Swerve

First of all, I have to say I am a fan of all things Vicki Pettersson. I have read all her books, immensely enjoyed them all, but Swerve got to me. I am the mother of the real-life Kristine that received Vicki's dedication. Try as I might. I could not separate the real-life Kristine from Kristine Rush any of the time I was reading the gripping activities taking place. The book grabbed me from the first few pages (that trip down that road has always bothered me and will scare me more now) and I couldn't put it down. I think I held my breath the majority of the time I was reading it and only started to breath normally when I turned the last page and closed the book. I had to make sure that Kristine and Abby survived. I highly recommend this book to thrill readers - they will not be disappointed. I believe this is her best book and I'm looking forward anxiously to her next. In short, I loved this book.

This book is terrifically well written! Excruciating suspense, unexpected twists, constantly ratcheting stakes and great characterization with backstory revealed at just the right pace. The descriptions and line by line writing are gorgeous, literary quality, and she really brings the Mohave Desert setting to life. However I had to stop reading because it got too gory and violent for me. Very high gore and violence, so beware if that's not your thing. Fantastic thriller, though.

Warning - possible spoilers follow >>>>> Just didn't have enough of a reason to believe a control freak like the bad person in this story would go to all that trouble to set up a game over so many miles, in so many varied settings, and involving so many other random people that would have so many ways of going south, so many opportunities for our heroine to be injured and unable to go on, arrested, etc. Too many just in the nick of time things. I guess it works in a mindless action movie but in a book I guess I expect my characters, their motivations, actions and resulting plot twists to be more believable. Also, when the identity of the bad person was revealed, I felt the heroine believed/accepted it too quick, felt there should have been a lot more denial considering everything she had been believing and willing to do as a result of the strength of those beliefs up to the point of the reveal....so a decent read, interesting enough, but overall a bit unsatisfying.

I heard this novel had a Kill Bill vibe so I gave it a shot. Danger tears it's ugly head practically right off the bat, and so begins a blood soaked journey where the bad guy is always a step ahead almost to a fault. He has considered every move and reaction. This is a cat and mouse game, the predator toying with his prey. What really sold me on the book is the descriptive writing, and the living characters. Kristin is a strong character, stronger than she truly gives herself credit for. Vicki weaves Kristins past into the story flawlessly and appropriately, gives shards of information until it all comes together at the right time. The violence is juicy, bloody and unforgiving. I wouldn't say excess hire but it's ferocious to say the least. This is a fast paced read that is as fun as it is bad ass and I ended the book with an appreciation for an author I was unfamiliar with. I shall now continue my night perusing Vickis other works!

I took this book with me on our five hour round trip to visit family on Christmas Day. Unfortunately for me I didn’t take another book. This was written in the first person which I do not like to begin with. To say this book is dark is like calling Lake Erie a pond. The plot was stupid, Kristine was dense, the book extremely violent, gory & involved torture and animal cruelty. First book by this author & definitely my last!

3.5 I really wish Amazon would let us half star it's a solid 3.5. I read a lot and I mean ALOT that's all I do is read and sleep so the more I read the more critical I find myself becoming as I get older. In my 20s this would have been a 5 star novel it's just that I agree with others it's easy to figure out early on who the killer is and the motive is weak; in other stories it may have worked or maybe given more of a back story the motive would have worked but this book is fast and quick which is one of its Merits. I did blow through it and it's good. Just a little predictable but that's ok I recommend if one wants to read a well written solid thriller that's slightly predictable yet I think the author if she starts really fleshing out her characters I think she has the potential to be an awesome thrill writer .... Come on Vicki this was good now WOW us !!!

Kristine Rush, Physician's Assistant, mother, and fiancee has had multiple traumatic events in her past that have left her scarred. She's headed to Lake Arrowhead with her fiancee, Daniel, for the Fourth of July. Enter Malthus, creepy stalker extraordinaire. When he first enters the story I almost peed myself. "It starts slow, a gliding screech of metal upon metal that rakes from the top edge of my stall door down to the very bottom. I jump when a knife blade arrows through the door's slat, jammed in at least six inches, all the way to the hilt " What follows is pain and terror. Daniel is gone and she is ordered to drive. Malthus has given her 24 hours to prove that she cares for someone besides herself. I felt such desperation and hopelessness for Kristine. She's been put in a no win situation by a psycho. "I'm...going to kill you," he slurs. "I'm going to kill you back," someone inside my body says. Kristine kicks butt! She's not broken at all and will do ANYTHING for those she loves. I started reading thrillers by John Saul and Dean Koontz when I was a teenager. I read everything they ever wrote back then, yet I "swerved" away from that genre until Vicki decided to write something new to her. As far as I'm concerned she equaled and at times surpassed even these legends of the genre.

This book consumed me. You can read a summary elsewhere, so I won't waste your time with another recap. I simply cannot express how creepy, clever and twisted this book is. Bring extremely action-packed and fast-paced, you'll never want to put it down. The story is tight and riveting. The bad guy is smart, mad, and one step ahead. SWERVE gets into your head and stays there. Long after you've finished the terrifying ride, you're still scared. Do not miss this!

Loved the edge of the seat suspense. I enjoyed the twists and turns that kept me on that edge. A good story about being a strong woman in the face of all that is evil.