Review: Violence Begets: Gripping, disturbing, compelling
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2014
This is one of those books you simply cannot put down. Told from the POV of both Rick and Kevin, it is a chronicle of terrifying acts of violence, father against son, son against others, a cycle that spirals out of control. The mind wants to deny the acts, but you know in your heart this is too often true for too many youngsters. It is reality writ large, made personal in a way you cannot deny.Rick's voice rang truer, less mature, more a teenager than that of Kevin whose self-evaluation sometimes treads in psychobabble territory, clinical and incisive in ways most teens are not. It's puts him at an emotional distance, from everyone around him, and sometimes from the reader ... up until the very end and then you cannot but help that wash of sympathy and understanding, outrage and sheer terror. That's not a criticism, just an observation.This is not an easy read. It is raw, emotionally draining. For that reason, it is a worthy read. Five stars.