Reviews

Kill List: A Nick Lawrence Novel by Brian Shea

zarlina's review against another edition

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3.0

HMM

This one was unusually hard for me to rate, because despite having a twist seen from miles away (which usually ruins a book for me) I did enjoy this one a lot, all the way until the final chapter, which sadly brought down the rating quite a bit. It was too... easy. The way things seemed to work out for everyone was just too damn simple and honestly felt like lazy writing, made to avoid the elephant in the room, then with the forced romance added to the mix it all fell flat. But until the ending I actually enjoyed it and I will want to check out more of this author's work, so it does get three stars in the end, though the last chapter should have stayed unwritten.

addypap's review against another edition

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2.0

The premise and plot of this book I really enjoyed however the execution falls short. The characters are somewhat well developed though lacking any real depth. The author leaves nothing for the reader to infer, it's all explained to us as if even a paint-by-number exercise would be too difficult.

It's as though the book was written by an AI, using any and all of the good guys down on their luck tropes.

I think the narrator reinforced these points, keeping the delivery pretty sterile.

susieq17's review against another edition

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2.0

Interesting, but started so slow.

brents's review against another edition

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4.0

Found this in the audible plus catalog, and I'm always on the lookout for a new mystery series so I figured why not. I think it was a pretty good debut mystery thriller. I liked the combination of terrorist attacks with a ticking clock, personal vendetta, and heist. The villain and action were quite good as well, and the investigation aspects were good.

There were definitely some problems as well. The main character was less interesting than the secondary character of Declan. The dialogue is a little stilted and doesn't always sound like a real conversation. The resolution was also slightly anticlimactic. The book could have used another 100 pages to build more tension and have a more fitting final showdown. That being said for a first book I've read way worse.

It left some questions open ended and sets up the series. I plan to continue.


As an aside the audiobook narration was quite good as well.

isalaur's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.0

I listened to this on audible. The story was very engaging and suspenseful. The narration was not.

I really enjoyed the story. I read another series by this author and figured I’d give this one a try when I needed a series for a road trip. I was totally absorbed by the story until the various foibles of the narrator took my head out of the book. That’s a mortal sin for me.

Sooo many mispronunciations, sometimes voices for characters were indistinguishable so you couldn’t be sure which character was speaking, awkward cadence.

But I enjoyed the story and the MC enough that I moved on to book two. Same narrator, same aggravations but again, the story keeps me listening.

macfiar's review against another edition

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1.0

I really didn't care about anyone in the book. Plus with Declan being a former Navy Seal and a cop, he could have gotten a job just about anywhere.

pzhorton4's review against another edition

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3.0

Wasn't bad wasn't great just kind of there

kesnit's review against another edition

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The book sounded interesting, but never seemed to take off. 

dustin_o's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

brents's review against another edition

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4.0

Found this in the audible plus catalog, and I'm always on the lookout for a new mystery series so I figured why not. I think it was a pretty good debut mystery thriller. I liked the combination of terrorist attacks with a ticking clock, personal vendetta, and heist. The villain and action were quite good as well, and the investigation aspects were good.

There were definitely some problems as well. The main character was less interesting than the secondary character of Declan. The dialogue is a little stilted and doesn't always sound like a real conversation. The resolution was also slightly anticlimactic. The book could have used another 100 pages to build more tension and have a more fitting final showdown. That being said for a first book I've read way worse.

It left some questions open ended and sets up the series. I plan to continue.


As an aside the audiobook narration was quite good as well.
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