Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

59 reviews

c_dmckinney's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I had absolutely no idea this book was part of a series, let alone the fourth in. The writing was impeccable and it didn't feel like I was missing any back story let alone 3 entire previous books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

tmazzzzzi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Rape, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Gaslighting

parkerpng's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Suicide

geck_h8's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A lot to follow amd hard to put down but the end seemed rushed and duller than expected. Still a twist and very fun to read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

theinkwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Well I enjoyed that more than I'd anticipated. I feel like the dual perspectives kept the pacing fast and compelling and the POVs were almost equally matched as far as enjoyment. While I didn't enjoy Flynn's POV quite as much as Kane's, the courtroom drama elements helped even that up. I also appreciated that while Flynn is clearly a modern day version of the hardboiled detective, he lacks for the most part (although not completely) the misogyny that is generally typical of that trope. The only thing that you really have to suspend your disbelief for (or at least I did) was that Kane is not only a psycopathic and sociopathic serial killer but that he also has a rare disorder that means he can't feel pain (which is mentioned pretty early on), which is honestly just kind of overkill if you ask me. But I still enjoyed his POV enough that it didn't bother me enough to want to stop reading. Overall, a pretty solid thriller that you can enjoy without having read the first few books in the series.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

katie_p_adventures's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

phantomgecko's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I would honestly put this up there with The Silence of the Lambs in thriller/crime novels. Excellent parallel storylines, great plot development. The court procedure seemed realistic (enough) without being boring.

A++ would recommend for crime or thriller fans.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, and Cannibalism

emmagalt's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

siniandi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

Within the thriller category, this is one of the best there is right now. It is fast paced and really engaging; one of those books you read within two days, because you can't really bring yourself to stop reading. The plot was developed quite well and I didn't see the final twists coming at all! The book fails the Bechtel test, but those looking for a tense thriller with good entertainment value will be happy with this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual violence

martin27's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

To be honest I don’t know what made me pick up this one. It’s not what I normally read. I prefer character driven stories, usually. This is… not that. But more than just being plot-driven, the characters are all very bland. They’re basically indistinguishable from one another. They all speak the same way and do the same things. By far the characters I liked the most were Harper and Delaney, but not for anything unique or interesting they did as much as having literally even one defining characteristic to set them apart from the other characters (that trait is that they’re women, by the way. That’s the only thing that makes them different from everyone else in any way.). 

There were a few good twists, the actual mystery element was fine. The pacing is… odd. The whole book takes place during one week, but it really doesn’t feel that way when reading. The first half especially dragged, but it picked up after that. 

If you like crime dramas, you’ll probably get more out of this than I did. I can’t fault it for being a genre I just generally don’t care for. But I do wish that the characters had been a bit more defined and that the pacing made more sense. It also alternates between first and third person pov, which was… not my favorite choice. Eddie’s perspective is so bland that writing it in first person doesn’t add anything to the story, and Kane’s isn’t special enough to warrant a change in  the pov.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism and Outing

Minor: Rape