Title: Shady Cross
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publish Date: Feb 24, 2015
Buy: Amazon
Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the publisher
Book Blurb:
In one hand, small-time crook Stokes holds a backpack stuffed with someone else’s money—three hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it.
In the other hand, Stokes has a cell phone, which he found with the money. On the line, a little girl he doesn’t know asks, “Daddy? Are you coming to get me? They say if you give them the money they’ll let you take me home.”
From bestselling author James Hankins comes a wrenching story of an unscrupulous man torn between his survival instincts and the plight of a true innocent. Faced with the choice, Stokes discovers his conscience might not be as corroded as he thought.
Review: I don't usually step out of my comfort zone to read a thriller, but I'm glad I read Shady Cross. This book was so good, I finished it in one day.
Stokes is a bad guy, who just happens to have a little bit of good in him, as you see as the novel progresses. You see Stokes at his worst but you also see the sparks of goodness in him. It all starts with the accident that has him finding a bag full of money and a cell phone.
Its the cell phone that sends him on his quest to save a little girl that he doesn't know from Adam. Hearing the child's voice triggers something in Stokes. That something you get to see, not in flashbacks, but snippets of his memories, of a lost love, a life that could have been and another child.
Stokes isn't the most likable guy. It takes awhile to warm to him. Face it, he's a crock, so he's not a nice guy, but his desire to rescue Amanda allows the reader to see that sometimes, even bad guys can redeem themselves, and he really does this.
Hankins does a great job at creating some pretty seedy characters. There's no real good guys in this book, just different levels of badness.
The novel is very gripping and fast paced. Once I started this book, I really couldn't put it down. I had to find out if Stokes was able to save the little girl.
The ending will definitely wow you.
Highly recommended even if this isn't the genre you usually read.
Rating: 5 flowers
2 comments:
oh this one sounds good...I do love thrillers...its always good to have a book to get the blood pumping without having to do anything but sit and read hehe.
I'm very interested to know how Stokes helps the little girl in the end ... what an exciting story!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
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