Review: Surprisingly Fresh Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 18, 2014
This book really deserves somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars. Man, did this book surprise me with its direction. I cannot recommend this highly enough to readers of action, thrillers and dramatic mystery tales. The only downside is its cut short quite dramatically towards the end. Just a quick snippet... this book ponders life after death (quite literally)! SOME SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.I think some reviewers mentioned that this book didn't build a climax, but I believe it did. There are three words around the middle of the book that should take your breath away or at least elicit a deep gasp. The book had me hooked from there on out. I know its short, but this book is really worth it!Firstly, the characters are all dealt with very well. Nick (Pirog, the author) isn't afraid to shy away from colorful language (when appropriate) and this book is slightly more for mature readers. Although, I think YA fans shouldn't necessarily shy away as many books of that genre do use profanity. The main character, Maddy, is quite believable and shows a lot of passion as he acclimatizes with the after life, so to speak. The characters that he meets/adopts are all realistic.But where the book really won me over was the big twist in the middle and the smaller twists towards the end. Again, those three words shocked me. The story does a really good job in envisioning what the afterlife could be and how people might react to that situation. Albeit short, the tale paints a nice setting/world for said life after death.The character Maddy meets towards the end really keeps the story going and I can't wait to read the next few in the series. Nick Pirog, thanks for writing this fresh new take on the thriller/mystery genre. I really hope he can sustain this interest and flesh out the tale without delving into cliched and banal storylines. Please finish this story soon.I would recommend this to YA and maturer readers who are fans of action, intrigue, mystery, thriller and Lost-esque stories that slowly wind out their mythologies, keep the audience guessing and roll out those twists!