Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - The Life We Bury

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

11 reviews

erinwea's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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crimsonsparrow's review against another edition

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dark hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A little on the nose, but a surprisingly good read in the style of Dean Koontz - but better.

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regsnvaughnable's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I thought that I had this figured out early on but then I started questioning myself. Very tense. It got me hooked.

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kccool12255's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

OH MY GOSH. THIS IS SUCH A GOOD BOOK. I LOVE IT.

I feel like I've found my good murder mystery author. I haven't dived fully into the genre yet, and I've wanted to for a good while now. Allen Eskens writes an action-packed narrative that is FILLED TO THE BRIM with interesting characters and a compelling story. This book is so easy to read, it goes by so fast, and I really appreciate finally reading a fast-paced book for the first time in a while. Joe, despite his ordinary name, is a really diverse and interesting character that you can really connect with after hearing his past life experiences. You can understand his feelings with his psychotic mother, his autistic brother, and even his relationship with Carl.

It's so wholesome and precious, Carl helps him to appreciate life more, and Joe gives Carl peace before he dies. I ALMOST CRIED, IT'S SO SWEET.

I also love Lila Nash as a character, at first she's very stoic and just a blank slate, but then she opens up to Joe and you can understand her completely, as she's also been through a lot.

I wasn't a big fan of their relationship at first, since I didn't see a lot of chemistry between the two, but they really work well together in the investigation, and they're just so cute, since they can be so open with each other. Lila's relationship with Jeremy is also very wholesome, it's so cute how she's so sweet to him.

Carl is such a good character as well, just having undergone these horrible things in Vietnam.

,and is such a sweet guy, and everyone thinks he raped and murdered this girl. *sob* Carl needs JUSTICE for those years spent in prison. It's also a great commentary on the duality of people, since Carl isn't all good. He's killed and he's murdered people before, and his intentions have not always been honorable. But even though he doesn't believe it, he has the heart of a hero. Beautiful.

WHEN I TELL YOU FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW, I FIGURED OUT EVERYTHING BUT THE ACTUAL IDENTITY OF THE KILLER. I'm so good at picking up the clues, I'm just not good at CONNECTING them. GAH.

I mean, decoding the numbers was NOT my doing, and neither was all the DJ stuff...BUT HEY, I GOT MOST OF IT. I DID predict a twist at the end, which there was, and of course it was the stepbrother. OF COURSE. The stepfather was just too obvious, although it was starting to make me believe that he was actually the killer. But no, he's just a dick. Lovely.

What I DIDN'T expect in this book was all the ACTION.

We got Joe getting KIDNAPPED and almost MURDERED, Lila almost gets raped and murdered along with Joe in the climax, at which point I was internally screaming, "NO! NOT LILA! SHE'S ALREADY TRAUMATIZED FROM THAT!" Like, I was not expecting all this ACTION.

It was a nice surprise, though.

Joe and Lila bond over their trauma :) (not that I'm romanticizing it IN ANY WAY, it's just very heartwarming and sweet how they bond).

I got nothing more to say, really. This book is PHENOMENAL and I really enjoyed it, I will definitely be trying to read more by Allen Eskens in the future. 5 STARS!!!!!!

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mostdefinitelystephanie's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I read this for my library book club. I can't say I loved the book but I liked it good enough. It does read as the first of a series where you'll probably learn more about the characters in the next installment.
The story was interesting though predictable. It kept me engaged and I read this book in a couple days. I mostly listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a good job.
I didn't really like Joe just showing up at a nursing home thinking, "Oh I can just find an old person there." Did he not ever meet a single other person outside his family back in Austin, MN? The director of nursing and receptionist majorly broke HIPAA laws within 5 minutes of meeting him. I feel like Joe is ultimately a good guy but he's too "macho" for me to say I liked him.
I wanted more character development of Lila.

She very quickly went from uninterested neighbor to coming in the room after he was injured to randomly sleep with him and started a relationship with him. It really seemed to me that the author just wanted to put a sex scene in there.

Jeremy's character was very one dimensional as well. I almost feel like he was just used as a prop. I think many on the spectrum would have an issue with his portrayal.
However, I did like Carl. He was probably my favorite character.
Anyway, it's not a book I'll be going out of my way to recommend to others but it was an enjoyable quick read.

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fluture's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

An enjoyable book to be read if you are looking for a light mystery and thriller without plot twists. I love how intense every chapter is, the author knows how to make us feel intrigued to continue reading it in one sit. Each character was described in a way where we were expected to understand why they acted that way now. Although it has predictable plot, it is still worth the read.

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blackferrum's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A. Must. Read. Thriller.

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richhomiebi's review

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funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

wow. just wow. i was on the edge of my seat. the characters are so charming, i found myself falling in love with them all. i cried. a lot. i’m a sap.

it had a fair amount of funny moments too, among all the darkness that is the murder they unravel.

so glad this was recommended to me, i would recommend it too.

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shibaunited's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Great story, engaging writing and narration. There are a few weird sexist comments and some racial comments which are intentional. But overall the story is good.

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in_love_with_bookish's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

3.5

A Buddy-Read with Warda

3.5 Stars

As mysteries go, This book isn’t anything I haven’t read before. But there’s something deeply human about the story that hooked me and made me invested from the start.

What if I was wrong? What if there was no other side. What if, in all the eons of eternity, this was the one and only time that I would be alive. How would I live my life if that were the case?

The story revolves around Joe Talbert, a college student with the task of interviewing a complete stranger and writing a brief biography for his English class. Even though Joe is already going through a lot with his life, everything will be even harder for him when he meets Carl Iverson, A Vietnam veteran dying of Cancer and a convicted murderer.

As Joe grows to know Carl more, He can’t believe that he’s capable of committing the crime he’s been convicted for. The history of Carl as a Veteran and his story as the murderer of a 16-year-old girl clash together in Joe's mind and soon he finds himself digging into what actually happened in the past trying to uncover the truth.

He was a quiet man who could command attention with a simple glance or nod, a man who possessed equal part strength and gentleness and wore them, not in layers, but blended like fine leather.

Now When it comes to the mystery, I enjoyed it more in the first half of the book because I really thought it wasn’t going the predictable route but when everything started to click for the characters, I knew what was going to happen and that predictability took away from the appeal.

But the way the author wrote the mystery and how he executed the investigation kept the whole thing grounded in reality and made it really believable so I appreciate that strongly.

No matter how hard you try, there are some things you just can't run away from.

Now the best thing about the book is the characters and the different dynamics that exist between them. I couldn’t help but root for Joe, our protagonist and I was really invested in his story and especially his relationship with his brother versus his relationship with his mother. His struggles as a big brother and as a son are written really well and gave so much depth to his character. He was written so vividly, I just felt everything he was going through and I completely understood why he did everything he did.

The story is emotional and sad and it’s equally character and plot-driven. I really admire how efficient the author’s way of balancing the progression of the mystery with the more intimate personal struggles of the characters. The story tackles a lot of issues and they’re all really hard-hitting and the author almost does everything justice, almost.

We do have control of how much of our soul we leave behind in this mess. Don't ever forget that. We do still have some choices.

Now, I felt the depiction of parental neglect and abuse to be done really well. The author demonstrates honestly how draining and heartbreaking it is for children to be abused and mistreated by the people who are supposed to protect them.

But unfortunately, I didn’t like the way the subject of rape was handled in this book. Every time the author was trying to paint a male character as despicable, he used rape as a way to convey that and I didn’t like that at all. I think the issue needed to be written in a more sensitive way.

The Life We Bury was equally surprising and predictable to me. I really enjoyed the character work done in this book but the mystery was not mind-blowing. The book has a lot of dark moments but it also was touching and delicate at times. I’m really curious about the next books in the series. I’ll definitely be picking up the next one as soon as possible.

I drew in a breath of crisp December air and stood perfectly still, savoring the feel, the sound, and the smell of the world around me, sensations that would have passed by me unnoticed had I never met Carl Iverson.

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