I really enjoyed "Squall" by Sean Costello. The characters were evenly balanced, well constructed, and the story waited for no one. As a writer with screenwriting background myself, it came as no surprise that Mr. Costello has written numerous screenplays in addition to his other books. The essence of a good screenplay focuses on being as lean as possible while still remaining compelling. Every word advances the story forward. And Squall does just that. It keeps you turning the pages, and the end surprised me. Mr. Costello managed to write a taut story while avoiding most cliches. Very refreshing. ( )

This book has excellent pacing. It's exciting and keeps you captivated until the end without being pushy or making you feel like you're in a rush.

Despite the exciting plot and interesting characters, I was disappointed by the flat archetypes of the only two female characters in the story. The whore and the mother. All of the male characters go through some kind of development - even our main man, steadfast Tom Stokes, realizes he's capable of more than he seemed to be at the beginning. But the two women are the exact same from beginning to end. They are kind of badass characters in their own way, but there's zero growth for either of them, and very little depth.

Other than that little blip, the book is pretty stellar and I definitely recommend! ( )

A Thrill a Minute

I was torn between giving this a 4 or 5-star rating but realized it was only balancing in the fact that I had thought I was getting a mystery but got a thriller. I'm not really a thriller girl but this was flat out full of it. I couldn't put the book down. There was bad language and blood and gore. There were lives taken and lives given. There were lessons learned and second chances. And, unbelievably, I even laughed during the YouTube event. Definitely glad that I continued to read this even after I discovered this was not the book I thought I was going to read. ( )

I was on a survival kick, and picked this one up for free. Probably a good thing. I mean, it's not terrible, but it didn't earn the third star.

Drugs. Bad decisions. Remote setting. Mary Sue and Gary Stu people caught up in the middle of some bad things. Very bad things. With very bad people. Implausible in parts, ridiculous in others, I still gave it the 2 star "it was ok" rating because, in the end, I was entertained more than I was rolling my eyes.

The ending was cheesy, but I still thought it was ok. ( )

I read this book on my phone during my weekend babysitting. Spread it over two days just to have something to read. There aren't in-depth character profiles just general character information, which I didn't mind at all. The story's series of events unfold quickly and you're rolling with the punches along for the ride. Drug fueled decisions, desperation and murder. ( )