At Night We Played In The Road is Chantelle Atkins’s finest work. Considering how prolific this relatively young author continues to be, having now penned 23 works published on Amazon, that is saying something. Still, her writing skills continue to develop and mature, and this latest accomplishment expands her proclaimed milieu beyond that of the Young Adult Genre. Specifically, this book delves deeply, comprehensively, insightfully, and perceptively into the psychological dynamics of brotherhood, mental health, and society’s underbelly. Ms. Atkins may yet be dealing with young adults as her protagonists, but her treatment here acknowledges her maturation into true wisdom and heightened perspective. To convey these qualities so effectively in writing is a significant feat for any author.
In this most recent addition (a stand-alone companion to her 5-book series, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side), Chantelle Atkins introduces two of her most engaging, complex, and exciting characters - two brothers linked by family conflict, illegal activity, and lifelong dynamics gone very bad. Indeed, we are introduced to them when they are reunited with a gun pointed at the head of one. With a well-timed, contrapuntal revelation of “then” and “now” events, we learn how mutual dependence, a neurological disorder, and an unnatural but unavoidable culmination of early life encounters intimately and intricately bind Alfie and Tommy. These all lead to the story’s beginning and outcome: a telling of why that gun is pointed at Tommy’s head and what he and Alfie plan to do about it. A gripping and compelling ride from start to finish.
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