What Lies Within
by Robert Smith
Genre: Crime Thriller
“There are four kinds of Homicide:
felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy.”
—Ambrose Bierce
This is a story about duty, revenge, murder, and horror.
The system failed Tyler McDermitt. He and his brother have vowed to protect unfortunate youth from a similar fate - or at least make those responsible, pay. The McDermitt brothers, victims of child abuse and molestation, escaped their hell and have decided to clean up after the failings of a flawed justice system.
The rough streets of Dorchester, south Boston, have hardened two aspiring vigilantes and prepared them for a mission. One brother has a good heart, a conscience, and a burning
compassion. His twisted sense of morality has burdened him with a deep sense of responsibility. The other brother is as hard as nails and as cold as ice. He is hell-bent on revenge and aims to ensure the other stays the course.
A motivated young detective is on their scent; she and her veteran partner look to foil McDermitt brothers' plan.
Something from the boys' past - something dark - is also closing in.
**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**
This is a well-written story told mostly from Tyler's POV and it’s not an easy read, but not necessarily in a bad way. When Tyler’s parents died and he was put into the foster care system, he suffered through a life of hell. The story told through his POV is all over the place and it didn’t take me long to figure out everything was not as it appeared. The story was broken up by additional POVs of other characters in the story. As the description will tell you, Tyler and his brother are vigilantes, killing those who abuse children and get away with it. If the justice system won’t hold these people accountable, Tyler and his brother will.
We get to know Tyler’s character slowly through the story, his history, his dreams, his feelings. Maybe the most innocent thing in this whole story is Tyler’s dream of working at a pizzeria and being a dough man. An easy dream, you’d think, and yet things don’t always turn out the way we expect. Don’t expect a light, fluffy read with any difficulties glossed over. It’s hard and it’s sad. And, though you know the main character is a serial killer, he isn’t one who kills the weak or soft. Tyler has mental health issues and they are very much on display since we’re taken along in his POV.
At the end of this book, the author provides a character guide. I felt like this could have been the notes used to create the novel. He gave name and details of each character in the story. Considering the surprising ending of this book, I thought it was a great way to refresh each character we met.
You could never predict how this story will unfold or all the twists and turns it will take. I never saw that ending coming, and was still surprised by it days later. It’s an interesting take on what could happen in a police investigation. I did want more from the ending. I was like, wait, we’re ending this here? If you like dark, twisty, thrillers you should definitely give this one a try!
Rating: 4.5 stars!
Robert Smith (A.K.A. TyCobbsTeeth) hails from Prince Edward Island (off Canada's east coast).
On this small island, ocean waves drive hard against red cliffs. So, with fears that the sandstone island might soon melt into the Atlantic, Robert finished his studies in Information Technology and moved to Canada's capital.
Robert has worked in network design, administration and security. He recently transitioned from a job managing a digital forensics team (supporting investigations) to Enterprise Architecture. That's his day job. At night, he writes.
This author writes thrillers (psychological, suspense, crime and horror). Pick one up if you like that sort of thing.
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Sounds like a very interesting book. colby69@verizon.net
ReplyDeleteTerrific review — thank you for the in-depth yet spoiler-free recommendation. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read your blog before but that will now change!
Color me interested.