[Review] - True Crime

By Samantha Kolesnik

Hell breeds demons. No one walks through Hell coming out the other side unchanged. Suzy has known only hell. Can an abused animal be held accountable for snapping? Suzy has known only abuse, a hellish home life. Her experiences include a father who wanted to dispose of her, and mother who abused her in every way imaginable. Her only salvation, her only ray of light, is her brother, Lim.

From the back of the book, Suzy and Lim set out on a cross-country murder spree, beginning with their mother; and as the murder count grows, Suzy spirals into irredeemable madness.

Let's talk about the cover. The cover is striking and beautiful, one of the best I have seen in a while. I especially dig the ad for "Ketchum Plumbing" on the back. I went into it pretty blind, not having read any other reviews or the synopsis. The cover is a bit misleading in that it had me thinking that this was a pulp-ish crime type story; that isn't the case. This is more of dive into the mind of a young, developing killer. I am sure I am not the only one that will make knee jerk comparisons to the movie, Natural Born Killers. The question ultimately is: how does this end? Can Suzy be redeemed?

This was another outstanding debut, and Kolesnik's voice feels fresh. I enjoyed the story immensely, and for me the ending rang of perfection. There are a lot of ways it could have gone. If you stare long enough at Hell, sometimes, just sometimes you can find a speck of hope. Maybe we don't deserve that hope, but we will take what we can get.

Grade: 4.5 Stars

Review by Well Read Beard
Twitter: @WellReadBeard
Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOQX0O8frKI&t=1s

I received a copy from the author for review consideration.