TW: Attempted Murder, Alcohol, Profanity, Blood, Death, Murder, Toxic Relationship, Explicit Sex, S&M, Homophobia, Religion C - Within the first two chapters, the dog Blue is described twice. And considering these chapters are short, I feel that was a bit unnecessary. Perhaps it could have been spaced out a little more, like how Joy’s description was. We find out she has blond hair with bangs that have grown out, and later find out it’s pretty long, and finally we learn she has gray eyes just like her brother. It isn’t spaced out too much, but just enough that it’s not info dumping like it is when describing Blue. Also, really didn’t need to know what every side character was wearing. A - You could tell the atmosphere was tense when Charlene called Joy back, and how nervous she was as she gave Joy all the things she’d need for the business. It leads you to question why she’s nervous, and what suddenly made her decide to give her business over to Joy? It seemed she left in a hurry, especially later when Joy looks in Charlene’s bedroom. Is everything really okay? Of course not. It’s a mystery novel. The atmosphere is tense through a lot of this book but it’s not like, so tense you can’t breathe. So that’s good at least. W - The writing is okay, though I still don’t know what “sock-coated teeth” means. There’s a lot of description of clothes that I don’t entirely know if it’s necessary to have written, but I guess it gives a clearer picture of the characters. “It was cold but did little to cool me off.” Honey, it’s alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t cool you off. ‘"I agree," I agreed.’ Why did you feel the need to write it like that? P - The plot seems sound enough. I’ve actually enjoyed the fast pace set by the story, and the plot at least makes more sense than the logic and writing of this book. Nothing ever really felt all that drawn out or tedious, and while I do harp on the writing and logic points a bit I do feel like it’s been worth reading. Just… maybe find a new editor that won’t allow silly mistakes to stay in. I - First part of the book didn’t really hook me in, but by about the 30% mark I wanted to find out where this mystery would take me. I unfortunately didn’t really have any trouble putting this book down, though. Sorry. It just didn’t have its talons in me deep enough. L - I’m also trying to figure out how Blue decides who he’s going to try to maul. Both Marcus and the teacher were male, so I thought maybe he’d also attack Hugh and James, but he didn’t. Is it just the air people give off? And then there’s a part where it says “As soon as I let him off leash,” like what are you thinking letting him off the leash, what if he attacks someone? Oh, it even says “(hoping that he would not attack anyone while I was inside)” a page later, but you let him off leash? The logic of this Joy person is not sound. And then when Declan showed up Blue definitely looked like he wanted to attack him. So is Declan a bad person too? Also one minute Blue is barking his head off at Charlene and being wrestled into a sitting position, next he’s at her side wanting her attention. You might say, “Blue only growls and tries to attack when people come to the apartment!” but that’s not true, he tried to attack the teacher too! That was when Joy was taking him on a walk. I think the dog is inconsistent. AND NOW THE MURDERER IS IN HER HOUSE AND HE DIDN’T MAUL THE MURDERER. Oh, of course, the murderer gave him a fucking bone. All must be well then! How did Charlene know where to find Joy? Did she keep Joy’s information when she ran away? Does she still have that address book that was mentioned? Why didn’t Joy ask her about the address book? Oh right, she was hungover, she probably forgot all about it. By the way, silencers don’t make guns completely silent. They just suppress some of the noise. E – Despite how much I’ve complained about this book, I did enjoy reading it, surprisingly. I just think that Joy drinks too damn much. And might be a bit crazy.