Review of Swithblade Heart
8 posts
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Swithblade Heart" by Denning.]
Switchblade Heart by Denning tells the story of Reno Villarrubia and a cast of other shady characters. It alternates between her present-day activities as a bodyguard for a gangster named Victor Pagnolli and her life as an orphaned pickpocket in Colombia. Reno carries a switchblade at all times, living a life where she has "killed more men than she's kissed."
Victor and his group are being blackmailed by a corrupt police officer named Carter Hansen. This leads Reno and her partner, Roland, into all sorts of illegal activities. This makes for a very suspenseful tale of violence and distrust.
I liked how the book went back and forth, telling the story of how Reno came to be. However, there were several things I did not like in this book. There was a lot of profanity and violence, as well as a somewhat graphic sexual assault. I think the author should have provided a trigger warning for this, given Reno's traumatic past.
I also felt Switchblade Heart was very convoluted at times, especially during the first half of the book. I had a hard time keeping track of the characters. There were several times when the language would switch from English to Spanish to Russian, so I worried that I was missing something important to the story. I will say the second half of the book got better for me, as this is when it really went more into Reno's backstory. I liked finding out how she came to know Victor and enter this life of crime.
There were also several spelling and grammatical errors. This really took away from the book. Based on these factors, I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. If you are someone who likes crime stories with a good bit of violence, then this may be the book for you. I also think it would make a good action movie.
******
Swithblade Heart
View: on Bookshelves |
Switchblade Heart by Denning tells the story of Reno Villarrubia and a cast of other shady characters. It alternates between her present-day activities as a bodyguard for a gangster named Victor Pagnolli and her life as an orphaned pickpocket in Colombia. Reno carries a switchblade at all times, living a life where she has "killed more men than she's kissed."
Victor and his group are being blackmailed by a corrupt police officer named Carter Hansen. This leads Reno and her partner, Roland, into all sorts of illegal activities. This makes for a very suspenseful tale of violence and distrust.
I liked how the book went back and forth, telling the story of how Reno came to be. However, there were several things I did not like in this book. There was a lot of profanity and violence, as well as a somewhat graphic sexual assault. I think the author should have provided a trigger warning for this, given Reno's traumatic past.
I also felt Switchblade Heart was very convoluted at times, especially during the first half of the book. I had a hard time keeping track of the characters. There were several times when the language would switch from English to Spanish to Russian, so I worried that I was missing something important to the story. I will say the second half of the book got better for me, as this is when it really went more into Reno's backstory. I liked finding out how she came to know Victor and enter this life of crime.
There were also several spelling and grammatical errors. This really took away from the book. Based on these factors, I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. If you are someone who likes crime stories with a good bit of violence, then this may be the book for you. I also think it would make a good action movie.
******
Swithblade Heart
View: on Bookshelves |
You are not logged in. Please log in or sign up to view members replies, participate in the discussion, and access more features.
