Blood Brothers by S. A. Harazin

". . . an emotional tale of belonging, responsibility and consequences."

The story is told through the eyes and emotions of Clay Gardener, seventeen-year-old recent high school graduate, who dreams of being a doctor, but with mediocre grades and no money he works as an orderly at the local hospital.

One day, after watching a teenaged girl die in ER, he confronts his friend Joey about a girl Clay had been dating. He finds Joey spaced out and violent. Unable to control him, Clay calls 911 and Joey is taken to the hospital where he lapses into a coma.

Clay is portrayed as a suspect, a villain, and finally, just a boy losing his best friend. During the days Joey lies comatose Clay searches to find what happened to him and who gave him the drugs that are costing him his life. Along his journey he unexpectedly makes friends with Sheriff Baker and comes to grips with his past in order to face a future that is not a bleak as he thought.

Author Harazin’s style leans heavily upon introspection, but never so much so that the reader is bored. Sufficient dialogue offsets Clay’s soul searching. The story encompasses only a few days, but the author uses flashbacks to establish Joey and Clay’s relationship and their long ago pact of “blood brothers.” The language is spare which adds to the feeling of immediacy in the pacing.

Hooking the reader on the emotions of his characters, Harazin attempts to give teenagers a “wake up call” about the dangers of drug use. At the end of the book, Harazin offers a section on where to get further information on drug abuse and related topics.

Reviewer: Denise Lowe