An Unbalanced Force
An Unbalanced Force
His explanation didn't exactly help me understand why those lies were necessary, but it did get me noticing how often my father strayed from the truth.
Sometimes I knew because he'd give me a wink or a grin, like when he answered Mom's questions about how she looked: her hair, her clothes -that sort of thing. He gives a smooth compliment, my dad, never over-the-top, always including some specific detail. It was a bit troubling, the way his insincerity pleased her.
Other times, I could just tell he was lying. I learned to recognize a certain look in his eyes, when he didn't quite seem to be present in the conversation.
I suppose it had bothered me before now, but only a little bit. I'd never considered Dad's "storytelling" as any kind of big deal. Everyone lies sometimes, right? And there didn't seem to be any actual harm in the ones he was telling.
This was different. Different in a way that made my stomach hurt, almost like it did the first time Nora broke up with me. It was the kind of upset that messes with your whole system, throwing everything out of whack.
I needed to find out what was going on. If I had to confront my father at some point, I would, but not until I had some solid proof, something that would force him to tell me the truth.
Ethan is a 17-year-old who has good friends and no money worries, thanks to his well-to-do family. Other than his on-again, off-again romance with Nora, Ethan's world is relatively calm and happy. His dad has given him a new bike; there are plans afoot to visit Machu Picchu. But Ethan's stable world is rocked when he sees his dad downtown with a couple of other men,
just after his dad has supposedly left on "an out-of-town business trip".
This coincidence gets Ethan thinking and asking questions about his dad's business which Ethan has never really understood and which seems based on secrets of some sort. Ethan is strong-willed and determined and has a solid sense of right and wrong. Somehow his dad's little fibs seem to be more egregious than Ethan ever realized. Ethan understands the importance of
teamwork and so calls on his friends Owen and Aki and even girlfriend Nora to help him get to the bottom of what's going on with his dad.
The story is filled with suspense, tension, and danger as Ethan works his way through the moral and ethical dilemma presented by his dad's actions. The book has elements of the best detective fiction as Ethan hires a private eye, tries to tail his dad and some of his dad's 'clients' and even sets up stakeouts at points in the book. Is his father truly telling lies to cover up some terrible actions, or is Ethan misinterpreting what he sees and hears? As the back cover states, "To catch a liar, he must become a liar." Ethan isn't comfortable with this role, and yet he is driven to find out the truth and deal with whatever the consequences happen to be.
Sherrard keeps her readers on the edge of their seats while Ethan digs for the truth about his life. The final chapter is an epilogue, set eight months after the events of the story. Readers only then comprehend the results and repercussions of the decisions and actions Ethan has taken.
An Unbalanced Force begins with Newton's first law of motion: "An object at rest
remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion at the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." Ethan is, indeed, an unbalanced force and readers are swept along by the nail-biting suspense he creates.
Ann Ketcheson, a retired teacher-librarian and high school teacher of English and French, lives in Ottawa, Ontario.