When Robin Matheson’s husband is killed in Afghanistan, she has no choice but to pull herself together for the sake of their son. She finds some satisfaction in cutting ties with Tav’s obnoxious best friend, Cyril—a 500-pound hacker who didn’t even bother to come to the funeral.
Unfortunately, her three-year-old decides Cyril is now his best buddy, and Robin can’t bear to take anything else away from her son. A few hot dogs and video games won’t do any permanent damage… right?
Cyril doesn’t magically transform into a good person—or even a decent one—but he does prove to be a better role model than Robin expected. Gradually, she also begins to realize that Cyril may be the one person who truly understands the magnitude of her loss.
He also knows far more about her husband’s death than he’s been letting on.
Robin Matheson is just barely holding it together. Her husband, Tavis, was killed in Afghanistan, and parenting her three-year-old son Seth is challenging. One of the few people Robin knows is Tavis's best friend Cyril—a basement-dwelling computer geek—whom Robin wants little to do with. But Seth has latched onto him as his new best friend, and anyone who helps Seth grieve for his father is a plus. When unsettling details about Tavis's death arise, Cyril steps in to assist—and the consequences change everything.
VERDICT Strong characters and a twisty plot offer plenty of appeal, but Robin and Cyril's uneasy alliance-turned-friendship will especially resonate with readers.
