In this pseudo-sci-fi thriller, “The Donors,” Jeffrey Wilson makes his audience question the thought of feeling guilty about justified retribution.
What about an eye for an eye? How about pain for pain? Wilson opens his book with a horrifying scene that will make almost anyone with a beating heart feel immediate anger towards those who abuse authority, especially authority over a child. It is almost as if Wilson rips a parent’s most horrific headline out of current news, and then continues the story by writing what few will honestly admit is justified retribution.
The reader follows the path of two main characters, eerily similar to one another, despite their age difference. Nathan is a child who has endured more pain and horror in his short five years than anyone should in an entire lifetime. Dr. Jason Gelman begins to relive Nathan’s almost identical childhood as he encounters Nathan as his patient in a hospital that appears to have more than its share of shady police officers and overworked staff.
Two gentlemen who appear to be police officers, Mr. Clark and Mr. Smith, take it upon themselves to distribute retribution as they see fit. Although their methods are definitely unorthodox, even silently applauded, are they justified? In the beginning, Wilson’s audience will almost rejoice in the pain that is inflicted upon Nathan’s abuser. However, as the retribution seems to have no end, the audience, and the main characters, will start to question whether retribution is justified, even in the worse case scenarios.
With “The Donors,” Jeffrey Wilson does a fantastic job of forcing his reader to evaluate what exactly justified retribution is. His subtext easily debates the perception of who should decide whether the retribution is justified – and who should decide whether administration is even justified.
The Donors
Jeffrey Wilson
JournalStone (2012)
ISBN 9781936564460
Reviewed by S.G. Smith for Reader Views (10/12)
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