella has just the right amount of creep to it to be satisfying. Enough is said for you to be frightened of the cold and calculating Rasmussen. Yet there is the undeniable pull that we all feel to stop the misery of death in its place, to avoid the reality of dust turning back to dust. The desperation to avoid his wife’s death fair wafts off the page from Ray, real, vivid and palpable. The choice seems unimaginable, the repercussions long. Clever and twisted, this is a terrific little read for when you are in a slump and feel that you couldn’t possibly read anything. Disturbing.

Virginia is an extremely quick read but an enthralling one. You can connect with Ray, feel his desperation towards his wife's impending death. The coming to terms with her fate but at the same time not being able to perceive a life without her.

And then a stranger opens a door. What if?...

The way Ray is introduced to this mysterious organisation is quite well achieved. The way it develops sort of hints at something paranormal because there are things the organisation's representative simply had no way of knowing but, as is the way with novellas, we don't get closure on that front.

I wish Ray had been more curious about some things. (view spoiler)

There are some things that are justified by Ray's desperation. Others by his denial. So the author did manage a good balance between keeping the author interested in the story and justifying why we don't get to know certain things - Ray keeps fighting what is proposed and by the time he wants some answers he is unable to reach them.

Virginia is clever, disturbing and makes you deal with uncomfortable questions like how would you deal with the imminent death of someone who is really close to you and how far would you go to save them.
Recommended.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.