yvo_about_books's review
4.0
Finished reading: November 4th 2016
“And the thing about threats is that most of them are empty, nothing more than smoke in the breeze.”
*** A copy of this novella was kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
Spoiler
I was approached by the author some time ago with the question if I wanted to read his thriller novella. Although I don't read a lot of novellas in general, the summary caught my attention and I decided to give Lemon Sting a go. And I have to say that this novella has pleasantly surprised me. For its length, the main characters are surprisingly well developed as well as the general plot itself. The story is both fast-paced, entertaining and packed with intense action scenes and plot twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Lemon Sting has a lot of different POVs for a novella, but they are well executed and didn't distract from the plot. In fact, the prose in general is easy to read and I can definitely recommend this novella to anyone who enjoys a good action-packed crime thriller.
Both Margaret and Lee seem to be trapped in a daily routine that never seems to end; her working at a restaurant and living life day by day, him working at an old electronics store and bored out of his mind most of the time. When Margaret breaks her routine one night and goes clubbing, she ends up too drunk to function at her neighbor Lee's apartment. She doesn't remember much about the night before, but it seems like her past has finally caught up with her... And Lee is dragged into the mess along with her. Things will soon spiral further out of control; will they be able to find a way out?
If you are looking for a fast-paced, action-packed and entertaining thriller novella, Lemon Sting is definitely a great choice. It reads almost like an action movie and both plot and characters are well developed, especially since we are talking about a short novella. This debut is without doubt very promising!
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
More...