{"id":11414,"date":"2021-11-08T10:40:44","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T17:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=11414"},"modified":"2021-11-08T10:40:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T17:40:44","slug":"the-perpetual-now-by-jerome-j-bourgault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=11414","title":{"rendered":"The Perpetual Now by Jerome J. Bourgault"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Gripping, powerful, and unforgettable\u2026 An emotion-packed must-read.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bourgault infuses his exceptionally well-built world with small town intrigue, old secrets, treacheries, and human drama in his deeply engrossing debut. Ferguston, Ontario. 12-year-old Justin Lambert has seen his father struggling with the decade-old mysterious disappearance of his mother. Justin doesn\u2019t remember his mother much but it pains him to see his father suffering. Being an introverted, biracial kid in an angry little town full of dark secrets, Justin generally prefers books to people. But when 9-year-old Billie enters Justin\u2019s life, he realizes he relishes the tender bond he shares with the young girl. But Billie is not what she seems on the surface. A chance occurrence results in Justin stumbling on evidence, opening a way for his mother\u2019s case to be reopened. When David Raymond, the only person of interest in the case, learns about it, his anger is ignited. Now Justin\u2019s life is in danger, but he is not sure if Billie will help him or not. Bourgault\u2019s intricate plot winds and races from beginning to end, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. He takes his time building the town and characters\u2019 backstory, and his sharp, poignant writing depicts the events leading up to and following Justin\u2019s mother\u2019s suspicious disappearance with Justin and Billie\u2019s relation at the center. The characters, be it major or minor, are authentic and feel wholly realistic in their interactions. A litany of painful topics such as bullying, mental illness, trauma, grief and loss is handled with a deft touch. At the same time, Bourgault also examines how hard it can be to come to terms with an unsolved disappearance of a loved one. The narrative moves at a measured pace, and the intelligent prose evokes raw emotions of uncertainty, fear, grief, pride, and love. The pacing of the book is excellent; there is a plenty of nitty-gritty of Justin\u2019s life, but Bourgault neither loses the momentum nor the focus. The tension remains high with relentless suspense in the back, particularly about Billie\u2019s real identity and motive, and readers won\u2019t get a full picture until the very end. The ending is both heartfelt and unexpected. Justin\u2019s journey to find his own place in the world while trying to come to terms with his mother\u2019s tragic disappearance is tense and powerful. Fantastical, with just a right dose of SF and fantasy, this novel lives up to its goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Perpetual Now<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jerome J. Bourgault<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tellwell Talent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pub date March 13, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN 9780228822837<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price $24.99 (USD) Hardcover, $5.25 Kindle edition, $6.60 Paperback<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gripping, powerful, and unforgettable\u2026 An emotion-packed must-read. Bourgault infuses his exceptionally well-built world with small town intrigue, old secrets, treacheries, and human drama in his deeply engrossing debut. Ferguston, Ontario. 12-year-old Justin Lambert has seen his father struggling with the decade-old mysterious disappearance of his mother. Justin doesn\u2019t remember his mother much but it pains him to see his father suffering. Being an introverted, biracial kid in an angry little town full of dark secrets, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":11415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[7223,91,3328,178,7224,1136176,91586,1473,1008073,856121,309,10615,349,43244],"class_list":["post-11414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-fantasy","tag-indie-books","tag-literary-fiction","tag-reading","tag-review-blog","tag-review-website","tag-reviews","tag-science-fiction","tag-writing","tag-ya"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-2Y6","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/perpetual-now.jpg?fit=324%2C500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11414"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11424,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11414\/revisions\/11424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}