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thebaxter84's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.0
sdematos1443's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
4ny's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
evethingiread's review against another edition
1.0
"Criminal Past" by Gregory Ashe is, without a doubt, the worst book I've ever read. The frustration and disbelief that washed over me as I turned the pages were unlike anything I've experienced in my reading journey. It's a book where nothing makes sense, and that's not a compliment.
After five previous books in the series, I had invested countless hours into the lives of Hazard and Somerset, eagerly anticipating some kind of resolution. However, "Criminal Past" was the longest in the series, and it left me with the nagging feeling that I had wasted my time. The villains in this story are portrayed as diabolically intelligent which makes no sense at all.
The author repeatedly emphasizes how Mike is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but the narrative contradicts this by showing him as far more capable and intelligent than described. Meanwhile, the villains seem to outsmart the protagonists at every turn. This inconsistency creates a jarring and baffling reading experience.
The level of violence in this book is disturbing, and the lack of trigger warnings is concerning. I wish I had known just how vile, gory and horrific it would be before diving in. While previous books featured some truly horrible characters, "Criminal Past" took it to a whole new level, introducing a slew of despicable individuals without any discernible backstory or reason for their actions.
And the language my god, the vile and disgusting language. Why!? I don’t understand
Characters like Naomi, Cravens, Mike, the mayor Newton, Linder the dirty cop, and others all engage in reprehensible acts without any explanation, making their actions seem arbitrary and unrealistic. Even psychopaths usually have some backstory or motivation, but here, it's absent.
My frustration with this book is beyond words. It's not just the violence and the inconsistency; it's the fact that it felt like the author threw every terrible idea possible at these characters, making it hard to believe in the narrative. These characters have transformed into caricatures of villains, and the story has deviated so far from reality that it's almost laughable.
In conclusion, "Criminal Past" is a gut-wrenching mess that left me deeply unsatisfied. As someone who once loved Hazard and Somerset, I feel let down by the direction this book took. It's as if the author set out to discover the worst possible fate for these characters and then used every idea that came to mind. I'm not sure what the point of it all was. If I could give this book zero stars, I would, but I'm settling for one star, only because I can't rate it any lower. It's a disheartening and disgusting conclusion to a once-promising series.
After five previous books in the series, I had invested countless hours into the lives of Hazard and Somerset, eagerly anticipating some kind of resolution. However, "Criminal Past" was the longest in the series, and it left me with the nagging feeling that I had wasted my time. The villains in this story are portrayed as diabolically intelligent which makes no sense at all.
The author repeatedly emphasizes how Mike is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but the narrative contradicts this by showing him as far more capable and intelligent than described. Meanwhile, the villains seem to outsmart the protagonists at every turn. This inconsistency creates a jarring and baffling reading experience.
The level of violence in this book is disturbing, and the lack of trigger warnings is concerning. I wish I had known just how vile, gory and horrific it would be before diving in. While previous books featured some truly horrible characters, "Criminal Past" took it to a whole new level, introducing a slew of despicable individuals without any discernible backstory or reason for their actions.
And the language my god, the vile and disgusting language. Why!? I don’t understand
Characters like Naomi, Cravens, Mike, the mayor Newton, Linder the dirty cop, and others all engage in reprehensible acts without any explanation, making their actions seem arbitrary and unrealistic. Even psychopaths usually have some backstory or motivation, but here, it's absent.
My frustration with this book is beyond words. It's not just the violence and the inconsistency; it's the fact that it felt like the author threw every terrible idea possible at these characters, making it hard to believe in the narrative. These characters have transformed into caricatures of villains, and the story has deviated so far from reality that it's almost laughable.
In conclusion, "Criminal Past" is a gut-wrenching mess that left me deeply unsatisfied. As someone who once loved Hazard and Somerset, I feel let down by the direction this book took. It's as if the author set out to discover the worst possible fate for these characters and then used every idea that came to mind. I'm not sure what the point of it all was. If I could give this book zero stars, I would, but I'm settling for one star, only because I can't rate it any lower. It's a disheartening and disgusting conclusion to a once-promising series.
alga96's review against another edition
5.0
this was wild. Gregory Ashe owes me therapy bills at this point.
this book gave such good closure to the first part of Hazard and Somerset's story, all questions that were raised throughout the book got an answer or at the least they were developed (i.e. Naomi's scope is still not fully clear to me, as well as her involvement with Mikey). in a way, with criminal past we also get full closure on Emery and John-Henry's history, which is a relief. don't get me wrong, i love the fact that JH feels like shit for what he did to Hazard, as he should, but it was starting to get repetitive in my opinion.
the part of the story that made me the most emotional was Jeff. i cried throughout the whole conversation between Emery and Jeff's mom, and learning about Jeff's past made my heart break - no child deserves what happened to him no matter what. seeing Emery come to terms with who the first boy he loved was and how he suffered was heartbreaking :( for those reasons, i am pissed that the mayor died like he did. that crazy fucker should rot in jail.
speaking of crazy fuckers - the one thing that didn't really make too much sense to me was how Mikey, a man with a long history of meth use, had in fact the stamina to not only torture JH for like 12 hours straight but also fight against Hazard and manage to almost best both of them? i don't personally know any meth addicts but i get the vibe that the man should have died much more easily? idk. all in all Mikey was the perfect representation of a sad sad racist homophobic redneck man that should burn in hell for the rest of eternity.
honestly reading about JH's torture was so sad and frustrating. for the next books i will need both him and Hazard to glue their gun to their hands because my men have butter hands for fucks sake.
i feel that the mystery aspect in this story was much more complex than what it was in the previous books, and some aspects (such as the whole drug war with InnovateMidwest) felt a bit excessive for how dense the story already was but I won't complain given that there are 2 more series about Emery and JH and I trust Gregory Ashe to deliver.
As for the ending, it felt very fitting. already from book 5 i could tell that Hazard's frustration towards the corruption within his department as well as politics in the town was here to stay and on top of it, what he considers his inadequacy due to his arm just became too much for my bbgirl. and that's ok. him leaving the department felt very natural and necessary, it will provide for an interesting new take in the next series.
A character I'm truly disappointed with is Cravens - I was hoping she would at least acknowledge her cowardice when it comes to Jeff's case and the Mayor. I get that it's a small town and she's a woman whatever, she is still chief of police and that should mean something.
as for the rest of the characters, I am very intrigued by Moraes as well as the new sheriff - hopefully both turn out to be as good as they seem.
I really enjoy the writing in these books, I feel that the internal dialogues are very real and it feels like being inside the character's mind, so much so that at this point i know Emery and John-Henry as if they were real people. I keep picturing how well these books would work as a real detective tv series, especially with the themes being dealt with, although i don't know where they will find an actor with scarecrow eyes (6 books in and i still don't get what that means but it's ok).
this book gave such good closure to the first part of Hazard and Somerset's story, all questions that were raised throughout the book got an answer or at the least they were developed (i.e. Naomi's scope is still not fully clear to me, as well as her involvement with Mikey). in a way, with criminal past we also get full closure on Emery and John-Henry's history, which is a relief. don't get me wrong, i love the fact that JH feels like shit for what he did to Hazard, as he should, but it was starting to get repetitive in my opinion.
the part of the story that made me the most emotional was Jeff. i cried throughout the whole conversation between Emery and Jeff's mom, and learning about Jeff's past made my heart break - no child deserves what happened to him no matter what. seeing Emery come to terms with who the first boy he loved was and how he suffered was heartbreaking :( for those reasons, i am pissed that the mayor died like he did. that crazy fucker should rot in jail.
speaking of crazy fuckers - the one thing that didn't really make too much sense to me was how Mikey, a man with a long history of meth use, had in fact the stamina to not only torture JH for like 12 hours straight but also fight against Hazard and manage to almost best both of them? i don't personally know any meth addicts but i get the vibe that the man should have died much more easily? idk. all in all Mikey was the perfect representation of a sad sad racist homophobic redneck man that should burn in hell for the rest of eternity.
honestly reading about JH's torture was so sad and frustrating. for the next books i will need both him and Hazard to glue their gun to their hands because my men have butter hands for fucks sake.
i feel that the mystery aspect in this story was much more complex than what it was in the previous books, and some aspects (such as the whole drug war with InnovateMidwest) felt a bit excessive for how dense the story already was but I won't complain given that there are 2 more series about Emery and JH and I trust Gregory Ashe to deliver.
As for the ending, it felt very fitting. already from book 5 i could tell that Hazard's frustration towards the corruption within his department as well as politics in the town was here to stay and on top of it, what he considers his inadequacy due to his arm just became too much for my bbgirl. and that's ok. him leaving the department felt very natural and necessary, it will provide for an interesting new take in the next series.
A character I'm truly disappointed with is Cravens - I was hoping she would at least acknowledge her cowardice when it comes to Jeff's case and the Mayor. I get that it's a small town and she's a woman whatever, she is still chief of police and that should mean something.
as for the rest of the characters, I am very intrigued by Moraes as well as the new sheriff - hopefully both turn out to be as good as they seem.
I really enjoy the writing in these books, I feel that the internal dialogues are very real and it feels like being inside the character's mind, so much so that at this point i know Emery and John-Henry as if they were real people. I keep picturing how well these books would work as a real detective tv series, especially with the themes being dealt with, although i don't know where they will find an actor with scarecrow eyes (6 books in and i still don't get what that means but it's ok).
thenameslus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mila_readsmm's review against another edition
4.0
***3.75 rating***
“For fuck’s sake, I love you John-Henry Somerset. You. The one right here, right now. You want me to say I forgive you? I forgive you. Everything. Anything. It’s gone. I love you. I love you, John."
“Fuck me because I’m yours. Fuck me like I’m yours, Ree. I’m yours, yours, I’m only yours, so please, for the love of God, fuck me.”
“For fuck’s sake, I love you John-Henry Somerset. You. The one right here, right now. You want me to say I forgive you? I forgive you. Everything. Anything. It’s gone. I love you. I love you, John."
“Fuck me because I’m yours. Fuck me like I’m yours, Ree. I’m yours, yours, I’m only yours, so please, for the love of God, fuck me.”
explorebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0