Book Review – Ricochet by Keri Lake

Ricochet
This one caught my eye a few months ago upon its release, and nooooooo, not just ’cause of that gorgeous, mesmerizing cover ! It totally gave me a blurb jolt and I highlighted it big time:

“A few blurbs are giving me that coveted *jolt* …ESPECIALLY Ricochet (OMG… his wife is murdered so he exacts revenge by kidnapping the murderer’s wife… and you know how THAT goes).

I’m no longer Nick Ryder. I’m a masked vigilante. Faceless. Loveless. Fearless. A man with nothing left to lose—one who’s seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer. Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am. Or what I want. All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife… <— WHOA!”

I know, right??? I should have read it then, because it was as awesome as I was expecting it to be.

But it was when some of my fellow readers, months later, went crazy for it, that I finally jumped in!

Jean: Omg you guys! Ricochet by Keri Lake! Freaking awesome! Couldn’t put it down last night and picked it right back up this morning! Went into it totally blind and boy am I glad I did! Nothing will get done today until I finish this book!

Fabi: I am at the last 10% of Ricochet and making myself late for work because I can’t put it down. Great rec Jean!

Jean: Finished Ricochet and really loved it! A twist at the end I didn’t see coming!

Pia: I started Ricochet by Keri Lane and this is just perfect. I am around 80% and I just LOVE this book. So dark and so much angst – just what I needed.

Jean: Glad I could share the news about Ricochet! My girlfriend and I are still talking about it days later! You gotta read it Maryse!

Maryse: I wanna read Ricochet so bad! I keep forgetting. GAH!

Jean: Loved, loved, loved Ricochet! The author said they will be standalones. Maryse, allow this to act as your reminder!

And this one proved to be everything its blurb promised. Told from both POV’s (usually I only like one POV, but in this case, it was perfectly delivered, and STILL managed to surprise me)!!

Exciting, scary (actually terrifying, at times), but with so much backstory, and I was DYING to know where this one was going o take me. Plus, it had a few delicious twists that made me go… “oooooooooh would you look at that!! ” And then…  NO. WAY.

Maryse: OMG YOU GUYS!!! A bunch of us are buddy-reading Ricochet, and I AM IN LOVE with this book!!!! It is amazingly well-written, dark, profound and I’m in love with the bad-guy vigilante hero. Seriously. This is one of “those”… I can’t stop highlighting EVERYTHING!!

Stephanie:  I agree! I read it awhile ago, but I really enjoyed this story too!

A dark read, yes, but with so much rich, profound emotion (so much of it ugly, but for a reason, and as crazy as it gets, it’s SO REAL, so understandable, so believable). And best of all, along with it being such a complete, well rounded story, it was so wonderfully written! An intricate story of tragedy, and circumstance, vengeance and liberation (on all sorts of levels). It had everything needed to make the “dark spots” truly mean something, and while, at times, disturbing, I didn’t find it gratuitous.

Now… I will stop right here and say for those of you that like going in blind, STOP HERE, and start reading the book ASAP!!!! I’ve said enough for you to know it’s gonna be right up your dark romance alley!!! ‘Kay?! 

But for those that don’t mind just a little extra detail, I’ll expand. No real spoilers, or anything, but I actually DID go in pretty much blind, and was DELIGHTED with the beginning “angle” (so here’s “the rest” of my review):

It sets the stage, the characters, and the motivation. And what I loved most? THIS (no worries… I was still in the first 10% of the book and knew about this “angle” right from the start…):

Maryse: You know it’s bad (and good!) when you can’t wait for the revenge-killer to kidnap her, so she can be finally free from her monster of a husband. ROAR!! Of course the kidnapper doesn’t know that… he just wants to get his revenge. But gah!!! I’m so excited for her!! LOL!!! She’s gonna be free… well sorta. She’s still gonna be kidnapped. *snort*

Ratula: OMG I loved that book. 5 stars!! Can’t wait for the next 2! Just wait!!!!! It gets better and better and the ending. Gahhh. KEEP READING!!!!

Maryse: I’m SO excited. THIS is awesome. Amazing writing and exciting and scary, and there is SO much substance to it as a whole. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! *sigh* I LOVE bad-guy vigilante heroes.

Grey: Ricochet! Yep, I am loving it too! mmm, yes please!

Amy: Ricochet…LOVING it!!! *This* is what I’m talking about when I say I want unique stories.

Eeeeep! Unbeknownst to her, she was about to be taken away, and I was rocking back in forth, with delight for her!! LOL!

So what’s it about?

Okay, so… Detroit has deteriorated, and there is a group of commissioned killers, er I mean “task force” (pretty much run by the Mayor) that rids the city, once a year, of gang members, criminals etc…

Around Detroit, they were known as the Seven Mile Crew— the most ruthless band of contract killers the city had ever known. In a matter of just a few years, they’d snuffed the most dangerous gang members, quickly climbing ranks and banking cash.

But one night, for some reason (per what Nick believes) they also killed (I should say TORTURED and killed) Nick’s wife, and then his tiny son.

He absolutely LOSES it,

Revenge.

The word simmered in my head, a steady boil of seething that’d kept me from blowing my own brains out the last three years. Like the word held some kind of sanity. A purpose.

…and, with nothing left to love, and only hate left of his being, he partners up with “good yet bad-guy vigilantes” (kind of gave me the cyber-vigilante “Anonymous” feel, ya know? FUN!) and they plan to take out that whole crew. And at the top of the list, is of course, the absolutely corrupt Mayor, (Michael Culling), that, to the media, and city as a whole, is a hero.

The smile happened to be his best feature and his greatest disguise, while his eyes very effectively concealed the slippery killer buried behind them.

To the public, Michael was calm, logical, soft-spoken, as a psychopath should be.

And considering his far-reaching connections (he’s got law enforcement and more under his thumb), they instead plan on taking his wife, as a part (or should I say a pawn) in their grand plan.

“Culling’s preoccupation with his missing wife will render him careless. Keep him from focusing on the big picture.”

“And then what?”

“You’re to hold her while negotiations take place.”

But little does Nick know, that Aubrey (said wife), is desperate to escape, and even though she may be the Mayor’s wife (and appears to have it all), she’s also secretly, just another one of his victims.

He could have any woman he wanted. It just so happened, I’d have left in a heartbeat if I could’ve, which made him want to keep me. Not because of love. The a$$hole didn’t know a damn thing about love. It was control. The more I longed for escape, the happier he was to keep me chained.

And once she’s kidnapped… the story truly begins! ‘

Whether my circumstances had gotten better or worse was yet to be seen, but maybe I’d won. Michael swore I’d never escape him, unless I was being carried out in a body bag, and there I was, chained and possibly facing a whole new slew of torture, but free from my sadistic husband.

Hooray!!!! Er… or? Eeeeeep!!?

Cause… you know. Bad guys, good guys, old scars, fresh new wounds, and things… brought to light. Twists, that I didn’t see coming and the whole “what you see may not be the whole story” is a big part of this one!

It was just SO gooooooood! It kept me on the edge of my seat, and the brilliant writing had me connected both to the story, but especially to the characters, right from the start! I was right there with them, every step of the way!

4.5 stars!

Tagged as: 4.5 stars, contemporary romance, dark read, psych-thriller