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qu33nofbookz's review against another edition
1.0
So this book bills itself as a mystery/suspense with some romance and supernatural elements. It fails at everything but the mystery and part of that is how on earth this book got such a high rating. It is very obvious that this book is written by two people. It is also very very repetitive, you could cut this book in half and you would still get the whole story.
It starts with the murder of Jessie Brentwood. Good start but goes down hill from there. Some of the book is from the perspective of the killer and it's bad, terrible dialogue.
The next 3/4 of the book are just an utter mess. The body of Jessie is found, but the police can't confirm it at that time and her "close" friends get together to talk. Part of what annoys me is the fact that everyone switches between calling Jessie Brentwood Jessie and Jezebel. Even the cops call her Jezebel and do so when talking to other cops who unless they know the case, which they don't, how would they know who is being talked about? It would be confusing and offensive in reality and is annoying in the book. Her name is Jessie call her Jessie the back and forth is pointless and unnecessary. Jezebel is traditionally known as a false prophet and later as a promiscuous woman.
Part of the "supernatural" element of this book is that Jessie could on occasion "see things" or "knew things" which has no backing at all (the false prophet to which she isn't a prophet and doesn't really tell anyone about the visions she is supposed to have but are never mentioned). Also Jessie is described as a tease, flirty and sexy and all the boys want her but that she never cheated on her boyfriend so why the hell are they calling her Jezebel? During the meeting of her "close" friends they basically argue back and forth whether Jessie is really dead or not and basically set up alibis for themselves for when the police come calling.
Rebecca "Becca" Sutcliff in the beginning of the book has a vision of Jessie and knows she's dead (but for the next several chapters she keeps saying she's alive then not and back again it's annoying beyond words). She hasn't had a vision since high school and hasn't thought of Jessie in years so no she is not haunted. She agrees to go to the meeting even though Jessie and her old boyfriend will be there. She has lusted after Jessie's boyfriend since high school and had a relationship with him which ended with her getting pregnant and then miscarrying and not telling him. As soon as she sees him again she get's all hot and bothered and falls instantly into bed with him. They then proceed to have sex all the time; a friend dies lets have sex, just went to the funeral lets have sex, we are running from a killer lets have sex. That was the romantic relationship of the story. And it's ridiculous! She has loved him since high school and even though he was with Jessie then and he has loved her but dated Jessie because Jessie and Rebecca looked alike. Why the hell didn't he just date Rebecca from the start is odd.
Another thing that bothered me is the inconsistency in the time line. Everything is described as day by day and yet all of a sudden it's been a week or more. Then they mention that things such as the finding of Jessie's body happened such a short time ago, as in days, but oh my it's been a month? The cop that is investigating Jessie's friends has been on the case since the beginning and he is annoying. It's mentioned that he's had other cases (all case but one or drug cases and he's not vice so the city has a huge drug problem) but really he's only focused on the Brentwood case. When some of Jessie's friends die Rebecca and the old boyfriend become their own detectives to solve the cases. And of course, they are better than the cops even though the cops solve their friend's murders but not Jessie's.
The end of the book speeds up and is like a race to finish it all at once even though the story has been slow so far and several pieces of the mystery/crime are missing. Several facts are revealed, some that are obvious from the start and some that are just cringe worthy
All the answers are supposed to be found, which they are not, at a cult which Jessie and Rebecca supposedly born into and came from. The killer targeted them because of this and that again is supposed to be the supernatural part, they are witches but they don't really have any power besides Rebecca's useless visions of Jessie. This cult is supposed to be the coven of witches and is why and how Rebecca has visions and why Jessie had them. Again no proof that Jessie did and Rebecca's are all of Jessie who doesn't say anything or do anything but look sadly at her and put her finger to her lips. (seems more like delusions to me...)
Then ending is a confusing mess that doesn't answer a lot of questions and the killer is pretty pathetic. Supposedly he has killed lots of people and is certifiably crazy and other people knew, yet no one ever called the cops on him and his own family who has an idea or knows what he is doing but doesn't turn him in?
One last thing that got to me was the description of the weather throughout the book. It's always raining! Maybe once or twice it isn't but 99% of the time it's mentioned, and it's mentioned often, it's raining. But the authors don't call it rain it's "precipitation" 9 times out of 10 it's brought up.
Almost nothing of the blurb which is good (and why I even read this book) is true in the book which is a let down. One last note is about one of the authors, Lisa Jackson
It starts with the murder of Jessie Brentwood.
Spoiler
she is murdered at her high school at night and years later her body is found buried there, but the killer never buried her body so how it got buried is a mystery and when found it's in a very shallow grave which in reality you would smell it when it was decomposing which no one did. Also when found and discussed by cops about evidence no clothes are ever mentioned, not even scraps and there would be some, she didn't die naked.Spoiler
what the hell is up with him talking about being able to smell his victims even from miles and miles away? he's the supernatural of the book but not really, he's just crazy the smell thing is just stupid and there is no explanation for it at all, very lame.The next 3/4 of the book are just an utter mess. The body of Jessie is found, but the police can't confirm it at that time and her "close" friends get together to talk. Part of what annoys me is the fact that everyone switches between calling Jessie Brentwood Jessie and Jezebel. Even the cops call her Jezebel and do so when talking to other cops who unless they know the case, which they don't, how would they know who is being talked about? It would be confusing and offensive in reality and is annoying in the book. Her name is Jessie call her Jessie the back and forth is pointless and unnecessary. Jezebel is traditionally known as a false prophet and later as a promiscuous woman.
Part of the "supernatural" element of this book is that Jessie could on occasion "see things" or "knew things" which has no backing at all (the false prophet to which she isn't a prophet and doesn't really tell anyone about the visions she is supposed to have but are never mentioned). Also Jessie is described as a tease, flirty and sexy and all the boys want her but that she never cheated on her boyfriend so why the hell are they calling her Jezebel?
Spoiler
we learn later she did cheat once and she got pregnantRebecca "Becca" Sutcliff in the beginning of the book has a vision of Jessie and knows she's dead (but for the next several chapters she keeps saying she's alive then not and back again it's annoying beyond words). She hasn't had a vision since high school and hasn't thought of Jessie in years so no she is not haunted. She agrees to go to the meeting even though Jessie and her old boyfriend will be there. She has lusted after Jessie's boyfriend since high school and had a relationship with him which ended with her getting pregnant and then miscarrying and not telling him. As soon as she sees him again she get's all hot and bothered and falls instantly into bed with him. They then proceed to have sex all the time; a friend dies lets have sex, just went to the funeral lets have sex, we are running from a killer lets have sex. That was the romantic relationship of the story. And it's ridiculous! She has loved him since high school and even though he was with Jessie then and he has loved her but dated Jessie because Jessie and Rebecca looked alike. Why the hell didn't he just date Rebecca from the start is odd.
Another thing that bothered me is the inconsistency in the time line. Everything is described as day by day and yet all of a sudden it's been a week or more. Then they mention that things such as the finding of Jessie's body happened such a short time ago, as in days, but oh my it's been a month? The cop that is investigating Jessie's friends has been on the case since the beginning and he is annoying. It's mentioned that he's had other cases (all case but one or drug cases and he's not vice so the city has a huge drug problem) but really he's only focused on the Brentwood case. When some of Jessie's friends die Rebecca and the old boyfriend become their own detectives to solve the cases. And of course, they are better than the cops even though the cops solve their friend's murders but not Jessie's.
The end of the book speeds up and is like a race to finish it all at once even though the story has been slow so far and several pieces of the mystery/crime are missing. Several facts are revealed, some that are obvious from the start and some that are just cringe worthy
Spoiler
Jessie and Rebecca are sisters, Jessie's baby was the product of her boyfriends best friend, the killer accuses Jessie and Rebecca and being the devils spawn because they are supposedly the product of incest and witches and he is their brother which he is not. Jessie and Rebecca are born to a witch coven which has no real backing and were sent out for an unknown reason and oh all the witches live together in a house fenced off from everyone and there are younger people there but no men so where do these young people come from?All the answers are supposed to be found, which they are not, at a cult which Jessie and Rebecca supposedly born into and came from. The killer targeted them because of this and that again is supposed to be the supernatural part, they are witches but they don't really have any power besides Rebecca's useless visions of Jessie. This cult is supposed to be the coven of witches and is why and how Rebecca has visions and why Jessie had them. Again no proof that Jessie did and Rebecca's are all of Jessie who doesn't say anything or do anything but look sadly at her and put her finger to her lips. (seems more like delusions to me...)
Then ending is a confusing mess that doesn't answer a lot of questions and the killer is pretty pathetic. Supposedly he has killed lots of people and is certifiably crazy and other people knew, yet no one ever called the cops on him and his own family who has an idea or knows what he is doing but doesn't turn him in?
One last thing that got to me was the description of the weather throughout the book. It's always raining! Maybe once or twice it isn't but 99% of the time it's mentioned, and it's mentioned often, it's raining. But the authors don't call it rain it's "precipitation" 9 times out of 10 it's brought up.
Almost nothing of the blurb which is good (and why I even read this book) is true in the book which is a let down. One last note is about one of the authors, Lisa Jackson
Spoiler
this is the third book I have read of hers and all three involve the mention of and some kind of form of incest between some of her characters. I have no idea if this is in any of her other books but it appears to be a thing with her.lurossreads's review against another edition
2.0
The exposition was too long to keep the reader engaged for 150 pages.
jrobles76's review against another edition
3.0
An OK thriller with some paranormal stuff thrown in. There was a lot of unnecessary character info that I didn't feel contributed anything to either the plot, or even characterization. If you made this into a movie you could lose those parts and not even miss them. Heck, you could redact those passages and still have a coherent story. An OK beach read.
emjay24's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't a horrible book, it just wasn't super interesting. This is a mystery, a first in a series, written by two sisters. The storyline has that back yrs ago, a teen disappears from high school. Some people thought she ran away, and one detective was convinced there was foul play. Now a body is discovered while they're tearing down the old school, and the grown adults in the group start dying. There's a whole supernatural element too... Sounds interesting, right? But somehow, it's not. No one seems filled out. It's kind of a you're somewhere and have nothing to do and find this book lying around for free so why not read it kind of book. I don't plan on reading the rest of the books in the series, even though you get a half sort of cliffhanger thing.
nyxshadow's review against another edition
3.0
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2014/12/wicked-t1-wicked-game-lisa-jackson.html
mymisfortune's review against another edition
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Personally this was an okay start. The couple wasn’t much to my liking. Relationship felt nothing but sexual. Despite that i want them to find happiness. As for the plot it was an easy read. Didn’t take much to get into it but I found myself wanting to give more information but I guess that’s what happens when it’s a series? Do I regret reading this? Not at all
Personally this was an okay start. The couple wasn’t much to my liking. Relationship felt nothing but sexual. Despite that i want them to find happiness. As for the plot it was an easy read. Didn’t take much to get into it but I found myself wanting to give more information but I guess that’s what happens when it’s a series? Do I regret reading this? Not at all
nyxshadow's review against another edition
3.0
http://www.nyx-shadow.com/2014/12/wicked-t1-wicked-game-lisa-jackson.html
wordsandtrainers's review against another edition
1.0
I am so mad! Usually, I don't give one star ratings - those books usually end up on my "abandoned" shelf. But I stuck around this time to find out what the killing spree was all about.
Turns out I shouldn't have. I couldn't have cared less about the female main character, Rebecca - I didn't like her one bit. And the book as a whole is so incredibly repetitive, sometimes I yelled at my CD player to just move on with the story already. Plus, as the story proceeded, I couldn't bear any more of that lovey-dovey baby talk between Rebecca and Hudson. And then in the end, the story was wrapped up rather quickly, providing some vague, random motive. Slap on a brief epilogue to make the killer
plan his escape and never ending quest to find and kill Rebecca and her offspring.
Sorry about my venting - just had to get it off my chest ;o)
Turns out I shouldn't have. I couldn't have cared less about the female main character, Rebecca - I didn't like her one bit. And the book as a whole is so incredibly repetitive, sometimes I yelled at my CD player to just move on with the story already. Plus, as the story proceeded, I couldn't bear any more of that lovey-dovey baby talk between Rebecca and Hudson. And then in the end, the story was wrapped up rather quickly, providing some vague, random motive. Slap on a brief epilogue to make the killer
plan his escape and never ending quest to find and kill Rebecca and her offspring.
Sorry about my venting - just had to get it off my chest ;o)