The Reckless Oath We Made

by Bryn Greenwood

I saw some good review of this book and thought it sounded interesting and it was.  It is a strange story but well told

The story is about a young woman Zee, who is struggling physically and financially.  She was injured in a motorcycle crash and is still in pain and paying for her medical bills.  At the time of her accident she had just told her boyfriend she was pregnant.  He is unhappy about it and dumps her.  She storms off on a motorcycle and ends up getting in an accident.  She is on pain killers and THC for her pain.

Zee is burdened with trying to support her 600 pound hoarder mother who likes her other sister better and doesn't appreciate anything she does for her.  She is living with and trying to support her sister and the sister's  young son.  To make some extra money she transports and sells drugs.  She feels her life is a total ongoing disaster and she isn't far from wrong.

Zee's father was a criminal who went to prison for some bank robberies and died while in prison.  Her mother never recovered from the loss of her husband.  This started her on the hoarding behaviour.  Zee's sister volunteers at a local prison.

One day the sister doesn't come home, Zee looks after the nephew, whom she loves dearly, as best she can.  Then the news comes that there has been a riot at the prison, two very dangerous prisoners escaped and have taken two volunteers hostage, one of who is Zee's sister.

The police arrive at Zee's mother's place with a search warrant.  They suspect the sister may not be a hostage but a willing participant.  They search the house dumping a lot of stuff outside and leaving it there.  I cannot imagine that police would actually do that.  Zee tried to calm her mother who ends up going to the hospital.

While these things are happening we find out that there is a young man who has been stalking Zee.  Gentry is a young autistic man who is fascinated with knights and chivalry and sees himself as Zee's protector and guardian.  Zee evenutally meets him and gets his help with some things.  She also meets is natural and adopted family.  The natural family use and abuse him, the adopted family seem to love him but perhaps overprotect him.  Gentry takes her into the country where he is actually working on building a castle and where he and some other friends gather to joust.

Zee with the help of an uncle who was a partner in crime with her father, manage to locate where the escaped prisoners and her sister are hiding out.  She, Gentry, some of Gentry's friends and her cousin work on a plan to go and rescue the sister.  They get to the remote location but things go badly.  The sister, as was suspected, actually loves one of the escapees and won't leave him even after he is killed.
Gentry is injured and one of his friends is killed.  Gentry ends up going to jail for being part of the melee.  Zee denies being at the fracus.  Gentry's family are furious with her for getting Gentry and her friend involved with the disaster.

Zee feels bad but she feels she has to look after her mother and fight to have some access to her nephew (his paternal grandparents get custody as both their son and now daughter-in-law are now in jail).

It seems very sad that poor innocent Gentry and his friend have to pay the price for this misadventure but it seems he is prepared to accept this punishment as part of his knightly loyalty to Zee.
Zee's uncle has given her some money he had from the bank robberies he did with her father.  Zee uses this money to help her mother, set up a trust fund for her nephew, and pay the mortgage on the land Gentry was buying and building his castle on.

It was a strange story but interesting and well written.