A World Apart by Mel Gough
What an intensely emotional book...
I went in to this after reading the first chapter thinking it would be a typical bad boy meets cop and changes his way sort of book. How wrong I was!!!
When Ben is interviewing Donnie at the police station, he gets the feeling that the suspect is telling the truth. His instinct was right and he can't get the man's eyes out of his head...
For Donnie, it's the first time in a long while that anyone has been nice to him. He has his sponsor but he's a friend and nothing more.
Living with his brother isn't easy and he has paid the price.
When Ben falls back on his old friend alcohol after problems with his wife, the last person he expected to see at a meeting is Donnie.
A very tentative friendship develops with Donnie finding himself beginning to trust Ben, letting him see a little bit of his pain.
When the true depths of this pain are revealed it hurt, badly. The shock of finding out just how bad things were actually made me take a deep breath as I began their journey of love, acceptance and struggles with them.
This book takes us to some dark places that most of us will never get to see but the reality is that it is out there and you can still be loved, no matter what your situation is...
Absolutely brilliant piece of writing.
5 out of 5 stars
Sue x