4 out of 4 stars
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Apartment 4 is just like any other good apartment. Neat, spotless, and well-maintained by a young female student. The bookshelves were filled to capacity with textbooks and the like. The kitchenette was neat as well, clear of a single crumb. This particular apartment was so nice that even the bathroom was clean, with bright and colorful linens to give the prim and proper space a touch of life. Except the tenant has been robbed of life, her body parts strewn all over the place. A grotesque work of art, for every cop, CSI, and TV person to bear witness, more so for private investigator Mitch King.
Mitch only wanted to apprehend George Burgess but drove his younger brother, Ray Burgess, to commit suicide instead. George wasn’t too pleased and decides to express his displeasure by taking names (and lives). With the weight of this murders bearing down on Mitch, he has turned to alcohol as a means of anesthetizing himself. As the weeks progress, so does the kill count. And just when it looks like enough is enough, Mitch is slapped in the face real hard. Will this be the last straw before he goes numb and becomes a total wreck, or are bigger and better things in store?
Blood Vengeance by Sam Waas is the third title in the series of Mitch King private detective novels. If you’re wondering, you can read the book without reading the previous two as it stands up on its own well enough. It’s a mystery novel, but its thriller and suspense aspects are strong as well, especially the suspense part.
The book’s ‘blood’ part is made apparent in the very first page. It sets the tone very well and gives readers an idea of what to expect for the next 200 pages. The author gives a vivid description of pretty much everything, whether it’s the various locales of Houston, character’s appearance, or a victim’s demise, the author does it wonderfully. So wonderful in fact that the first instance of death was a little unsettling and disturbed me a bit. This works hand-in-hand with the suspense because you have this unhinged character who just wants to draw blood and mess with the protagonist’s psyche. Which made me concerned for what was going to happen as I turned the pages.
Then we get to the ‘vengeance’ part of this book. It is discussed in the first few pages but it isn’t until the midway part when this aspect becomes very enticing to our main guy. But don’t worry, this isn’t simply a grayscale world with blood and violence in the middle. The setting is as colorful as any other and character development matters here, especially for Mitch King. As we witness his bouts with alcohol, lack of self-esteem, and personal loss. Since he can’t just mope forever, he keeps searching for a turnaround, and turnaround he finds.
From start to finish, the book is paced well, with a healthy dose of violence, internal conflict, and a bit of romance. The author does a great job juggling every single one of them in order to come up with a well-written and no-nonsense book that I would be able to recommend to most readers, especially those who prefer the things that I just mentioned earlier. Engaging plot, well-written characters, and Houston allow me to give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
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Blood Vengeance
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