***ARC received for an honest review***
“The Reaper’s got your number tonight...Scream if you want. Ain’t nobody gonna save you.”
This was my first read by Keri Lake and it certainly won’t be my last. This book captivates you from the beginning and the author does a fantastic job of pulling you in to this great dark, gripping story. This is more your dark, romantic suspense type read. It is violent and is not for the faint of heart and those scenes are described in vivid detail, but for me this wasn’t gratuitous; it enhanced the story and gave a deeper understanding to the internal rumblings of Nick Ryder. This is certainly not your hearts and flowers read and you may read through one eye for some of it...you have been warned.
Nick Ryder was the epitome of the perfect husband and family man until a tragedy left him a shell of the person he once was...now he lived for revenge, years of planning, years of pain, years of anguish had finally culminated to this...it was time.
“Every scar told a story, but it was the ones we didn’t want others to see that told a truth.”
Detroit was a city full of corruption, full of crime and you never knew who you could trust or who was in whose pocket. Aubree Culling was the wife of the extremely corrupt Mayor Michael Culling. He was the epitome of evil, using his authority to wreak havoc on Detroit for financial gain. Michael Culling treated his wife as a whore and a punching bag and as much as she had tried to leave all her attempts had been thwarted. Michael Culling was however at the top of Nick Ryder’s hit list and Aubree becomes a pawn in this deadly game. An eye for an eye...a tooth for a tooth.
Nick Ryder was destroyed, everything he loved and cherished was taken from him, he had a huge case of survivor’s guilt. But the good thing about being “dead” is that you have free reign to exact your revenge and this something that he has been planning for years with the assistance of computer expert, Alec. Nick was highly motivated, highly controlled and extremely focused, his mind firmly set on his end goal, even if things do not necessarily go according to plan. Keri Lake really tugs at your heart strings in this book as you feel every ounce of his pain, it breaks your heart, it isn’t pretty and you cannot help but be overcome with emotion when you learn exactly what Nick has been through and what he is currently living through.
“I saw darkness in her beauty, and she saw beauty in my darkness. Yin and yang. Black and white. Beauty and scars; fury and forgiveness...”
While the way he goes about things is far from legal, you understand that this is his only option. With corrupt law enforcement he couldn’t rely on anyone but himself and this was something that he just couldn’t let slide, he couldn’t rest until it was done. Sometimes though, people are not who they seem, their stories are not what the press portray and sometimes just sometimes your biggest foe can suddenly become your greatest ally.
“So long I sought retribution, and in Aubree, I found redemption.”
This book is not all violence though, it is perfectly balanced with some smoking hot sex scenes and once again the emotions are prevalent throughout. Two broken souls...but two that were so perfect for each other they brought out the best in each other, they soothe each other’s cuts and patch up each other’s brokenness.
“Apart, we were nothing more than two broken halves, but together, our jagged edges fit perfectly, sealed into something whole again. In the end, he saved me, and in return, I saved him. Eye for an eye, heart for a heart.”
I was consumed by this book, Nick’s story broke me, and Keri Lake’s writing is so evocative you cannot help but live and breathe this story. My only little niggle was the twist didn’t really work for me and I had seen it coming, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this story. It’s ugly, it’s violent, it’s full or sorrow, but it is also full of hope and it was that glimmer that keeps you hoping for that happy ever after. Fantastic book and one that I can highly recommend.
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