The Case of Billy B [Format Kindle]

I bought this when someone referred it to me. This is a great book. Very emotional and powerful true story. It is nice to read something that involves a father raising his son when the mother left, not the other way around. I don't see these types of stories very often. I would recommend it to anyone that would find themselves in a position of having to raise a son and protect him alone. Very touching and close to the heart.

I gave the first star for an original idea. Framing the story around a father raising his son alone was a good start. The second star was for effort. The author took on a challenge in telling the story from many different points of view throughout the book. However I think she bit off more than she could chew. From the begining all characters were uneven in their thoughts, actions and dialog. Begining with a fetus who somehow knew about dogs, God and sound proof rooms. The father seemed an unsympathetic idiot who deserved to have his son taken from him in about chapter three. It wasn't even the story which was just sort of pointless but the inconsistancies and poor editing that made this book awful. I can not comprehend how it has so many great review unless the Author had all of her family and friends post them.

The author recounts a true story of the struggles of a single dad, as seen through the eyes of several different characters, including the little son (Billy), the ex-wife (Carly) and an ex-lover (Stella). Cindy Vine is a an excellent story-teller and once you start reading "The Case of Billy B," you will not be able to put down the book until you finish it. Occasionally, I had a hard time believing that some of the events could happen in real life, for example, when Chris (the single father) went back to live with the dangerous and crazy ex (Stella) after he got fired from his job, once again, because of her shenanigans. Nonetheless, the different parts of the story are woven perfectly together and Cindy's writing style is crisp, colorful, and never boring. The characters are interesting and fully developed by the author. The Stella character is especially intriguing, albeit not very likeable. The two protagonists have to deal with various mental health issues, which will strike a resonant chord with the readers who have or know somebody with Autistic spectrum disorder, alcoholism, or post-traumatic stress disorder. There is some sexual content and strong language, that is why I put the words "for adults" in the title of my review. Some conservative readers may find that this book does not portray the family and gender relations in general, in a favorable light. One of the main characters, Chris, develops a distrust towards all women after being cheated on, deceived, and stalked repeatedly. He has a long string of relationships throughout the book, at one point changing sexual partners almost every night and becoming a sexaholic. Still, he dotes on his son Billy boy and shows remarkable devotion to the welfare of his child. In that sense, the book does show some wholesome family values. Overall, a very nice and enjoyable book.