I took a chance with a slim, Young Adult novel by a writer I've never heard of before. Usually, this sort of thing ends with me throwing the damn thing at the wall. Not with Darlene Ryan's slender novella. Instead, I found myself sucked into it quickly and couldn't put it down (might have finished it last night had it not been for the responsible decision to sleep).
The story follows Daniel - Danny Boy - as he searches the night for Mac, his friend and love interest, after he learns that she has been saying goodbye to all her friends and giving her prized possessions away. Fearing the worse, he's determined to find her before its too late.
Where there were cliches I could live without, the story packs so much in its hundred-and-nine pages. From pain to bullying to suicide, Darlene Ryan invokes teenage problems that are so universal it's hard for an older reader (such as myself) not to see a reflection of a past long forgotten. If there's one book to purchase for your teenager son, daughter, niece, or nephew, let it be this one.
Cuts Like A Knife is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Thrift Books. An e-book copy available for Kindle and Nook.
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