In the electrifying tradition of Dean Koontz and Gillian Flynn comes the first riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author!
It’s high summer in the Mojave Desert, and Kristine Rush and her fiancĂ©, Daniel, are en route from Las Vegas to Lake Arrowhead, California, for the July Fourth holiday weekend. But when Daniel is abducted from a desolate rest stop, Kristine is forced to choose: return home unharmed, but never to see her fiancĂ© again, or plunge forward into the searing desert to find him…where a killer lies in wait.
One road. One woman. One killer.
Sprinting against the clock, and uncertain if danger lies ahead or behind, Kristine must blaze an epic path through the gaudy and flash of roadside casinos, abandoned highway stops, and a landscape rife with horrors never before imagined. Desperate to save her doomed husband-to-be, Kristine must summon long forgotten resources if she's to go head-to-head against this unpredictable killer. And she'd better hurry. Because she only has twenty-four hours...to make one hell of a trip.
I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.
I was intrigued when I heard Vicki Pettersson was going to write a new stanadlone thriller! It was far from her usual books I've read, but with beloved authors, I'm always willing to try something new if I think I might like it. And I do tend to like thrillers. And oh boy, Swerve was one amazing thriller!
Kristine has a pretty good life going for her. She's had a rough past, and we see bits of that in her flashbacks. At first, you can't quite grasp why we're seeing all this. But all good things come to those who wait. Or so I'm told! We learn bits of her childhood and past and what basically caused her to be on her current life path. And it's there that she learned a few things that will help her in her upcoming nightmare of a journey!
Kristine and her fiance, Daniel are off on a Fourth of July trip to see his mother for a big Independence Day celebration. But before the trip even starts, terror strikes at an abandoned rest stop--it was really closed for construction--so Kristine could change clothes. She's nearly attacked and when she comes to, Daniel is gone. All that's left is the car with keys, and his cell phone. She has to play a game with his kidnapper or else Daniel dies.
Though we never see this mysterious kidnapper, he apparently has been watching Kristine for nearly a year now. Watching her, studying her, and he finds her lacking. So she must prove her worth if she ever wants to get Daniel back. She will have to go beyond her comfort zone again and again. This kidnapper is one scary dude, as we will see throughout that he holds no value over human life.
And that's just the first half! I was completely blown away with this book. It was creepy in that real world sense with scary villains who are 100% human, though obviously not humane. I think that's in part why I enjoy thrillers, because it's nearly like a "monster" book, but the monsters are human and that's all the scarier in my opinion!
Though you would think the second half wouldn't amount to much, it was actually even creepier than the first part. Kristine comes face to face with the kidnapper and pretty much for the entire last half, we are left wondering if she will survive this murderer or not! My heart was racing, for it seemed like every time Kristine took a step forward, she's thrown back twenty paces. It was unreal! It was totally believable though and scary to boot!
The ending itself is reminiscent of other creepy thriller movies I've seen. And that totally gave me chills too! Because...CHILLS!!! EEP! I can't even really discuss this one much because of how events turned so early on. And it was quite the shocker. I don't know if I should've guessed the events or not, but I always enjoyed being taken by surprise!
The pacing to this one was excellent for the first half, since Kristine has that time limit and the kidnapper is doing everything possible to make her fail it seems. Then around the halfway point, the pacing slows a bit. But the scenes are rife with tension! Oh my goodness, I didn't care that things weren't moving along as fast anymore, but yet I still couldn't read fast enough to see how things turned out! It was without a doubt a glorious and suspenseful read!
If you're looking for the perfect thriller to read this summer, Swerve needs to be at the top of the list because it's a read you won't ever forget!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
Swerve releases July 7, 2015
I love thrillers alot, they get me so excited! This book has an amazing concept and I like the idea of the kidnapper being able to control all the things she does. I will definitely be picking this up as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteNaomi@The Perks Of Being A Bookworm