MizNikki

*******************Possible Spoilers******************
Hailey and her mother, Lana, are living in the Grove projects after Hailey's father runs them into the poor-house, bails, and leaves them in serious debt, fending for themselves. Their relationship is strained and it doesn't help that the loan sharks still expect to be paid one way or another.
Tom, a man drowning in his role as caretaker to a wife he no longer loves, happens upon Hailey unconscious on the ground during his jog. Hailey doesn't remember exactly how she ended up there, but she does know that she will give birth to an unknown entity.
Returning Hailey to the safety of her home, Tom meets Lana and the attraction is instantaneous. Two lonely souls seeming to connect, a lifeline of potential happiness. Little do they know, the Grove doesn't do happy.

The characters:
Tom, who should have been a sympathetic character is a real asshole. I waz sympathetic to his plight amd thought him admirable until he started going on and on about his wife. The transition from his loving her to the demeaning and hate-filled thoughts were not smooth enough to make me commiserate with him.
Lana is wallowing in pity and the choices she makes are questionable, to say the least.
Some of the bad guys were pretty bad. Boater, one of the debt collectors, seemed to be the only character that really mattered and progressed.
The story was dark amd relentless in this aspect. Every moment of hope or light were snuffed out, marred by violence. The author was very descriptive, but vague at times, giving us glimpses of the paranormal and otherworldly that didn't come across clearly enough to understand. I might have missed a few things though as this read flowed one minute and came to a crawl the next.
This read wasn't bad. It just didn't come together for me.
An alright/okay read~