Read as part of CBR16Bingo: dun-dun. This is a mystery novel, also a backstory about the daughter of a serial killer, so there’s a lot of dun-dun to it.
Those who read my reviews know I’m not a fan of serial killer stories, particularly diabolical serial killer stories. It’s not just that Silence of the Lambs broke the mode, though that is part of it. It’s more because serial killer stories are so…F-WORD…boring!
Oh look at me! I’m such a tortured soul because of trauma! And since I cannot tend to my mental health, I’m going to torture, bludgeon, and eviscerate people to death, usually in the most unlikely way possible so that the writer of this book will see it as artistic.
But I did really like this one, haha.
This is a firecracker of a first novel. I was legit surprised Nicola Solvinic hasn’t done more fiction. Because even though I didn’t care much about the background of serial killer dad…and even though the reveal was boring as reveals are (though I admit to being somewhat surprised)…I liked the MC and her journey. I thought it was well-written and the suspense was maintained throughout the story.
As to the rest of it, I can’t say more without SPOILERS so be forewarned…
I’m not sure it works fully with the mystical elements. I like to believe that being on PCP was inducing her present day hallucinations while the past ones were based on knitting together memories from childhood trauma. That doesn’t explain the whole thing with her dad’s corpse but whatever. The mystical stuff just makes it weird and deters from the best elements of the story.