Karen Rose | SAY YOU'RE SORRY

Plot (via Goodreads):

Special Agent Gideon Reynolds has tried hard to put his past behind him. He escaped the violence of his cult upbringing when he was just thirteen, and since then routine and discipline have been his way of making sense of the world. But when a petite blonde woman crashes into his life, he begins to realize that a little bit of chaos might not be so bad.

Daisy Dawson has had more than her fair share of pain too—but she's done being a victim. Daisy's determined to explore every new experience she can—including getting to know the dark and serious FBI investigator she meets when she fights off a masked attacker one night.

It soon becomes clear that Daisy's attack was just the beginning. Now the bloodied bodies of young women are showing up all over California, and, as Gideon tries to find the killer, it's clear that Daisy is in more danger than they ever realized...

Review:

Debut novels are tricky. Especially when they are 600+ pages. I don't know about you as a reader, but for me, I either get excited for a novel if it's under 300 pages or over 500 - I'm not sure why, but everything else in between leaves me with a feeling of wondering what I'm getting myself into. With this one, there is a heavily detailed and brutal story that awaits you beyond the flip of the first page and is relentless until the bittersweet finale. 

So, going into this one I initially believed it was going to be a thriller and wasn't aware this one was more of a romantic suspense. Naturally, when it involves a serial killer and a backstory involving a cult. Sold yet? You should be! This one begins with a typical entry into a serial killer story. A brief and illusive introduction to a terrifying killer and his latest victim. What you don't know is that name is only the beginning of something that is dark and disturbing - and it's coming for you. Rose quickly jumps into our story by introducing us rather quickly to our two main characters and it doesn't take long for the suspense to seep in and for Cupid to shoot his arrow. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of romance in the thrillers I read but with this one I welcomed it as a nice break in a story that is both chilling and a bit intense. There are a lot of places that a novel can go once you get to the meat of the story and this one is no exception. There are a lot of different directions that this novel heads in that kept me both entertained and wondering what lurked within the next chapter. I will say, for a novel this size this is quite the achievement. I loved that Rose kind of alternated the chapters between those of Daisy and Gideon as well as our killer and one of his victims. A plethora of information is given regarding these characters and what I enjoyed the most was that we get to witness what they are presently dealing with as well as getting a backstory into pretty much all of their lives. While a few things I found over-the-top at times and some of the relationship aspects between a few characters felt kind of rushed and unrealistic, I did find myself really loving reading about them and wished most of them made it out alive for the second installment of this new series. 

The first 400 pages of this one are moderately paced and there were some moments that were slower and didn't keep my interest as much as others, but I still found the story interesting throughout and didn't have any thoughts of letting it go. Now, the last 200 pages, those were intense. This story just flew in directions that I didn't think possible and I almost felt like I was reading a book series all lodged into one paperback. The very end was action packed and thrilling; bringing together so many pieces of the puzzle that my head was spinning with excitement and fear. So bottom line - do I think this book needed to be 600 pages? I think it could have easily been closer to 500, maybe 550. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Will I read the next in the series? Yes. And you know what? Thank you Karen Rose, for not only a really entertaining journey but to maybe opening my mind up more to romantic suspense novels. 

Special thanks to Berkley Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 3.5/5