Daughters of Men
by A.R. Draeger
published April 5, 2015
Devastated by the loss of her son, Rebecca is struggling to salvage her marriage to Jacob, a cold and detached pastor. When he goes on a men’s hunting retreat and does not return on time, Rebecca fears the worst. Jacob arrives three days late, citing bad weather and poor cell service as the reasons none of the men called home. Jacob appears healthy, but Rebecca is concerned with the deep gashes on his arms and is even more alarmed when he tells her that he stitched them himself. As the weeks pass, Rebecca begins to wonder what happened in the mountains. Jacob is not the same man he was before. While she is relieved he is no longer detached, she cannot comprehend why he’s become so flirtatious, so sexually aggressive. So obsessive. Jacob’s odd behavior mounts, and the actions of the men who joined Jacob on the retreat grow more and more strange, convincing Rebecca that the men who came home are not the men who left. Who are these pretenders… and what have they done with her husband?
Daughters of Men is the second book published by A.R. Draeger. I received this book for my honest review and to participate in this blog tour. My overall rating for this book is 4 stars.
A.R. Draeger’s writing style is hauntingly beautiful. I fell in love with her flow in Of Ocean and Ash a while back, and Daughters of Men is no different. The writing is very fluid, and smooth like creamy milk chocolate (seriously). It just works. You don’t get that very often from big named authors, and to find it in an independent author is something very special and I am very glad to have that chance to experience it.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this story. From the synopsis, it is known that a group of church men go off on a camping trip and come back different, but there is nothing explaining how they are different really. What makes them different? I was pleasantly surprised at what that difference was (and for spoilers sake, I won’t give it away). It was not how other stories in the same subject are usually projected at being. These men came back very creepy, and I believe I would respond the same as Rebecca had my Eric came back the same way…that or I would have just left the moment I saw that change in the bathroom. I would have just rand out the door and fled until my gas ran out and then filled up the tank and kept on going.
Daughters of Men is a fairly quick read. It starts out a little slow, but picks up pace once the men go off on their trip. There is definitely a lot of death in this book, so don’t get too attached to any of the characters.
My one major flaw with the book was that I got really confused at the end, I am still not really sure what the heck was going on to be entirely honest. I finished this book on Monday, November 2nd, so I have taken a few days to really think and process the information, but I still am not entirely sure what I was reading. I can’t and won’t say it was because it was unclear, it may just be because I am really exhausted, and there is a lot going on in my life, but I just didn’t follow the last chapter.
All in all, it is worth the read. I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this blog tour for Amber. I can’t wait to read other books of hers. If you are interested in other books of hers, check out my posting for the blog tour Of Ocean and Ash.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A.R. (Amber) Draeger resides in rural Texas with her husband, Josh, and son, Logan. When not writing or reading, she is watching reality TV shows or tromping through the nearby woods.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
littlebeesreads.com 