Author: C. J. WestGenre: Thriller, Series #1
Published: 2005
Personal Rating: 4.5/5 (excellent)
Yearly Count: 66
A knee injury destroys Charlie Marston's football career and by default is encouraged to work in the family winery business. Not fully committed, Charlie meanders around and becomes buddies with Randy Black. Their relationship exhibits the extremes of friendship.
Eek! The opening scene (or close to) was not what I expected at all. It was obscene. Not only that, it was brutal and rather disgusting. Now that the ugly part is over . . . umm well, that's not entirely true - there were many ugly parts, but that's not the point. Or maybe it is. Ahhh! Every major component of this book was filled with some form of terror, so there aren't many pleasant things I can say about the plot. Except, that it was extremely suspenseful and intense.
Seriously (not that the above isn't), there was a lot of violence, and I thought overdone in some instances (like - okay, let's move on), but I couldn't keep my hands off my iPad! This was my first eBook, and it was meant for reading only at night (as to not disturb Mr. Joy), but once I got into it, I was reading at all hours of the day!
Other than the abundance of violence that has already been mentioned (many times), I thought the writing, in and of itself, was a little on the simple side. Even so, simple language or not, the plot was very well thought out (another compliment), and I am very curious as to what's going to happen in the second book of this series: A Demon Awaits.
I can read a book with violence like that in it, but I could never listen to it or watch a movie version of it. This sounds like a real page turner.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Sin & Vengeance. The book is intense as any good revenge story should be. I wanted readers to feel Randy's anger and desperation. You will find the sequel has a very different tone.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it just as much.
CJ
This one must be really good because that's the longest review I've read from you in a while and it rated an almost perfect 5!!!!
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion ~ I can watch it as long as my hands are over my eyes! Tee hee. Speaking of movies, it has been optioned for a feature film!
ReplyDeleteCJ West ~ You're welcome. It was obviously my pleasure. :) And, I definitely felt Randy's anger and desperation.
I watched the video interview of you on Creatively Speaking and was very surprised at your temperament! The contrast was fun to see. I wonder if you have a "Randy" lurking behind that calm, cool and collected demeanor. Now that I think about it, Randy had that attribute, too! I understand why your neighbors may look at you sideways. *giggle giggle* Just teasing you.
Hmm - a different tone in A Demon Awaits, huh? You have piqued my interest. My eReader has it and your latest book ready and waiting for me.
May you enjoy much success! Thanks for commenting.
Staci ~ *grin* It's obvious why I don't write in great lengths - I just say the same thing over and over! :) I literally write almost all my posts directly after closing the book (pros and cons to that), so whatever is most prevalent on my mind gets written. I'm not trying to write reviews. These are purely just my ungarnished, raw thoughts. Not very classy I know.
As for the near perfect rating - CJ kept me coming back time and time again to see what was going to happen next. The suspense was fabulous. It has a chase theme that happens to be my favorite type of suspense.
Looks like a real page turner and I don't mind a little violence :) I'm getting ready to read my first ebook on the ipad too. I'll be reading Emma by Austen.
ReplyDeleteStacybuckeye ~ OMGosh! I love my iPad! I've never had a laptop, so I've been thrilled that I'm able to carry it around with me. :) BUT, having the ability to read eBooks (on iBooks, Kindle, etc.) has been just way cool! The night reading feature has saved my marriage (just kidding), but it sure has eliminated the lights out disagreements! I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am. It's the best "toy" I have ever had. Okay, my iPhone ranks up there pretty high, too. :) Oh yeah, compare all the prices of books on the different eReaders - they do vary.
ReplyDelete