Genre: Thriller | Pages: 339
Star rating:
Synopsis by Justin Hyde:
Revenge (ri-venj) n. punishment or injury inflicted in return for what one has suffered.Just an average guy. Just an average job. Just an average life. Until people start dying and a small town in Southern California becomes Collin Foster's worst nightmare. But to make matters worse, once he meets Steph, a fiesty business woman with a fun loving personality, he realizes that it might not be him after all who is the target of all this chaos.
Just an average, perhaps boring, man - in an average, perhaps boring, town. But when things in this small town get turned upside down, he must figure out who is friend and who is foe. The past has come back to haunt him, and it's either learn to survive - or die.
My Review:
As the title of the book itself suggests, this novel is a murder mystery or a crime-thriller and lives up to it's name. The story begins with an ordinary man, the protagonist- James foster living an ordinary life. Parallely, the story reveals a series of bizarre assaults on women and gruesome murders which finally intertwines with James's life turning it upside down. The local police is called to investigate these multiple murders and somehow links James to them and have him called in several times. Several of these clues indicate a possible sequence of victims from a serial offender. Overtime and eventually, they lead to James life being threatened.
Another important character in the book- Andreas who enters James life and makes it twisted to a further extent. A series of unexpected events unfold and the readers go through a turbulent emotional spree.
Apart from the story, the aesthetic of the book itself is truly appealing. I've said this before and I say it again. There is something about justified paragraphs that has a beauty to it. The cover of the book, the paragraphs, everything is truly pleasing to the eyes. Even the font is big enough for you to read the book without squinting your eyes ( a lot of readers with glasses like me will agree to this).
Not to be too dramatic, but some parts of the books sent shock-wave through me and just set the stage for what to expect next. There where times while reading the story where I could make suppositions and was proven to be right. Nevertheless, a large section of this book was truly unpredictable. Sometimes curious, sometimes shocked, I knew this book was different from the ones I've read. Although, there where times when the story went hayway, I ended the book with a smile.Towards the end James goes through a brutal and aggressively violent experience only to be saved in the most unexpected way. The end is a bittersweet moment where the truths are revealed, love is realized and sanity is revived.
This story has been very welcoming and sincere. Smart and stimulating, this book has met all my expectations I had for this genre. You can tell from this book that the author has all the right skills to be an excellent writer. This is Justin Hyde's debut book and from the looks of it, I can tell that he has so much more to offer to his readers. I wouldn't think twice before picking us his next book . I truly look forward to seeing what he has in store for us in the future and what he has to offer in the other books he has published or is yet to publish.
I'd suggest everyone to come fraternize with this really good small-town crime thriller.
About the novel and the author:
Justin Hyde is an independent writer from southern California and the author of two novels, which are both crime/adventure/thriller books.
You can find "The Talion Law"on Amazon here. You call find his other books on Amazon as well. Be sure to check it out!