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bethnellvaccaro's review against another edition
2.0
I have declared 2016 the year I will give up on a book quickly if I think it is terrible early on. I should have known when the cave is described as another character. I was just looking for a mystery, not a goofy cave with a personality.
ncrabb's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve rarely read something that involved me so much in its pages, and I suspect you’ll have the same experience.
Mark Novak works for a law firm in Florida whose purpose it is to exonerate death row prisoners who aren’t guilty. It’s an innocence project. His wife worked there, too, until someone put a bullet in her brain. They had argued, and Mark’s last words to her were caustic and anything but romantic. With her death, his life spiraled out of control. He became obsessed with solving her case to the exclusion of most of his other duties. The company’s board wanted to fire him, but his boss insisted that all he needed was some time to work another case in another city. That’s how Mark ended up in southern Indiana in the cold of winter. Years before Mark’s arrival there, a teenage girl worked in a cave near the town. It was to be a tourist attraction for the area. One day, the girl, Sarah, hid herself so well in the cave no one could find her. A few days after that, Ridley Barnes, a local spelunker, staggered out of the cave carrying her body. He has no memory of how he stumbled onto it. There wasn’t enough evidence to convict him of murder, and he is haunted by what he doesn’t remember. He sent a letter to Mark Novak’s employer begging for its help investigating the teenage girl’s death. That’s why they sent Mark Novak.
But things go badly for Novak at the outset. He isn’t warmly welcomed by local law enforcement, and a woman claiming to be the dead girl’s mother sets him up for failure. He doesn’t know it, but the girl’s mother is already long dead. The woman, whoever she was, played Mark for a fool.
Things get exponentially worse when, while investigating, Mark runs afoul of some local thugs who drug him and trap him inside the cave. It is the bizarre Ridley Barnes who rescues him, and once he recovered from the hypothermia and other maladies brought on by his ordeal, he picks up the investigation where he left off. There are as many twists and turns in this investigation as there doubtless were in the cave where he nearly died.
This is a gripping involved book, and the narration is beyond excellent. I ran it at 2.75X and enjoyed every syllable. So intense is this that it almost felt like I needed to gasp for air in a place or two. I found myself involuntarily sweeping my arms over my head and around to remind myself that I was safe inside my spacious house with no water in places where water shouldn’t be and plenty of ventilation. That’s the impact this had on me. I’ll read the second book in this duology sooner than later.
Mark Novak works for a law firm in Florida whose purpose it is to exonerate death row prisoners who aren’t guilty. It’s an innocence project. His wife worked there, too, until someone put a bullet in her brain. They had argued, and Mark’s last words to her were caustic and anything but romantic. With her death, his life spiraled out of control. He became obsessed with solving her case to the exclusion of most of his other duties. The company’s board wanted to fire him, but his boss insisted that all he needed was some time to work another case in another city. That’s how Mark ended up in southern Indiana in the cold of winter. Years before Mark’s arrival there, a teenage girl worked in a cave near the town. It was to be a tourist attraction for the area. One day, the girl, Sarah, hid herself so well in the cave no one could find her. A few days after that, Ridley Barnes, a local spelunker, staggered out of the cave carrying her body. He has no memory of how he stumbled onto it. There wasn’t enough evidence to convict him of murder, and he is haunted by what he doesn’t remember. He sent a letter to Mark Novak’s employer begging for its help investigating the teenage girl’s death. That’s why they sent Mark Novak.
But things go badly for Novak at the outset. He isn’t warmly welcomed by local law enforcement, and a woman claiming to be the dead girl’s mother sets him up for failure. He doesn’t know it, but the girl’s mother is already long dead. The woman, whoever she was, played Mark for a fool.
Things get exponentially worse when, while investigating, Mark runs afoul of some local thugs who drug him and trap him inside the cave. It is the bizarre Ridley Barnes who rescues him, and once he recovered from the hypothermia and other maladies brought on by his ordeal, he picks up the investigation where he left off. There are as many twists and turns in this investigation as there doubtless were in the cave where he nearly died.
This is a gripping involved book, and the narration is beyond excellent. I ran it at 2.75X and enjoyed every syllable. So intense is this that it almost felt like I needed to gasp for air in a place or two. I found myself involuntarily sweeping my arms over my head and around to remind myself that I was safe inside my spacious house with no water in places where water shouldn’t be and plenty of ventilation. That’s the impact this had on me. I’ll read the second book in this duology sooner than later.
kellywatts's review against another edition
3.0
The book is very well written, however I feel like it drags out the story a couple hundred pages. It does have a great story, great plot, and I did binge read so I could see what happens.
kathijo63's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next.
mrsboyko's review against another edition
5.0
This is the second or third book I've read by this author. They've all been excellent. Mysteries with unique characters and twists you do not see coming. I have all the rest on my TBR list and 2022 might be the year to read them.
tennilles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
blood_rose_books's review against another edition
3.0
Michael Koryta: Last Words Michael Koryta takes the readers to small town where the person who called the private investigator is the prime suspect in a murder: Mark Novak is still trying to recover from his wife's murder but he knows that he has to continue his work with Innocence, Inc. in order to use their resources to find the murderer. Novak is sent to Garrison Southern Indiana, where a small town with a large underground cave that hides many secrets of this small town. Ridley Barnes is the main suspect in a murder of a teenage girls whose body was found in Trapdoor as Ridley was the only one who could have made it to where her body was discovered. The problem is that Ridley cannot remember what happened that day and the police could never he did it, but the thought that he could have has haunted Ridley from that day. He decided to call Innocence, Inc. to help prove if he is guilty or not. But this small towns has more secrets than Trapdoor can hold and Novak is about to discover that people will go to any lengths to make sure they stay hidden. This is the second novel that I have read by Kortya and when I compared it to the other novel by him that I have read, Those Who Wish Me Dead, this book really falls short. I found that this book lacked the suspense and thrills of that novel especially when this book is being hailed as a thriller novel. I will say there are moments when Novak or Ridley was in the cave (Trapdoor) that will get some hairs standing up on your body especially if you are claustrophobic. I'm not claustrophobic but the way in which Kortya described these scenes as I said were spine tingling and made me feel uncomfortable. I think the overall mystery that Kortya presents in this book is really interesting especially when you have Ridley (the prime suspect in the murder) as the one who contact Innocence, Inc. in order to prove/disprove that he is the murderer. I just did not like the way in which Novak went about getting his information.
I was not the biggest fan of the main character but I actually don't think that you are supposed to be and he's not the cool anti-hero either. He does not put private investigator in a good light. He is impulsive, uncaring, unsophisticated and often does not think his actions through to the point where everyone thinks he is crazy. He does not seem concerned about following the evidence or helping out (which he actually makes clear several times in the book). His only concern is going after those who he perceives have done him wrong since entering the small town. However, you do feel sorry for him as he continues to replay the last words that he said to his wife but that is about it, he is pretty damaged by the time that he gets to Garrison. He does grow as a character somewhat from the beginning of the book to the end, but it is a rocky road of growth, but i'm actually okay about not liking him I actually think it made the story more interesting.
I felt like this book was a little too long and just dragged on to the point where I had to keep checking how close I was to the end and that is never a good thing when reading a book unless you are doing with anticipation about what is going to happen next, for me it was more like "Are we there yet?". I think part of the problem is that Kortya was trying to do too much in this book, putting too many twists and turns where there did not need to be. While I did not enjoy this book as much as Those Who Wish Me Dead, I still think that Kortya is an awesome author and one that I am going to enjoy. There is a followup book hinted at at the end of this book, but right now I'm unsure if I will pick it up. Enjoy!!!
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I was not the biggest fan of the main character but I actually don't think that you are supposed to be and he's not the cool anti-hero either. He does not put private investigator in a good light. He is impulsive, uncaring, unsophisticated and often does not think his actions through to the point where everyone thinks he is crazy. He does not seem concerned about following the evidence or helping out (which he actually makes clear several times in the book). His only concern is going after those who he perceives have done him wrong since entering the small town. However, you do feel sorry for him as he continues to replay the last words that he said to his wife but that is about it, he is pretty damaged by the time that he gets to Garrison. He does grow as a character somewhat from the beginning of the book to the end, but it is a rocky road of growth, but i'm actually okay about not liking him I actually think it made the story more interesting.
I felt like this book was a little too long and just dragged on to the point where I had to keep checking how close I was to the end and that is never a good thing when reading a book unless you are doing with anticipation about what is going to happen next, for me it was more like "Are we there yet?". I think part of the problem is that Kortya was trying to do too much in this book, putting too many twists and turns where there did not need to be. While I did not enjoy this book as much as Those Who Wish Me Dead, I still think that Kortya is an awesome author and one that I am going to enjoy. There is a followup book hinted at at the end of this book, but right now I'm unsure if I will pick it up. Enjoy!!!
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suzze's review against another edition
3.0
Overlong. But I felt something for it and want to read the second in the series. Luckily it was on sale today in Ebook for $2.99.
maureenmccombs's review against another edition
2.0
Oh my gosh thank goodness I am finally done with this book. This book was sooooo boring. Boring in the kind of way that its boringness made me cranky the entire time I was reading it. Such a disappointment since Koryta's [b:Those Who Wish Me Dead|18587089|Those Who Wish Me Dead|Michael Koryta|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382989843s/18587089.jpg|26327017] was such a pleasant surprise. I did not care about any of the characters in this book - not a one. Infuriates me when a book is simply a set up for the next in a series and that is exactly what this one is. I will not be reading the next one and will not likely read anything by Koryta again.
ARC from publisher.
ARC from publisher.
kdowli01's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0