A review by lilmooniex
A Knock at the Door by T.W. Ellis

Did not finish book. Stopped at 94%.

Super boring, I honestly just couldn't finish after a certain point. It was a struggle to get through and I was just bored for the majority. It was fast paced but that is not always a good thing. It was rushed and very sloppy, I overall did not enjoy. 

Spoiler filled review up until I stopped: 

Leo is the husband and there's something different going on between him and his wife Jem. They are passive aggressive and are clearly hiding something. Jem (the main character) has some type of mental disorder. Jem is fixing up all different rooms in their house but not completing any of the project, it's possibly her way of avoiding trying something new and leaving the country with Leo like he wants. Agent Wilks and special Agent Messer from the FBI knock on the for asking about Leo and his business being used in a front for money laundering from the cartel unwillingly. I'm suspicious of these agents so far. While they're there looking for a possible thumb drive, the home phone began to ring - it never rings. On the phone is Agent Carson states that he is the only FBI agent interested in her husband's case and that the two agents at her house are frauds possibly part of the cartel. Oh shit, now I'm wondering exactly who the hell to trust the agent on the phone or the two individuals in person. Jem is working on escaping her home and has to make a run for it by jumping off the roof of her house, dropping to the first floor to the garage. No phone, no keys because it was a quick escape.  The agents found out she ran and instantly began pursuit looking for her, because her phone and keys were still inside, she hid her bike and pretended she made away from them on bike, Wilks ended up driving the car away looking in search for her on the bike while Messer stayed behind just in case she made it back, in that time she ran on foot away from the house and of course Messer found out. Jem ended up hitchhiking once she made it to the main road, successfully getting away from the "agents." The old man that picked Jem up is named Trevor and is super republican acting, against technology and believes the devices are listening to him. Trevor was surprisingly a good guy. The agents Wilks and Messer showed up at the police station, and now Jem is considering the possibility that she's on the run from the actual FBI. Right when she starts to walk into the police station Detective Carlson pulls up beside Jem, letting her know that she needs to come with him. I now think Carlson is the associate associated with the cartel instead of Wilks and Messer, they were able to enter the station and are trying to clear a few things up in front of the chief police officer Rusty. Jem let Wilks and Messer in a SECOND time after Wilks complained about dodgy reception, stating it was a "long drive back." I don't trust them YET AGAIN lmfao. Wilks has Jem's phone and has been lying about it - she found out after dialing it with her house phone and she ANSWERED. They trashed her house in search of a flash drive, saying they don't need a warrant because of "national security" tf. Wilks finally presented Jem her phone after Leo called and Jem basically ended up telling Leo after he was suspicious that there were fake agents there and that she did not trust them in the slightest. Wilks showed her true colors and told Messer to take care of Jem upstairs and he had beaten her up pretty badly as they struggled, he had planned to use rope to strangle her. Jem grabbed the expensive sharp scissors that she had accidentally stabbed herself with previously and began to defend herself back, stabbing him in the neck. Jem runs downstairs - Carlson came in and got into a fight with Wilks. Jem found one of the agents' gun, Carlson told her to kill Wilks. Though Messer is injured with a broken hand and scissors still in his neck, he made it down the steps and aimed his gun on Jem, also. Wilks tries to reason with Jem, telling her that she needs her still because she's the only one who knows the truth about who Leo is and can get her out of this trouble. She ended up trying to steal the gun from Jem but hit her head on the kitchen island. Messer is dead but I'm not convinced Wilks is even after slipping and bleeding. Carlson is injured and says not to trust law enforcement, that Wilks and Messer were working with someone involved. Probably Rusty. Leo is an informant for the government, also working the cartel. He takes all this dirty information and makes it "clean" by snitching to Carlson. Messer and Wills were real agents, just dirty agents.

 

Final thoughts: My favorite quote is,"Confidence can be feigned. Calmness can be faked. A smile is a mask anyone can wear and I’ve always been so good at smiling.” A lot of useless information I didn't particularly care about im this story, honestly. Weak imagery.  This book was a struggle to get through wholeheartedly, I might have to give it a One!