Grady’s life is a mess. He’s ex-military man, with a big alcohol problem, and his wife is about to leave him. Just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, his dead beat drug addicted brother drags him into his problems, and he finds himself embroiled in the search for a mysterious object that a prostitute is meant to have stolen from a drug baron.
But Grady finds his chance for redemption in the face of a teenage girl, whose mother has been murdered in connection with the missing mystery object. Nyah needs a friend and fast, as the bodies start to pile up and the plot thickens…
JT Blundell sent me this book for honest review, and in all honesty, I liked it. The whole thing feels pretty cinematic really, with drug dealers, car chases, murders, beautiful women, that kind of thing. I like how Blundell creates characters, they feel quite vibrant and well realised, and the women in this book have agency and are not just set decoration.
It’s kind of a high octane, thrill ride, crime caper kind of a book, and I love that in each chapter something happens. There’s always something unfolding. On the whole, the book is quite violent, a bit graphic, but not grotesquely so. I guess on the whole, to be criticial, the book is kind of big, a bit OTT. The characters are “types”: the alcoholic in need of redemption, the innocent teenager, the big bad drug baron. The violence and car chases are frequent and bloody. The bodies pile up. It’s not, perhaps, realistic. It could all be a bit too big, loud, brashy for some people. And that’s OK.
For me, I felt like it was really fun. It’s never cheesey or cliche, it’s always moving, it’s not overly predictable, the dialogue is good, the characters feel solid and interesting. OK, so you’d never get away with this stuff in real life, but isn’t that the point? It’s larger than life escapism, and it’s pretty good fun.
Read It If: all of you out there who like your gritty crime thrillers, you’ll like this one. Drama or romance lovers, skip it. It’s quite violent.
CravenWild 