I’m pretty sure this book was recommended to me by Amazon. I have so many books in my queue at this point, it’s hard to keep track of where they came from. I’m going to have to cool it with the thrillers for a few weeks. I’m experiencing a lack of valor when I enter my basement and I have to go down there to do laundry, so it’s becoming a problem.
Here’s the premise of this nail biter-
Joanna has a past that still haunts her. After killing a murderer while wearing blue, Joanna served time, and now struggles to adjust to her new life which involves manual labor, casual hookups, and hate-drinking with the woman who put her away. The balance changes when a victim escapes from a run-in with a serial killer who has a similar MO as the killer from Joanna’s unsolved case. Needing to put the unresolved to rest, Joanna can’t stay away. The case becomes personal though and Joanna’s life follows a similar path, but with a brighter outcome.
I thought that the relationship between Joanna and Venessa was fascinating and probably my favorite part of the book. Venessa is the internal Affairs Inspector who was the lead investigator in Joanna’s case, which resulted in Joanna going to prison. I like the layers this created in their friendship. It felt like their dialogue conveyed some of this, especially what was left unsaid between them. I do wish more was exploited though with their relationship. For me, I could have used just a few more scenes to nail the ending.
I don’t usually comment on spelling/grammar mistakes as I think they’re almost expected in Indie publishing, but this book needs another read-through. It wasn’t enough for me to put down, but it did become distracting.
I enjoyed the writing here. It was fast and edgy which I thought worked well for this story.
There’s sort of an underlying theme relating to morality throughout the story which I think draws heavily from Joanna having to live with her decision. Although the world isn’t black and white, the system is, and Joanna worked outside the system. Even though she acted with good intentions she still has to suffer through the social repercussions. This whole topic was an interesting juxtaposition to Joanna’s father’s moral ideals and values which weren’t offended by Joanna killing a murderer, but by her homosexuality. Here is someone who sees things very black and white and couldn’t be more different than his daughter in those regards. I thought this whole part was interesting.
If suspense, mystery, and drama is your thing, then you might enjoy Killer Instinct.
https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Instinct
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