Life Support Review

Life Support by Robert Whitlow is truly an intriguing novel. From the very first chapter, I was hooked. I wanted to know what happened to the characters – all of them. Life Support is a legal thriller — a story about the law, love, hate, rejection, deceit, trust, manipulation and how God’s love can overcome a hardened heart.

Alexia Lindale is an attorney. Aside from her career and her pets, there isn’t much for her in the small town of Santee, South Carolina. She’s a self-sufficient woman who longs for more deep down inside.

The tag line for this novel is: How can Attorney Alexia Lindale support the wishes of her client when the goal is a near-certain death?

Life Support centers on the life of Baxter Richardson. He seems to have it all. But then he plummets off a cliff and his life and the lives of everyone in the story are literally changed forever. Alexia is hired to represent Baxter’s wife, Rena, in a case against Baxter’s father, in which she wants to unplug Baxter from life support. His father wants to use his legal rights to overrule her wishes. Everyone connected to Baxter has selfish motives for wanting him either dead or alive. No one can agree, not even the doctors, on what to do with him. He’s a pawn in the Richardson family game. People are easily manipulated and bought. The interesting thing is that everyone seems to think that if Baxter’s life support is terminated, he will die.

Of course, there is more to the story than just the Baxter Richardson case. Alexia Lindale has her hands full with career complications, other clients, her life outside of work and her softening heart. So caught up in living the life of an attorney, she never expects the changes that begin to occur in her private life.

Robert Whitlow puts some awesome twists in this book. He also uses symbolism quite well. His characterization is amazing. I like his attention to detail without overdoing it. He leaves a lot to the imagination. He makes you care for the characters and some of the events that happen in the book actually caused me to feel for them. It was very real.

There are questions raised in this book that do not get answered and I was glad to know there is a sequel. At first I thought the sequel was just about Alexia, the attorney, and was relieved to know that it was the continuing drama of the Richardson family. There is so much growth and change that needs to occur in all of them that the story simply could not end with one book. I immediately ordered the follow-up, Life Everlasting.

This is the first book I have ever read of his and plan to read all of them!