Total Exposure

by JA Huss

I honestly believe that JA Huss has no idea what she does to her readers because I finished the book a couple of days ago and it has taken me this long to be able to competently be able to make sense of it all…the story was that good, where do I even begin!

In typical JA Huss style, this was anything but typical, she took everything I have come to expect from her and hitched it up a notch.

Total Exposure was a statement of finality, a clarification of what has transpired in the past and how those involved deal with finding a resolution to the specific pains that torment them.

I was totally enamoured with Ix (Ixion), a man that has a past that he has never truly been able to emotionally outrun and partially that is due to Jordan, when he reveals what has transpired between them I could feel the cogs in my head turning and the pieces start to slot into place, it might not have been comfortable but at least there was a clarity to what was going on at that point.

Ix is a watcher, a nomadic soul with more money than any one person should ever possess but no-one to ground him enough to share both it and his life with, a free spirit that answers to no-one but that does what he does for all the right reasons and for me I couldn’t help but hold on to the belief that this was a man with his heart in the right place but that just needed someone to sooth it.

Was Evangeline that woman? well, I will admit at first, I didn’t think so, this reclusive former child prodigy was…how can I say this…complicated and whilst I wasn’t sure that she was who he needed in his life, but I was absolutely certain that he was who she needed in hers.

Jordan hires Ix to watch Evangeline, in a complicated set up that was supposed to help her overcome her fears and get back into the outside world and eventually back to playing the violin. The rules from Jordan were simple…just watch…don’t talk to her, but Ix has other ideas and when his own plan begins to formulate it is difficult to determine who is helping who because the lines don’t just become blurry, they’re totally obliterated.

Jordan may have had is own plan on how this would all pan out, but little did he realise that what he wanted was never part of the equation, Ix and Evangeline shared something so much more than anyone could have possibly anticipated and that I’m still not sure that I fully comprehend. This was two souls on the lookout for peace…but did they find it?

Totally captivating, marvellously complex but serenely simple at the same time, this is one of my favourite JA Huss books ever and that is saying something…I mean have you met Ford!

BTW: do yourself a huge favour and read the EOBS at the back of the book, superb!!