Karma: The sixth book in the Fragile Line Series by Sarah Dawson Powell

 Gripping Intriguing Compelling

Genre: Contemporary Fiction – with themes of substance abuse

Karma: Book 6 of The Fragile Line Series by Sarah Dawson Powell- author

There are people who are so conscious that they have committed such a terrible wrong doing that they reside in a constant fear of Karma visiting them when they least expect it… There are people who misguidedly refuse to believe in Karma and cease to care about retribution being sought for their misconduct, unfortunately, these are the ‘Teflon’ constructed individuals, who very often escape it’s intent… Very rarely do we ever get the satisfaction of witnessing the negative energy that may be unleashed on a disagreeable person. Then there are also those rare souls who have the conscience to really feel the guilt following their misdemeanours and, unable to live with the knowledge that any sort of reprisal hasn’t yet or won’t reveal itself and relieve them of that ever present feeling of responsibility for that act of wickedness, place themselves in situations where Karma will find them, unwittingly or otherwise. Ryan, Corey, Trevor, Jenny and Sadie all appear to belong to one of these groups, a toxic mix. A group of people, who each have very different levels of conscience, and level of accountability that they felt for the things that they did. They were about to find out that Karma comes in many forms.

I found ‘Karma’ to be a very different novel to the rest, and as such, I thought I would make my review different to how it’s been formatted for the last few books.

‘Mile 258’ are on an upward trajectory, and Sadie is no longer under Ryan’s influence, now in a relationship with Trevor. Jenny is at last pregnant with the baby that her and Corey, have wanted and she has Angel living with her. She is hoping to move to L.A with Angel, to be with Corey, before she is too far on in her pregnancy to fly. However, she isn’t the only one expecting a baby, Rainie, Eric’s wife is pregnant and, so is Evy, John’s assistant, with Ryan’s offspring, a fact he is none too happy about and Sadie doesn’t yet know…or does she?

A sequence of unexpected events are about to be released on the individuals, and although these events appear to be positive, could result in very unfortunate consequences for the unity that they now find binding them. Meanwhile, each of them still continues to make poor decisions and life choices fuelled by their feelings for another. An additional male is also thrown into the mix, giving Sadie more opportunity (as if she needed more) to cause more conflict within this very much male dominated band of backstabbers. History looks like it may also be about to repeat itself until an unexpected and unusual epiphany, once again reverses the dynamics.

Jenny has another agonising decision to dwell on, and this time it could change the course of hers and her daughter’s lives. She first confides in Sadie, a scene that I found hilarious as Sadie misses the very obvious problem but still fails to see the magnitude of the issue. Jenny therefore confides in an unlikely source. Corey is having a hard time deciding where his loyalties lie, seeking solace in oblivion, Ryan is trying to change the person he is, for the person he thinks he wants, but is it all in vain? Trevor has a narrow escape, although his inability to see it as such, causes jealousy and discord.

Eric is still not quite a central character, but much more involved in this book than number five, and although he is not a fan of Sadie’s and certainly doesn’t harbour any sexual feelings towards her, I think he has a certain amount of sympathy for the disruptive blonde. He seems to be the sensible one within the erratic and volatile ensemble but marks very clear boundaries for himself and avoids becoming too embroiled.

I had expected this book to end on a game changer for Jenny and was certainly not expecting the turn of events that unfolded, a clever manoeuvre by Sarah bringing her sixth instalment of this compelling series to an interesting conclusion. I am very excited for the next book and may have to read it sooner than I had planned!