My Dead Friend Sarah: A Review

Mere months into recovery, Max, an alcoholic with twisted control issues, meets Sarah – the same woman that for years he’s habitually dreamt will die after a botched abduction. "Doing the next right thing," a popular AA phrase he’s picked up in the rooms, means befriending Sarah long enough to warn her and hope she takes him seriously. But when Sarah falls in love with Max, his newly sober thinking drives him to choose his overly devoted wife, and he abandons Sarah – even when it condemns her to death. When Sarah goes missing, the NYPD suspects Max’s dream may have been a pre-crime confession. The truth, all of it, lurks inside of Max, but only by drinking again does he recapture the nerve and clarity vital to free his wife, sponsor, and himself from a life imprisoned by lies. (from Goodreads) 






I don't quite know what to make of this book. It was an intriguing story and I have never read a book quite like it. Both main characters are very damaged individuals and you get to experience a first-person perspective from both Max and Sarah. I was somewhat bored with the first half of the book as they are meeting one another and beginning their friendship. However, Part 2 moved much quicker for me, but was disturbing. As I said, I have never read a book quite like this, and that is mostly due to the personality of Max. It was illuminating and unnerving to read about his alcoholism, his lowest points, recovery, and relapses from his own perspective. 
I am not thrilled with the way this book ends, but that's probably because I held out hope until the very end that there would be some semblance of a happy ending. Note to self: When a book title is "My Dead Friend...." it's not going to end well. 
I give it a 2/5 - it was OK, perhaps not my taste, but definitely interesting.