Review: I stopped breathing...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 26, 2013
I don't even know where to start with this review. Finishing this book pretty much blew my mind. I really should have know better though. I've read Shay Savage's other works and each one of them has left me feeling emotionally all over the place. Otherwise Occupied picks up where Otherwise Alone left off; Evan is back in Chicago after his exile for botching a hit for his Mafia boss and Lia is still very much on his mind.Evan is a very troubled man. His experiences as a POW and his resulting PTSD have left him broken and bitter. His only attachment is to his dog and he's afraid to even have that in case one of his many enemies decides to use that against him. The book is told through Evan's point of view so we get deep into his psyche and see his every bit of his inner turmoil and flashback to his time in captivity. Really, in theory, you shouldn't like a character like Evan but there's something about him pulls me in and makes me want to help him...and just accept him as he is.The majority of Otherwise Occupied focuses on Evan's return to Chicago and his attempts to work his way back into his boss' good graces. We also get to see inside his process of planning his hits and how he "relaxes" too. Evan's life is a thrown for another loop when he's haunted by his military past again and struggles with the fact that his only peace comes from a prostitute named Bridgett. He's dealt a third strike when he can't get Lia out of his mind.If I was watching a movie about this book I would have probably covered my eyes or had to make multiple trips to the "bathroom" during the visceral and gritty parts but everything about Shay Savage's writing grabs your attention and you can't look away. I couldn't put the book down the whole day and I'll even admit to ordering pizza for dinner that night so I didn't have to stop reading. The ending of Otherwise Occupied is hard to express because I'm so afraid to give something away. Between the mind-blowing (literally) twist and the equally heart stopping Epilogue, I was left with my heart racing and anxiously awaiting the next installment.Otherwise Occupied is perfect for those who can stand an emotional rollercoaster with lots of violent twists. Shay Savage does an outstanding job drawing the reader into Evan's word and keeps you there until the very end. It's in my top five books of the year.