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A review by drskspawn
BreathTaken by Amanda Jaeger
3.0
“BreathTaken” is a psychological thriller comprised of twenty-five chapters and one prologue and takes place in the town of Samhale, a close-knit community with a strong emphasis on helping others. At the forefront of this is Amy Jones, the beautiful and caring next-door neighbour of main character Richard Teft; the prologue establishes that Amy has a big heart and is smitten with Richard, despite her being married to Neil. Once the narrative focuses on Richard, we quickly learn that he’s practically obsessed to the point of distraction by Amy! His life is shattered when he finds his mother dead, and the guilt and pain drive him to alcoholism and cost him his job. The one bright spot in his life is Amy; the idea of her causes the “butterflies” to swell throughout his body; he pines for her relentlessly, fantasising about being with her, but continuously struggles to step away from the comfort offered by alcohol.
Although Richard is a tragic figure, his uncomfortable obsession with Amy paints him as a questionable figure. While Richard loses himself to anguish and alcohol, an equally infatuated and broken killer stalks the blonde-haired women of Samhale. This mysterious killer favours suffocating his victims with a pillowcase to steal their breath and them smother himself with it as a means to subdue his laboured breathing. The killer is very meticulous, easily getting close to his victims and catching them unawares, and is made creepier by his tendency to sing a little nursery rhyme. Amidst all of this is Mills, a rebellious little girl who sneaks out of her house at night and often spots the killer lurking around town, but hesitates to say anything since she’ll get in trouble for being out and no-one would believe her anyway.
“BreathTaken” is noticeably different to Amanda’s last book; the narrative is much tighter, focusing on these three characters and their different mindsets, but it can become a little repetitive given that both Richard and the killer spend many chapters constantly reinforcing their obsessions. However, it’s a pretty desolate exploration of one man’s descent into grief and hardship and the chapters following the killer were also disturbingly well done; I really enjoyed the red herrings scattered throughout the text and how unsettling the killer’s methods and thoughts were. “BreathTaken” showcases not only Amanda’s range but also her brilliant grasp of the psychology behind her killers and characters. While the repetitive aspects did let it down a little bit, I enjoyed her characterisations and the bizarre nature of their personalities, and I think fans of murder mysteries would definitely find a lot to sink their teeth into here.
Although Richard is a tragic figure, his uncomfortable obsession with Amy paints him as a questionable figure. While Richard loses himself to anguish and alcohol, an equally infatuated and broken killer stalks the blonde-haired women of Samhale. This mysterious killer favours suffocating his victims with a pillowcase to steal their breath and them smother himself with it as a means to subdue his laboured breathing. The killer is very meticulous, easily getting close to his victims and catching them unawares, and is made creepier by his tendency to sing a little nursery rhyme. Amidst all of this is Mills, a rebellious little girl who sneaks out of her house at night and often spots the killer lurking around town, but hesitates to say anything since she’ll get in trouble for being out and no-one would believe her anyway.
“BreathTaken” is noticeably different to Amanda’s last book; the narrative is much tighter, focusing on these three characters and their different mindsets, but it can become a little repetitive given that both Richard and the killer spend many chapters constantly reinforcing their obsessions. However, it’s a pretty desolate exploration of one man’s descent into grief and hardship and the chapters following the killer were also disturbingly well done; I really enjoyed the red herrings scattered throughout the text and how unsettling the killer’s methods and thoughts were. “BreathTaken” showcases not only Amanda’s range but also her brilliant grasp of the psychology behind her killers and characters. While the repetitive aspects did let it down a little bit, I enjoyed her characterisations and the bizarre nature of their personalities, and I think fans of murder mysteries would definitely find a lot to sink their teeth into here.