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<span style="font-family:Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;line-height:18px;color:#444444;"></span><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><em></em></span><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4993122-mary">Mary</a></span>'s review </p> <p class="p2">Mar 27, 11</p> <p class="p3"><span style="font-style:normal;"><em></em></span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s2">status:</span> Read in March, 2011</p> <p class="p4"></p> <p class="p5">The Hell of Divorce</p> <p class="p5">This is a story about the hell of divorce from the point of view of three men. They are angry, bitter, depressed, and lonely. They have lost their jobs, homes, and their children. Any money they eventually earn goes to child-support. They feel the Family Court favors women and they try to beat the system. These men did not exactly grow up in nurturing homes, which definitely adds to their outlooks on life.</p> <p class="p5">Within a few months, divorce turned three men into confused and bored women haters. David and Tony’s wives discarded them, both had cheated on them. Steve felt his wife measured him by his salary, which he increased with petty criminal activities. </p> <p class="p5">David, an innovative salesman; Tony, a hard working owner of a transport company; and Steve, a well-qualified and dependable accountant, are reduced to feeling useless and worthless to their families and society in general. They end up twisting their skills using illegal activities.</p> <p class="p5">The story begins in their birth city of Perth, Australia. The men move to Sydney, Australia where they all meet by chance, calling themselves The Three Musketeers. This is where the story develops. The reader experiences the trials and tribulations these men experience during and after their divorces. We listen to the ramblings of broken men who can’t be seen as weak. They don’t know how to talk about their emotions and/or feelings in a healthy way. We watch how they do handle life, which isn’t very pretty.</p> <p class="p5">Readers will have different opinions regarding how the story ends for Tony and Steve. David’s ending, where he meets his match, will have readers hoping for the best for him.</p> <p class="p5">The book is dark as the story is rough. Derek Haines strength is developing his characters, and he does an extraordinary job describing three distasteful men who deal with their circumstances in the only way they knew how. While doing so, he does offer his readers a different perspective in the difficult matter of the hell of divorce. </p> <p class="p5">Book Review by Mary Crocco</p> <p class="p7"><span class="s3"><a href="http://www.mrc-bookreviewer.blogspot.com/">http://www.mrc-bookreviewer.blogspot.com</a></span></p> <p class="p7"><span class="s3"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/thelvwriters/mary-crocco">https://sites.google.com/site/thelvwrite...</a></span></p></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><em>4.0 out of 5 stars</em></span></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><strong><em>A thought provoking read</em></strong><em> By </em></span><strong><em>Irish Eyes</em></strong></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 8px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><strong><em>This review is from: </em></strong><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><strong><em>Dead Men</em></strong></span></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><em>This is a tale of three men all dealing with relationship breakdowns which in itself makes it very different. As a woman I found it fascinating to see things from the other side of the story and Haines gets across, in very raw, real, terms the anguish a man goes through when he has to relinquish his children. This is a book that you won't put down and forget but will mull over for sometime afterwards.....</em></span></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;"><span style="letter-spacing:0px;"><em><span style="color:#363636;font-family:'Lucida Grande', LucidaGrande, Lucida, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;"><span style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal 'Verdana-Italic';"><em>5.0 out of 5 stars<br /></em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana, serif;font-weight:bold;"><em>A Good Read</em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal 'Verdana-Italic';"><em> By </em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal Verdana, serif;color:#002c82;font-weight:bold;"><em>Vivo</em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal 'Verdana-Italic';"><em> <br /><br /></em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 8px/normal Verdana, serif;color:#d16a24;font-weight:bold;"><em>This review is from: </em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 8px/normal Verdana, serif;font-weight:bold;"><em>Dead Men</em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 8px/normal 'Verdana-Italic';"><em><br /></em></span><span style="font:normal normal normal 11px/normal 'Verdana-Italic';"><em>The first pages of this novel read like a social documentary and hide the fact that a real tough story starts a little later. The lightness of the first chapters are in contrast to the rest of the book when the story develops and the characters become real and really less than pleasant. <br /><br />I was expecting a bitter male story, but was surprised to find that the story balances the reaction of all the characters in times of stress. Probably not the best read if you are in the middle of a relationship break-up as it is quite graphic in how each character reacts to his or her situation. <br /><br />There is a pace that develops during the story, and makes the last chapters a real 'can't put down' read. A really good read.</em></span></span><br /></em></span></div>