Sympathy

In case you’ve missed it, I’m a Jordan Castillo Price fan. Sympathy is not your usual JCP story, though. I liked it, not saying I didn’t, but there are no ghosts, no vamps, no paranormal stuff.

There is this house, and I expected it to be a haunted house kind of story, but it’s not that either, not really.

Anthony Potosi runs a gardening business with his brothers, but they don’t really get along. Two and half years ago he was in a car crash that ruined his hip and killed their father and they’re all dealing with that their own way.

One day Anthony is to deliver some plants to an old Victorian house he and his brothers believed to be haunted when they were kids. He’s still creeped out by the house, but the artist living there intrigues him.

He tries not to let his limp show as he delivers the plants, but David, the artist, knows more about Tony than he’s aware of. Their paths have crossed before but Tony didn’t notice.

It’s short and sweet and while David’s sculptures gave me some chills LOL, this is a contemporary story.

books2read.com/Sympathy *

It took Anthony Potosi years to recover from the accident that claimed his father’s life, and doctors told him he’d never walk again. He proved them wrong. Now he’s back at the landscaping business, Potosi and Sons, he shares with his two older brothers—but they seem more interested in getting Anthony to sell out his share than in celebrating his recovery.

The oil-and-water relationship between Anthony and his brothers is hardly new. Even when they were kids, Sal and Chip delighted in terrorizing their baby brother with stories like “The Hook,” complete with visits to the abandoned Victorian a half mile down the two-lane.

Now Anthony towers over his brothers…but he’s still the youngest. When the new owner of the Hook House calls an order in, they take a little too much satisfaction in sending him to face his old fears. And learning to open up again to trust, desire—and maybe even love—is far scarier than The Hook.