Review: Good read, but beware of onstage brutality/swearing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 31, 2013
I received this free in return for an honest review.The Good...This story kept me turning pages, wanting to solve the mystery of the Observers and how they were different from the Participants. Each new chapter either dangled yet another piece of the puzzle in front of me or asked yet another question I wanted to know the answer to. This was perfect for someone like me who enjoys working out the whys and wherefores of an enigma.The characters are well-developed and distinctive. Some, like Eric, actually scared me. Others, like Lacey, made me want to slap them until they acquired some sense. The tension and fear in Zach felt real and kept me rooting for him through the entire story.I also enjoyed the twist at the end. It's rare that an author can surprise me. Either I've figured it out long before the end or the twist comes off like a gimmick, but that is not the case in The Participants.The Not-so-good...I only have two complaints. The first is that the story is too short. I enjoyed reading it so much and invested so much energy into the characters that, by the end of the book, I was ready to find out what would happen in the next incarnation -- or if there would even be a next one. Along with that was the disappointment that there isn't a book 2. I would have loved it if either the story was longer or there was at least the promise of another book.My second complaint is that there was more foul language and brutality than I am personally comfortable with. While I understand that serial killers are more likely to curse and their very nature necessitates brutality, I don't have to enjoy it. I prefer torture and murder to happen off stage.As for the cursing, it wasn't just the serial killer. There were at least two others who swore more than I thought was necessary. Had the characters been in some kind of gang or had some other reason for speaking in such low terms, then I might have been able to overlook it.The Overall...I highly recommend The Participants by Brian Blose to anyone who enjoys a good puzzle with a plot twist, but beware that there is plenty of onstage brutality and swearing.