Title: Have You Seen Jeffrey
Author: C.Y. Stewart
Publisher: Cold Ridge Publishing (Self-Published)
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
Genres: Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: 34 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 4 Stars
Blurb:
It has been a month since it happened. At first, Steve and I talked about it every day. In the mornings, while sitting on our balcony, drinking coffee and looking down at the lush green valley below, our thoughts and discussion would manage to drift back to the mystery of what happened to Jeffrey. I checked the news every day. Among the media coverage of all the craziness happening in the world, I searched and searched, seizing onto the hope that I’d see a small, obscure, local article somewhere providing an update, or at least a clue, about Jeffrey. But no, nothing. As days went by, I feared that at some point, I would start doubting if it had happened at all, or if it was all in my imagination.
Imagination or not, Jeffrey is gone. I have no idea where he is. Here, please let me tell you what I still remember. Maybe you can make sense of this…
Before we start, please allow me to ask you to please keep an open mind. There’s no other way to approach this story.
Review:
Content Warning: Murder and a few brief references to the early waves of the Covid-19 pandemic in April of 2020. No characters caught covid, though, and I won’t discuss any of this in my review.
True friendships are rare but precious gifts.
Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that included Carrie and Jeffrey reminiscing about their childhood in China. Not only did it give readers a chance to get to know both of them better, it was interesting to compare their opinions of western media and culture as children to what they thought now that they were both adults living in the United States. I also enjoyed hearing about what they missed from those early years as that can also be an excellent way to figure out what a character values in life.
I would have liked to see a little more character development, especially for Carrie due to how many warnings she ignored about the possible consequences of helping Jeffrey. Yes, he was a good friend, but she knew something was odd about the way he contacted her in the first scene. I always liked her as an individual, but I didn’t always understand why she kept pushing past the many hints that everything was not as it seemed. Had this been explained better, I would have happily chosen a full five-star rating.
The plot twist at the end was exciting and well done. There were plenty of hints included early on about what was to come, but solving the mystery wasn’t as important as understanding why this mattered to Carrie and how far she was willing to go to reach her goal. As much as I wish I could say more about this, it would be too easy to accidentally give away spoilers if I did. Just know that she was a determined woman who wasn’t going to let anything stop her even after the big reveal was shared.
Have You Seen Jeffrey made me wish for a sequel.
Not everything in our world is poetic or beautiful by any means, but my unique talent is finding the poetry and beauty in situations that at first glance do not seem to have a silver lining in them at all.
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