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meeklovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Note this book is told in dual POV, the killer, and Eddie Flynn. When I first saw this book, I thought it was a standalone, but I later found that it was the 4th book in a series but the original poster noted that they read this as a standalone so I proceeded to do the same. And after reading this book, I agree you could read this as a standalone and be fine.
As for the story, honestly, I'm such a sucker for court cases in shows. Law & Order SVU is one of my favorite shows, so it was nice to see all that in book form and so much more. This book definitely made me want to get more into legal thrillers.
This book was crazy! From start to finish a lot of wacky things were happening! And this being my first Eddie Flynn novel, it was really enjoyable to get a look into his character. Him being an ex-con turned lawyer is such a cool form of characterization. As well as gaining more facets about him such as his history with drinking, marital issues, and his push and pull towards crazy legal situation. As well as his relationship with Harry. For this being the fourth book in a series, I feel like the author handled the main character's archetype very well. I really enoyed how this book was written and by the end, I found myself missing Eddie. We really went through a lot with him in this book.
Kane was something else. Now I'm not aware of the validity of all of Kane's mannerisms and psychosis but the way the author wrote made it very believable. Kane was such a methodical and innately nefarious individual. It was very intriguing to be in his head and read about him and his backstory.
The plot did EAT in this book! The concept was so cool, it would've made a great plot for a show or movie. Of course, the court part of this book doesn't really start till you're halfway through, but the first half was still intriguing, but it was more build-up than anything else which kinda bored me a little bit (but that's on me), but one the court part did come they DELIVERED. It was so fun to read and the original poster was so right, when reading you can most definitely visualize everything that's going on. Again, I really recommend the author for bringing this to life and being so descriptive.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I felt like the ending was a bit lackluster considering the type of individual Kane was made out to be.
After reading this book, and getting a taste of Steve's writing, I just might read more from this and might dive into this series at one point. What a fun and entertaining read!
Note: I highly recommend the audiobook for this one! The narrator did a great job differentiating the voices.
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Alcohol, and Police brutality
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Mental illness, Outing, Stalking, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
shaleen64's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death
Minor: Outing, Rape, and Police brutality
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Stalking, Alcohol, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Outing, and Police brutality
Minor: Sexual assault, Infidelity, Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Homophobia
emmagalt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, and Outing
siniandi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Police brutality, Violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Rape
kristinebennett's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
Graphic: Police brutality and Murder
Minor: Outing, Rape, Death of parent, and Animal death
martin27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
There were a few good twists, the actual mystery element was fine. The pacing is… odd. The whole book takes place during one week, but it really doesn’t feel that way when reading. The first half especially dragged, but it picked up after that.
If you like crime dramas, you’ll probably get more out of this than I did. I can’t fault it for being a genre I just generally don’t care for. But I do wish that the characters had been a bit more defined and that the pacing made more sense. It also alternates between first and third person pov, which was… not my favorite choice. Eddie’s perspective is so bland that writing it in first person doesn’t add anything to the story, and Kane’s isn’t special enough to warrant a change in the pov.
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Outing and Ableism
Minor: Rape