I have very mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand - I could feel the grief. Good development of father-son bond. The rocky beginning of a beautiful friendship strong relationship.

On the other - There is a clear split in the book.
Part 1 aka Before
- Solid and interesting. Somewhat predictable drama to set the plot moving (I knew right away what goes down, not many options there really).
Part 2 aka After, aka In comes Helena
- Also known as The Great Divide. I had a What happened? moment - and my suspension of disbelief came to a grinding halt. Was it the looming deadline? Some life crisis? Something else?

Before was enjoyable. After turned out to be a terrible disappointment. There's NO WAY a single talk could revamp a person so completely. NO WAY.

Not to mention that the ending was terribly rushed. And had a sleazy feel of a horrible Happily Ever After.
(Not that I'm terribly against HEA. But one has to draw a line somewhere. It's one thing when there's a feeling of Possibility lurking on the horizon. And quite another matter when HEA is sugary sweet to the point of inducing nausea or so detailed there's no space for Possibility or -heaven forbid!- Imagination.)

FINAL VERDICT: A LET-DOWN ( )