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Title: Bluff

Author: Lenore Skomal

Narrator: Carly Robins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-03-13

Publisher: Lenore Skomal

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Suspense

Publisher's Summary:

"To the medical world, I was a host body, surviving only to bring a new life into the world. And while I wanted to die more than anything in the world, I never wanted this. No, I never wanted to cease to exist. This was the worst death of all."

Jude Black lives in that in-between, twilight place teetering on death but clinging to life in order to bring her baby into this world. Only she knows the circumstances surrounding her mysterious fall off the bluff that landed her in the hospital being kept alive by medical intervention. Only she knows who the father of her baby is. In this poignantly crafted literary novel, the mystery unfolds and the suspense builds as the consequences of Jude's decisions threaten to reveal everyone's deceptions, even her own. Bluff offers a sensitive look at essential questions such as the value of human life, the consciousness of those in a coma and the morality of terminating life support. At the core is the story of a tragically misunderstood woman who finds peace, acceptance, understanding, and even love on her deathbed.

Members Reviews:

Mighty 'Bluff' offers a stunning view of life and death

In her author's profile, Lenore Skomal says she wants you to "eat her books," and gobble I surely did as I read her latest book, Bluff. This intriguing novel will keep you on the edge until the very last sentence. Skomal is a master at the cliff-hanger (or shall I say, bluff-hanger?) -- I finished each chapter only to be left begging for the next. Word to the wise: Don't deprive yourself of the thrill of getting to the end by skipping ahead or you'll miss the intricacies of the plot and the depth of the superbly crafted and complex characters.

Skomal's non-apologetic portrayals of those characters are sometimes unflattering, but they do allow for empathy. Unlike in real life, we are privy to each character's inner-most thoughts, which allows us to best understand the motives behind the behaviors. At the heart of the story is Jude, five-months pregnant and left in a vegetative state following a tragic fall from the steep bluff behind her house. She is kept alive only to bring her baby to term, fully cognizant of conversations around her but without a means to communicate. Frances, Jude's best and only friend, suffers at her bedside, full of questions but no answers to the mystery of what happened and why. Frances too has secrets, as does her lawyer, Paul, and his wife, Mary Shannon, Jude's primary nurse, who finds an unlikely confidant in her dying patient. Jude's alcoholic mother, Gay, torments her from the grave, while her estranged sister April returns home after twenty years to tie up loose ends.

Skomal jumps squarely into some of the tough questions pertaining to life and death. She examines relationship dynamics, the ethics of choices and how actions can -- intentional or not -- ultimately affect others. This is an intelligent read -- the pages fly by, but the impact of the story continues long after the final scene.

Worth the trouble

As with other reviewers, I agree that the editing is problematic. But it has been quite some time since I have come across a story so intriguing that I literally could not put it down. This was my experience of Bluff. The use of different viewpoints made for rich and complex characters. This, I believe, is Ms. Skomal's greatest feat.