Calia Read

Review: Unravel by Calia Read

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Title: Unravel
Author: Calia Read
Date of publication: 15 Feb 2014
Genre: Psychological mystery, abuse

Author's links: 

My rating: 5 stars




Goodreads Blurb

Six months ago, I was happy. I was simply Naomi Carradine. 

One month ago, I was admitted into a psych ward. 

Yesterday, Lachlan visited me. Kissed me. And told me that I’m starting to lose my mind. 

Hours later, Max haunted my thoughts, reminding me I’m not crazy and that he needs my help. 

A few minutes ago, I drifted further from reality, trying to unravel the past. 

And now...everyone thinks I’m insane. But, I know he's real, and I know he needs me. 

Do you believe me?

Review

I'm always curious about books with characters dealing with mental/psychological issues, so I was very much intrigued by the vague and cryptic blurb of this book. After reading it, I can say that it turned out to be a beautifully told story of psychological trauma. It was stunning and it's definitely one of my top reads for 2014 so far.

This is the story of Naomi who finds herself in mental hospital fighting with the voices in her head. The story unravels as she shares her past with her doctor. Starting 10 years before, we meet Lachlan (the hero) and Lana (the best friend) and it was one year before Naomi's mental breakdown that Max (the new love interest) entered her life. It's NA story since the characters are in their early 20s, yet it's not your typical NA college story. It's a story about the worst kind of abuse, the psychological trauma caused by it and the struggles of the heroine to overcome it.

I guessed some of the mystery early on by part of it remained unclear to me till the very end. The story kept me on the edge the whole time I was reading it. The parts with Naomi in the mental institution, fighting the voices in her head were especially powerful and captivating. I was sucked into her world and kept wondering right till the very end about her, Lachlan, Max and Lana. What is real and what isn't? Whom to believe - Naomi or the others? The journey into Naomi's mind was painful, her present state of mind quite disturbing and unclear. 

Despite the gloomy mood for most of the book, there is also some hot loving and romance. What I felt was missing was a little more insight on Lachlan - both in their childhood and in their relationship in the present. I keep asking myself - when did he learn the truth, why he didn't act earlier, could he have done something different to save Naomi some pain and suffering, what was he thinking about Max. I guess it would have ruined some of the mystery but there are moments in the story where I felt his POV was crucial.

The greatest strength of the book is that it stayed with me after I finished it. I kept thinking back to what I've read and trying to put back into place all the event and facts, now that I knew the real story. I loved the epilogue- it completed the story in the perfect way without sugarcoating things and going right away for a sweet happily ever after.

It's not an easy read, there is a lot of darkness and pain in it, but it's the kinds of book that you don't forget.

psychological thriller

Review: Otherwise Unharmed by Shay Savage

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Title: Otherwise Unharmed (Evan Arden #3)
Author: Shay Savage
Date of publication: 5 Dec 2013
Genre: Psychological thriller, Male POV

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars




Goodreads Blurb

After Evan Arden was imprisoned by the enemy for a year and a half, he returned from the desert as a military hero. He’d suffered some minor injuries during his captivity, was discharged from the Marines with just a touch of shellshock, but was considered otherwise unharmed. Now he wonders how he ended up where he is now – incarcerated in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center for using his sharpshooting expertise to take out the neighborhood park with a high-powered sniper rifle and multiple rounds of ammunition.

Lia Antonio, the woman he rescued from the desert heat the previous year, is the only person who can bring him out of his sleep-deprived psychosis and mounting PTSD. When she does, Evan knows he can’t just let her go again. He’s never considered leaving the business before – who retires from the mafia? – but he’s determined to get both Lia and himself out of harm’s way.

Evan faces forces from multiple directions as a deal to get him out of jail turns more deadly and dangerous than he ever could have imagined. With a three-way mob war on the horizon and the feds holding evidence over his head, Evan has no choice but to throw himself into the middle of another war-zone.

In his efforts to make things right in his own mind, Evan crosses the wrong man and finds himself on the business end of the cross-hairs. With his observation skills and intelligence, he tries to keep a step ahead of his former co-workers, but this time, it isn’t just his own life on the line – he’s got to protect Lia from the man who once called him son.

My review

This is the final book in the series and it is a perfect blend of the first two - hot sexy romance and action packed psychological thriller.

Iit picks up where book 2 left off - Evan in complete breakdown. Now that Lia is back in his life, she is only person that can save him from the dark abyss of insanity. Suddenly Evan finds himself caring for her more than he expected initially which prompts him to do everything in his power to protect her.

The plot has many twists and turns and kept me on the edge till the end. Just when I thought I knew what would happen and the author surprised me by taking the things in completely new direction.

I found myself deeply emotionally engaged with Evan. He was still cold-hearted, merciless hit man we got to know in the previous books, yet  with Lia now in his life and by his side he started restore some of his former self. I liked that he didn't change overnight, he didn't become suddenly sensitive, caring, remorseful of his past. It was a slow, painful struggle with himself and with everybody around him. 

I liked Lia a lot as well. She was strong and didn't let Evan overtake her completely. She loved him and was ready to help him through everything but she demanded that he trust her with his true story. It was not easy for her accept his past and present. She loved him but some of the things he did bothered her and she didn't try to hide it. It's refreshing to come across a strong and independent heroine who doesn't hesitate to speak her mind.

Like the previous books, this one is also told solely from Evan's POV. I loved his voice - cold, emotionless, yet filled with pain and suffering. His inner struggles, his hallucinations and his warring emotions were captivating. His obsessive need to protect and take care of Lia became a bit repetitive around the middle of the book but they were also understandably given his situation.

The ending was a bit too good to be true. It was sweet and I appreciate the chance of peaceful life Evan got but it affected slightly authenticity of the book. I can't imagine trying to leave the Mafia would work exactly like this.

Overall, I enjoyed this series very much. I liked the male POV, the whole mob world, the behind the scenes in the mind and soul of an ex-Marine, a POW, a hit man and his love for a beautiful strong woman which ultimately saves him from himself.

The secondary characters were also well drawn, the Mafia world was rich and realistic. Odin, Evan's dog had a special place in the whole story which I quite enjoyed.

I would definitely recommend this series to fans of the psychological thriller who are looking for realistic stories and are not afraid of some violence and a lot of dark emotions.

psychological thriller

Review: Otherwise Occupied by Shay Savage

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Title: Otherwise Occupied (Evan Arden #2)
Author: Shay Savage
Date of publication: 14 Dec 2012
Genre: Psychological thriller, Male POV

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars




Goodreads Blurb

Evan Arden is a hit man for a Chicago mob boss. He lives his life day to day with the company of his dog, Odin. He has to work hard to get back into his boss’s good graces, but the target proves to be difficult. As demons of his past begin to haunt him, he seeks the comfort of sleep from an unlikely candidate, but will confiding in her be his undoing?​

​He’s struggling to forget his past, and keep himself Otherwise Occupied.


My Review

This is the second book in the series and the first full length novel on Evan Arden. I quite liked his voice when we first met him in Otherwise Alone (my review). After reading this book, I am fully convinced that Ms Savage writes fascinating male POVs  which is rare for female authors. Evan's voice and personality are just as powerful and engaging as Sebastian's in Surviving Raine - authentic voice of a broken male character. 

This installment in the series was not a romance, as I expected, it was not even romantic suspense. It's a rather a psychological thriller with strong suspense/action elements, we are drawn deep into the mind and soul (what's left of it) of Evan. I liked his voice in the first book, I was glad to get to know him better. 

He is a difficult character to like - he is so cold-blooded in his job that it gives me the shivers. Yet, he is so hard on himself, as well. The things he went through can't justify what he does at present, but still they give a reasonable explanation why he is the way he is.

I missed Lia in this book and I was conflicted about Bridgett. Her relationship with Evan does have some vague romantic elements (mostly on her part, but he also developed feelings for her, even though he was reluctant to admit it even to himself). I felt bad about Bridgett and wanted some sort of happy ending for her, though it would have been improbable. Still, I don't think she deserved what happened to her.

The story is full of twists and turns that kept me on the edge all the time. The final 1/4 was really intense both emotionally and in terms of action - Evan's inner turmoil reached its breaking point and it was presented very vividly, grabbing my full attention until the end of the book.

I feel bad about Evan and I sympathize with his situation and I really, really want him to get this happily ever after. Evan is not a good guy and he after everything he did he can never be one, yet Ms Savage made me feel deep for his suffering without being melodramatic and overly sentimental. He is a lost soul in this book, there is very little humanity left in him and I am curious how he will manage to redeem himself in the final book.

The end is not a real cliffhanger but it did made me anxious to read the next book as soon as possible. The epilogue from Lia's POV did give me a ray of hope amid Evan's complete desperation.

Novella

Review: Otherwise Alone by Shay Savage

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Title: Otherwise Alone (Evan Arden #1)
Author: Shay Savage
Date of publication: 14 Dec 2012
Genre: Romance, Male POV, Novella

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars




Goodreads Blurb

Lieutenant Evan Arden sits in a shack in the middle of nowhere, waiting for orders that will send him back home - if he ever gets them. Other than his loyal Great Pyrenees, there's no one around to break up the monotony. The tedium is excruciating, but it is suddenly interrupted when a young woman stumbles up his path. 

He has two choices - pick her off from a distance with his trusty sniper-rifle, or dare let her approach his cabin and enter his life.

Why not? It's been ages, and he is otherwise alone...

My Review

Otherwise Alone is a novella which serves as a prequel in the Evan Arden series. It's completed in itself  and can be read as a standalone, though I would recommend to continue with the rest of the series.

I am usually not a fan of novellas but I really enjoyed this one. It was told from the POV of the hero, Evan Arden, and I liked his voice a lot. He is a professional sniper - very observant, distanced, cold-hearted, yet chanced meeting with Lia in the middle of nowhere breaks his barriers in just 24 hours they establish a strong connection. There was nothing ordinary about their meeting and it proved fateful for both of them. T

Both Evan and Lia are well developed characters and their encounter was super hot and sexy but also emotionally intense and a sort of revelation for them both. Despite the short length of the story I was quickly involved in the characters' lives. The short length of the book doesn't allow for a full fledged romance to develop but there is a lot of passion and super hot sexy times which ultimately lead to a deeper emotional connection between the characters.

What liked most in this novella besides Evan's voice, was the completeness of the story. It doesn't have a happy end, it is more of an open ending but it fitted perfectly. 

It is a promising beginning of an interesting series which offers an intriguing combination of psychological thriller and romance. 

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