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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
The first half of the book was a solid 4 stars, but then we get to the twist, which I had guessed after the first chapter, and because of that I felt a bit let down, but a decent read overall!
Pettersson's novel is a great summer read. I'd compare it to a beach read, but that does a disservice to the quality of her writing. I would draw the comparison because of the compulsive nature of the book: it's cliche to suggest that it's hard to put down, but there's such a brutal elegance to Kristine's peril that I found myself continually promising to only read for a few more minutes and then discover an hour had passed.
The plot itself is pure potboiler: Kristine and her fiance are en route to his entitled mother's 4th of July party when they pull over at a highway rest stop. While changing, Daniel is kidnapped and Kristine is accosted, forced into a murderous scavenger hunt by a madman who knows her history and delights in humiliating and injuring her.
As a heroine, Kristine isn't exactly relatable thanks to a troubled history that is revealed in bits and pieces throughout. Thankfully her resourcefulness and her capacity to stand up for herself is admirable and compelling, even though she takes a beating for roughly 80% of the book. Like most extreme thrillers, readers will need to go prepared to check their skepticism since half of what happens to her would likely kill someone in real life. Add to this the superhuman abilities of her torturer, including some typical last act plot twists / shenanigans, and this is firmly a work of fiction.
With that said, however, Swerve is imminently readable. Petersson elevates a fairly traditional thriller format with her strong writing, memorable protagonist and enough danger/gore to keep readers glued to the page. If you're looking for a great, quick crime read, this is a great choice.
The plot itself is pure potboiler: Kristine and her fiance are en route to his entitled mother's 4th of July party when they pull over at a highway rest stop. While changing, Daniel is kidnapped and Kristine is accosted, forced into a murderous scavenger hunt by a madman who knows her history and delights in humiliating and injuring her.
As a heroine, Kristine isn't exactly relatable thanks to a troubled history that is revealed in bits and pieces throughout. Thankfully her resourcefulness and her capacity to stand up for herself is admirable and compelling, even though she takes a beating for roughly 80% of the book. Like most extreme thrillers, readers will need to go prepared to check their skepticism since half of what happens to her would likely kill someone in real life. Add to this the superhuman abilities of her torturer, including some typical last act plot twists / shenanigans, and this is firmly a work of fiction.
With that said, however, Swerve is imminently readable. Petersson elevates a fairly traditional thriller format with her strong writing, memorable protagonist and enough danger/gore to keep readers glued to the page. If you're looking for a great, quick crime read, this is a great choice.
Wow! If I could give you a word of advice about this book is not to read it right before you go to bed. This is by far one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year. The narrative is extremely gripping, the storyline is compelling, intricate and full of twists and turns. The characters are a psychological mess, but all these elements somehow work together and what you end up with is an extremely graphic, right out shocking, story.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to the faint of heart, but if you like psychological thrillers with a pinch for the graphic and the macabre, you will definitely love this book.
I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to the faint of heart, but if you like psychological thrillers with a pinch for the graphic and the macabre, you will definitely love this book.
I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This book is terrifically well written! Excruciating suspense, unexpected twists, constantly ratcheting stakes and great characterization with backstory revealed at just the right pace. The descriptions and line by line writing are gorgeous, literary quality, and she really brings the Mohave Desert setting to life. However I had to stop reading because it got too gory and violent for me. Very high gore and violence, so beware if that's not your thing. Fantastic thriller, though.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
Kristine and her fiance Daniel are driving to Lake Arrowhead to celebrate the 4th of July with his mother. They decide to stop at a closed rest stop so Kristine can change her clothes. A man enters the bathroom while she is changing and beats her until she in unconscious. When she wakes up she goes outside and discovers that Daniel is missing. His phone is left behind and the man from the bathroom calls her and leads her on a scavenger-treasure hunt that will last 24 hours. Once the 24 hours is up she can get Daniel back.
Up until that part I liked the book. It was tense and creepy and made me want to keep reading. After that part it kind of fell apart for me. The tasks the "stalker" wanted her to complete came out of nowhere for me. They made no sense at all and were pretty stupid. She had to speak to someone at a diner in just a tasteless way, I actually almost stopped reading the book at that point. It was just unnecessary. There was also a small mention of animal cruelty at an abandoned water park that I thought was out of place too. And once again, a really gross scene at the hotel. I can take gross. I like gross when it's written in a different way. This was inappropriate gross for me though. There is a way to make something creepy and horrifying without being tasteless.
The ending? I need some sort of explanation as to why this person chose Kristine to stalk like this. A lot of planning went into something like this (10 months is mentioned in the book) and I didn't really think there was an explanation given. I was waiting for some big hidden connection between the two that I wouldn't see coming and it just didn't happen. It seemed almost like a chance encounter started the whole thing.
I had a hard time with the author's writing style. Usually when I'm reading a book I am able to picture myself there, as if I am the main character. I felt like the descriptions in this book were too confusing for me to be able to do that.
This book was a struggle for me to finish. I finished it only because it really takes a lot for me not to finish a book once I've started it. I always like to give the author a chance to turn it around and change my mind. This one didn't though.
Kristine and her fiance Daniel are driving to Lake Arrowhead to celebrate the 4th of July with his mother. They decide to stop at a closed rest stop so Kristine can change her clothes. A man enters the bathroom while she is changing and beats her until she in unconscious. When she wakes up she goes outside and discovers that Daniel is missing. His phone is left behind and the man from the bathroom calls her and leads her on a scavenger-treasure hunt that will last 24 hours. Once the 24 hours is up she can get Daniel back.
Up until that part I liked the book. It was tense and creepy and made me want to keep reading. After that part it kind of fell apart for me. The tasks the "stalker" wanted her to complete came out of nowhere for me. They made no sense at all and were pretty stupid. She had to speak to someone at a diner in just a tasteless way, I actually almost stopped reading the book at that point. It was just unnecessary. There was also a small mention of animal cruelty at an abandoned water park that I thought was out of place too. And once again, a really gross scene at the hotel. I can take gross. I like gross when it's written in a different way. This was inappropriate gross for me though. There is a way to make something creepy and horrifying without being tasteless.
The ending? I need some sort of explanation as to why this person chose Kristine to stalk like this. A lot of planning went into something like this (10 months is mentioned in the book) and I didn't really think there was an explanation given. I was waiting for some big hidden connection between the two that I wouldn't see coming and it just didn't happen. It seemed almost like a chance encounter started the whole thing.
I had a hard time with the author's writing style. Usually when I'm reading a book I am able to picture myself there, as if I am the main character. I felt like the descriptions in this book were too confusing for me to be able to do that.
This book was a struggle for me to finish. I finished it only because it really takes a lot for me not to finish a book once I've started it. I always like to give the author a chance to turn it around and change my mind. This one didn't though.
Now, I put this on my awful shelf, because the content and images that are now seared into my brain were horrendous. I actually quit reading the book last night, and then picked it back up while at the park today. I finished it and in all honesty, can't wait to take it back to the library. I liked the fact that it was a tough read and that most people will be able to read it as it's not geared towards one gender or another. I don't ever want to read another book by this author or look at the cover again though.
Wow. It is going to take me a minute to get my thoughts in order.
My first thought is that this is intense. I use that word so often that I am not even sure it could describe this. So, of course I went to my handy thesaurus to look up synonyms for intense but nothing seems to fit. Maybe smooshing together all of these synonyms would hit the bill for this one.
Exceptional, piercing, acute, extreme, harsh.
Yeah... if all of those words had a baby then you would have this book!
Secondly, my hubby has this strange habit of not believing that females can write crime. There are many, I'm sure. But we see people like Stephen King and Dean Koontz getting the big press because they are amazing horror writers. This gal, THIS GAL is in that group of authors. My review of Eeny Meeny was the latest thriller I've read with some real oomph to it but the one that has stuck with me for years is Dean Koontz's Intensity. This book matches that scale and even goes beyond it.
I almost wanted to put the book down! A horror enthusiast! I am appalled at myself. That's why I do not read thriller though. Unlike horror from like Clive Barker where there are monsters from his imagination, these monsters CAN be real. This is why we do not trust people! And also why I love animals.
This is non-stop action. The beginning sets up the action, makes me curious about the plot and how things are going to get set into motion, and then it is full speed ahead. I had various guesses at what was going to happen and, although I was not WAY far off, I also did not peg what actually was happening. That always makes me happy. If happy can even be a word used after reading this!
I'm going to need some time before I read another thriller. I might have nightmares about this one! Makes it a 5/5 for sure!
Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for allowing me to review this tremendously creepy, but fabulous thriller!
My first thought is that this is intense. I use that word so often that I am not even sure it could describe this. So, of course I went to my handy thesaurus to look up synonyms for intense but nothing seems to fit. Maybe smooshing together all of these synonyms would hit the bill for this one.
Exceptional, piercing, acute, extreme, harsh.
Yeah... if all of those words had a baby then you would have this book!
Secondly, my hubby has this strange habit of not believing that females can write crime. There are many, I'm sure. But we see people like Stephen King and Dean Koontz getting the big press because they are amazing horror writers. This gal, THIS GAL is in that group of authors. My review of Eeny Meeny was the latest thriller I've read with some real oomph to it but the one that has stuck with me for years is Dean Koontz's Intensity. This book matches that scale and even goes beyond it.
I almost wanted to put the book down! A horror enthusiast! I am appalled at myself. That's why I do not read thriller though. Unlike horror from like Clive Barker where there are monsters from his imagination, these monsters CAN be real. This is why we do not trust people! And also why I love animals.
This is non-stop action. The beginning sets up the action, makes me curious about the plot and how things are going to get set into motion, and then it is full speed ahead. I had various guesses at what was going to happen and, although I was not WAY far off, I also did not peg what actually was happening. That always makes me happy. If happy can even be a word used after reading this!
I'm going to need some time before I read another thriller. I might have nightmares about this one! Makes it a 5/5 for sure!
Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for allowing me to review this tremendously creepy, but fabulous thriller!
I enjoyed this one. Review to come!
Update 12/27/15
This was like watching one of those classic 90's thrillers.
The beginning had me hooked.
Woman alone in a rest stop bathroom. Even though it wasn't dark it had me nodding at the creepy aspects that I always notice in those public restrooms. Flickering lights, not sure if you are alone. Then. Footsteps. Boots in the stall next to you. Holding your breath waiting for something mundane to happen so you can laugh at yourself and say 'I'm just being silly'. But our heroin was not so lucky.
Creepy and a bit of blood. Perfect. I will certainly be looking for another book by Vicki Pattersson.
I would suggest this to anyone who liked Scream or I know what you did last summer. Just good ol' thriller fun.
This book was provided via NetGalley for an honest review.
Update 12/27/15
This was like watching one of those classic 90's thrillers.
The beginning had me hooked.
Woman alone in a rest stop bathroom. Even though it wasn't dark it had me nodding at the creepy aspects that I always notice in those public restrooms. Flickering lights, not sure if you are alone. Then. Footsteps. Boots in the stall next to you. Holding your breath waiting for something mundane to happen so you can laugh at yourself and say 'I'm just being silly'. But our heroin was not so lucky.
Creepy and a bit of blood. Perfect. I will certainly be looking for another book by Vicki Pattersson.
I would suggest this to anyone who liked Scream or I know what you did last summer. Just good ol' thriller fun.
This book was provided via NetGalley for an honest review.
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Vicki Peterson is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and her new book "Swerve" proves she deserves that title. "Swerve" is intriguing, intense and downright terrifying and I couldn't put it down.
I love reading books that actually have you so absorbed you forget what is happening around you. I finished this novel over the course of two days. From the very first chapter Pettersson drew me in. Kristine is a fantastic lead as she makes incredibly hard decisions. Pettersson did a perfect job of describing the all consuming fear that surrounds someone when there is the possibility your child is in harms way. Kristine, mother of one ten-year-old Abby, constantly comes back to whether her daughter is in good hands or not. All this happens when she is worried about the welfare of her super-surgeon fiancé Daniel. The stress Kristine is under shows through every page!
The best comparison I can come up with is the movies Joy Ride meets the Saw series. Terrifying road stalking meets crazy psychopathic murderer. There are so many "oh my gosh" moments that literally had my hand flying to my mouth. If you are looking for a thrilling read that will leave you wanting more... then Vicki Pettersson has the book for you. I'm hard to impress when it comes to thrillers in the form of books, but this was horrifying. Fantastic job by Pettersson. I'll definitely be checking out more of her work! Five stars for "Swerve"!
Vicki Peterson is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and her new book "Swerve" proves she deserves that title. "Swerve" is intriguing, intense and downright terrifying and I couldn't put it down.
I love reading books that actually have you so absorbed you forget what is happening around you. I finished this novel over the course of two days. From the very first chapter Pettersson drew me in. Kristine is a fantastic lead as she makes incredibly hard decisions. Pettersson did a perfect job of describing the all consuming fear that surrounds someone when there is the possibility your child is in harms way. Kristine, mother of one ten-year-old Abby, constantly comes back to whether her daughter is in good hands or not. All this happens when she is worried about the welfare of her super-surgeon fiancé Daniel. The stress Kristine is under shows through every page!
The best comparison I can come up with is the movies Joy Ride meets the Saw series. Terrifying road stalking meets crazy psychopathic murderer. There are so many "oh my gosh" moments that literally had my hand flying to my mouth. If you are looking for a thrilling read that will leave you wanting more... then Vicki Pettersson has the book for you. I'm hard to impress when it comes to thrillers in the form of books, but this was horrifying. Fantastic job by Pettersson. I'll definitely be checking out more of her work! Five stars for "Swerve"!
So when I first started this book I was angry with the main character. I felt like she had made the wrong decision and I was frustrated. This story gripped me and I just could not put it down. I don't want to give anything away but I just could not stop reading because I had to know what happened. This is a thriller and not for the faint of heart but it is a strong story with strong characters.