Beat The Reaper by Josh Bazell

Beat the Reaper --3 Stars

This was an average novel because I got rather annoyed rather quickly with the constant f*** this or f*** that. Tedious and distracting from the better parts of the novel.

We meet Dr Peter Brown on his rounds at a hospital that every one hates severely, but he doesn't mind because no one has heard of Bearclaw Brnwa either. In another life, he was a hitman with a heart of gold for the mafia. He had rules, only taking out the kind of guys that no one would miss, that would actually make the world better for their not breathing the same air as decent people.

One day he has to run for it and right into the Witness Protection Programme. All is well, for a while. He's become a doctor, of all things, and is doing his best to set the scales straight. Its all find and dandy until some one recognizes him and then its all bets off.

Now I like a good redemption tale, a guy who wants to pay back his due of good to the world before the Reaper catches up to him. Who doesn't? There is a fair amount of gallows humour in this novel, something I'm also a sucker for. However the shear amount of poor language takes away from the greatness of this book.

I don't regret reading it, I just regret the fact that writers feel the need to add such vernacular to the lexicon. 

Lowell/Sheridan Series by Chelsea Cain

Lowell/Sheridan Series --5Stars

This series starts out with a serial killer kidnapping the lead of the task force assigned to catch them, well to catch her. That's right, you heard me, the serial killer is a woman. Statistically, women only account for about 15% of serial killers, its mostly a male thing. Anyway, she kidnaps him and holds him for ten days, torturing him in all the ways that she did her other victims. He's special though, she wants to make it last.

Archie Sheridan is the lead detective of the Beauty Killer Task Force. It has taken him ten years to figure out who she is and that information just may kill him in the end. Gretchen Lowell is the beautiful woman with a psychotic flair. She has no pattern and no similarities, save one. She carve the shape of a heart into all her victims. By the time she is done with Archie, he's completely damaged goods. Somehow he manages to push forward and at least look normal.

These novels are not for the feint of heart. Gretchen is one heck of a crazy bitch and will not stop unless there is a bullet in her brain. They are gruesome and  terrifying in nearly every way. Even through the page, Gretchen has the ability to mess with your head. Chelsea Cain wrote a fantastic character, and I fear to be in the same room with that author without Mase.

Honestly, I love the fact that I can be carried so quickly into that world of fear and lust, blood and passion and still come begging for more.