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A review by angelaslibrary_
The Resident by David Jackson
3.0
3.5/5
I feel kind of bad giving this a rating under 4/5 as there was technically nothing wrong with the way it was written and it is a solid thriller, just not the kind of thriller I personally enjoy the most. I was hoping it would be more of a psychological, cat-and-mouse kind of thriller involving clever twists and a lot of planning and manipulation on the main character, Brogan’s, part, and a focus on things such as character psyches and backstories; however, those areas were often brushed over and ultimately did not add much depth or have much of an impact on the overall story. The twists were also quite predictable and the ending was not my favourite ().
That being said, there is definitely an audience for this kind of thriller, which I will mention at the end of my review. The main reason I've rounded my rating down to 3/5 is because I can't say I personally ‘enjoyed' the reading experience. There were a lot of uncomfortable and gruesome scenes, which made me feel kind of icky even after finishing the book. I did not like or care much about any of the characters (the most I felt was indifference), and although the premise drew me in and the plot was interesting enough to keep me flipping the pages, it's a reading experience I feel I could have done without.
This book lies squarely and solidly in the ‘thriller’ genre; however, I would hesitate to recommend it to just anyone who typically likes reading thrillers. I think you will enjoy this book if you love watching slasher movies and would like to read a book from the murderer's perspective (although understandably, in this case, the thrill factor is more from Brogan's perspective than that of his targets). A quick warning though — if you are queasy about gore and descriptions of decomposition (cue the maggots), I don’t think this is the book for you.
I feel kind of bad giving this a rating under 4/5 as there was technically nothing wrong with the way it was written and it is a solid thriller, just not the kind of thriller I personally enjoy the most. I was hoping it would be more of a psychological, cat-and-mouse kind of thriller involving clever twists and a lot of planning and manipulation on the main character, Brogan’s, part, and a focus on things such as character psyches and backstories; however, those areas were often brushed over and ultimately did not add much depth or have much of an impact on the overall story. The twists were also quite predictable and the ending was not my favourite (
Spoiler
deux ex machina-y and unbelievableThat being said, there is definitely an audience for this kind of thriller, which I will mention at the end of my review. The main reason I've rounded my rating down to 3/5 is because I can't say I personally ‘enjoyed' the reading experience. There were a lot of uncomfortable and gruesome scenes, which made me feel kind of icky even after finishing the book. I did not like or care much about any of the characters (the most I felt was indifference), and although the premise drew me in and the plot was interesting enough to keep me flipping the pages, it's a reading experience I feel I could have done without.
This book lies squarely and solidly in the ‘thriller’ genre; however, I would hesitate to recommend it to just anyone who typically likes reading thrillers. I think you will enjoy this book if you love watching slasher movies and would like to read a book from the murderer's perspective (although understandably, in this case, the thrill factor is more from Brogan's perspective than that of his targets). A quick warning though — if you are queasy about gore and descriptions of decomposition (cue the maggots), I don’t think this is the book for you.