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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Edward Wood is a disgraced former governor who broke up his family with one horrifying act of violence. Edward witnesses the death of a teenage boy in his yard and sees the killer leaving the scene. His eldest son, Sammy, believes that his father may be responsible but he soon changes his mind when more bodies begin to pile up.
This story is told completely from Sammy's pov, first person narration might not work for everyone but I thought it suited this story well. There's a lot going on in this read and some of the details in it are redundant, such as the missing governor and his wife. Small quibbles aside it was engrossing and a particular strong point were the characters. Not many of the characters are particularly nice people, Sammy is a drug dealer, his father a wife beater and his sister is someone who systematically uses every person she comes into contact with. Thompson's considerable writing skills flesh these characters out, they are shown as complex people who are capable of doing both heinous acts and kind deeds.
A twist just after the halfway mark shifts the read up a gear, the killer is superbly written and makes a surprisingly sympathetic character. There were so many things to like with this book but I couldn't help feeling disappointed with the almost happy ending where too much is tied up with a bow. Something grittier would have been more appropriate.
A great entry into the thriller genre for Thompson. Recommended.
When a mystery man dumps a mutilated and near-dead senator's son on the lawn of a former governor, the former governor's life, and that of his children, spins out of control. Who is the mystery man and why did he leave the dying man on the governor's lawn? And is it connected to the governor's sons? That's what detective Jim Thompson means to find out...
I got this from DarkFuse via Netgalley.
When I saw the detective's name was [a:Jim Thompson|7621|Jim Thompson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360741132p2/7621.jpg], my first thought was "Yeah, they're all fucked."
A Beautiful Madness is told from the point of view of Sammy, the ex-governor's oldest son, who happens to be a drug dealer. His sister, Delilah, is a manipulating gold digger. It seems that Andy is the only one of the Wood children who is worth a shit.
Sammy tries to keep his drug operation running while trying to catch The Wolverine, the mystery man who dumped the senator's boy on his father's lawn. Complicating things are his sister Delilah having a past relationship with the boy and Detective Jim Thompson trying to solve case himself.
A Beautiful Madness is full of twists and turns. There is a fair amount of blood, violence, and death. The characters were surprisingly three dimensional. The Wolverine was far from the one-dimensional scene chewing villain he easily could have been and even had a touch of sadness and pity in his backstory. Sammy is a drug dealing shit but still craves his father's approval and the love of his siblings. Delilah has a slight kind streak despite being a shitbag.
Once The Wolverine's story unravelled, the book become scientifically impossible to put aside. I loved the way everything ended for Thompson, Sammy, Delilah, even the Wolverine.
Darkfuse continues to be one of my favorite publishers and I'll be on the lookout for more Lee Thompson. Four out of five stars.
I got this from DarkFuse via Netgalley.
When I saw the detective's name was [a:Jim Thompson|7621|Jim Thompson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360741132p2/7621.jpg], my first thought was "Yeah, they're all fucked."
A Beautiful Madness is told from the point of view of Sammy, the ex-governor's oldest son, who happens to be a drug dealer. His sister, Delilah, is a manipulating gold digger. It seems that Andy is the only one of the Wood children who is worth a shit.
Sammy tries to keep his drug operation running while trying to catch The Wolverine, the mystery man who dumped the senator's boy on his father's lawn. Complicating things are his sister Delilah having a past relationship with the boy and Detective Jim Thompson trying to solve case himself.
A Beautiful Madness is full of twists and turns. There is a fair amount of blood, violence, and death. The characters were surprisingly three dimensional. The Wolverine was far from the one-dimensional scene chewing villain he easily could have been and even had a touch of sadness and pity in his backstory. Sammy is a drug dealing shit but still craves his father's approval and the love of his siblings. Delilah has a slight kind streak despite being a shitbag.
Once The Wolverine's story unravelled, the book become scientifically impossible to put aside. I loved the way everything ended for Thompson, Sammy, Delilah, even the Wolverine.
Darkfuse continues to be one of my favorite publishers and I'll be on the lookout for more Lee Thompson. Four out of five stars.
The story starts out with a senator's son collapsing on a former governor's lawn. The killer looks on as the man takes his dying breath. Then we learn the former governor has a pretty interesting history. He had taken a lead pipe to his beloved wife and stepped out of the limelight.
The story is told by one of his children, Sammy. A drug dealer that I could not help but like. His daughter Dee now? I didn't like her spoiled ass all the way through the book.
The book was good and it kept me interested. I marked it as a three star because the point of view was completely told from Sammy's viewpoint. It did derail the story at times for me because I think even as first person some of the other characters in the story should have had their voices heard too. It got convoluted to only be what Sammy knew. How did he know everything-even when he wasn't on the scene?
It's one of the few books that I've felt sorrier for the "bad guy" than some of the characters that were the supposed good guys.
I do recommend the book.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley/Dark Fuse in exchange for an honest review.
The story is told by one of his children, Sammy. A drug dealer that I could not help but like. His daughter Dee now? I didn't like her spoiled ass all the way through the book.
The book was good and it kept me interested. I marked it as a three star because the point of view was completely told from Sammy's viewpoint. It did derail the story at times for me because I think even as first person some of the other characters in the story should have had their voices heard too. It got convoluted to only be what Sammy knew. How did he know everything-even when he wasn't on the scene?
It's one of the few books that I've felt sorrier for the "bad guy" than some of the characters that were the supposed good guys.
I do recommend the book.
I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley/Dark Fuse in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, this is a problem with NetGalley! My problem... Firstly this is Darkfuse, secondly I'm auto approved for Darkfuse. Excuse? Probably...
I started reading this very exciting synopsis and I just thought that I HAD to read this. It sounds exciting! And really the cover is pretty cool too. And as I said above, Darkfuse! I love them!
What I didn't realize until I was about 20% in was that this is a thriller. THRILLER. My most hated genre. I mean other than military and politics. I just cannot deal with thrillers. Some are ok but at best it's only going to get a three out of me which doesn't have anything to do with this wonderful author or the book, it's a me thing.
So! Instead of writing a full review I'm going to tell you that this is really intriguing. I was explaining it to my hubby and he was really excited as I am sure a lot of people will be that enjoy thrillers.
This DID start out promising. And there is a lot of intrigue here. For a thriller enthusiast this will be right up their alley.
Not rating for obvious reasons! But thank you to Darkfuse and to the author for allowing me to (try) read for an honest review!
I started reading this very exciting synopsis and I just thought that I HAD to read this. It sounds exciting! And really the cover is pretty cool too. And as I said above, Darkfuse! I love them!
What I didn't realize until I was about 20% in was that this is a thriller. THRILLER. My most hated genre. I mean other than military and politics. I just cannot deal with thrillers. Some are ok but at best it's only going to get a three out of me which doesn't have anything to do with this wonderful author or the book, it's a me thing.
So! Instead of writing a full review I'm going to tell you that this is really intriguing. I was explaining it to my hubby and he was really excited as I am sure a lot of people will be that enjoy thrillers.
This DID start out promising. And there is a lot of intrigue here. For a thriller enthusiast this will be right up their alley.
Not rating for obvious reasons! But thank you to Darkfuse and to the author for allowing me to (try) read for an honest review!