Joel Padgett
As a fan of the serial killer genre, the mentions of “supernatural” in some of the press about this one caused me some hesitation. I like the eventually-a-loser evil to be human. This one, however, doesn’t position the supernatural in any direct way regarding the “hero” or “villain(s)”.
That said, this is less a typical serial killer book than an exploration of coming to terms with trauma. I enjoyed the time spent with Ruth but in the end this was not a book for me.
a short book; only about 200 pages. There were 96 times a character shrugged, 125 times a character nodded and 138 times characters shook their heads. Hopefully the author improves with the rest of the series but I will never find out.
This one should have been a slam dunk for me and ultimately I will read the next one if it happens but hopefully the author will get a more knowledgeable editor.
The protagonist’s thing is linguistics and having her diagram sentences frequently is cool and expected but having those sentences only in the diagrams breaks the focus of the reader (me).
Make sure the author is up to the mettle of her budding genius creation. If someone says “…he could care less”, there is no way someone has pendantic as Maggie wouldn’t flag that as incorrect even if only in her thoughts.
But worse for me is the avoidance of action. We only hear about most of that as exposition from mostly Maggie after the fact.
I enjoyed the plot, the story and the storytelling. The author, though, kept attempting unique turns of phrases or descriptions but they were not grounded enough to evoke or describe their targets.
While “serial killer” is a primary part of the book's description, this isn't a “serial killer” book. There is no cat & mouse killer versus hero through line. Instead it is more a tactical team thriller in line with the author's other works. I enjoyed it and will check out the next in the series when published, but be wary if you are looking for your next serial killer reads.
I enjoyed this immensely. I was lured in by the analytical serial killer premise, which is a favorite area of interest, but then it blossomed into other fun directions which skirted my own past. I am around the same age as the protagonist and grew up in the world of BBSes, phreaking, etc.... Some might be turned off by the technospeak as the author dives into lower level details, but I ate it up. It was also a bit jarring that federated social media is a focal point given it is so relevant to today but was written almost 10 years ago. Already start book 2 and then jumping to the author's other series.
Unfortunately this one was more a long set up for the next book than a standalone.
wanted to enjoy this more. A little political intrigue;a little queerness and wrapped into a bow of Vietnamese heritage. But the rhythm of the writing was off for me. So much that I only made it halfway through before giving up.