Series: Standalone
Author: Vicki Petterson
Released: July 7, 2015 - Gallery Books
Pages: 352 pages per Goodreads
Format: EGalley
It’s high summer in the Mojave Desert, and Kristine Rush and her fiancé, Daniel, are en route from Las Vegas to Lake Arrowhead, California, for the July Fourth holiday weekend. But when Daniel is abducted from a desolate rest stop, Kristine is forced to choose: return home unharmed, but never to see her fiancé again, or plunge forward into the searing desert to find him…where a killer lies in wait.
Swerve was creepy. Swerve was gory. And Swerve was pretty awesome, I think. If you like movies like Joyride (hello, Paul Walker?!?) then you will love Swerve.
Kristine and Daniel seem like a great couple. He's wealthy and a doctor, she's a young single mom who has overcome horrible things in her past and works at the hospital, too. I want to say a nurse, but I'm not positive on that. It's not important. What's important is that they are engaged, in love, and on the way to his childhood home to celebrate the fourth of July with his mother, Imogene (picture a stereotypical cold haughty wealthy woman, and you'll have her pegged) Everything seems great, until it is so very not. A stop at a rest stop changes everything. There is a psycho who has targeted Kristine, taken Daniel, and is steadily making a bloody path to Lake Arrowhead. He's in contact with Kristine, and sends her on what he calls a "treasure hunt" - and it's bloodier than any hunt I've ever seen.
Sure, Kristine made some errors through this book. You'd have questions, like "why doesn't she call the cops?" and "Why doesn't she figure it out?". Well, because there wouldn't be a story if that happened. Personally, I thought this book rocked. I'm a fan of horror and B-horror, so this was a welcome reprieve from romance.
As for Kristine, we get glimpses into her past, which is damn near as frightening as her present. But overall I like her. She keeps on going, trying to find and save her fiance. And the psycho who orchestrated this whole thing definitely isn't making it easy, he's setting it up so that the further she goes, the more it looks like she is the one at fault. So through each terrifying incident she becomes more and more afraid to bring in law enforcement.
And there is gore. Lots of it. If you are squeamish, you might not want to read it - except that you should. There are so few books (that I've read anyway) that really take that leap to make it scary. Like I said, if you liked Joyride, you will adore this book. Yes, I figured out the culprit pretty early, but that did not take away from my enjoyment at all.
Swerve on Goodreads
Vicki Petterson on Goodreads
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