Customer Reviews

Blown Away

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really would have enjoyed the book except the blood and gore were too upsetting. The novel was one you didn't want to put down but the images it left in my mind were very upsetting.

I live in Naperville and the local Barnes & Noble had this book prominently displayed, since that is where the story takes place. I really enjoyed knowing first-hand all the locations mentioned in the book. I thought the plot, events, twists, and turns of the story were excellent, I didn't ever feel smarter than the characters in the book. I did, however, find a lot of the dialogue to be forced and not quite what I would actually imagine people saying. Everything got better as the story moved along - at the beginning of the book I was underwhelmed, but as I got farther into it I became more and more engrossed in the story. Even the weak point for me, the dialogue, because better towards the second half of the book. Given that this was the only real flaw in my mind and given that this was the author's first novel and I saw definite improvement even over the course of this one book, I am definitely going to check out his next title as soon as I can. He crafted a great, tense story and if his wording evolves like it appears to be, he will just get better and better.

I bought this given all the hype in the Naperville Sun, and the glowing reviews from the other reviewers. I was totally disappointed, although I guess I could see where some people might find this a fun "beach read". The characters in this novel are not the slightest bit unique or interesting. The dialogue between the characters is written like a fiction 101 class, and the conversations between the younger characters are just plain dumb. The whole plot revolves around a serial killer being inspired by board games- my favorite line to laugh at is "You already did Boggle, you bastard!" LOL... Between the murders everywhere in quiant little Naperville and the nuclear bomb at Safety Town, I couldn't believe I wasted money on this book. While I'm sure the author is a nice guy, this book is awful.

Rookie cop Emily Thompson's life hasn't been easy. Her parents were victims of a hit-and-run driver on her twentieth birthday. Her husband was killed by rocks thrown from an overpass on her thirtieth birthday. As her fortieth birthday approaches, she finds herself targeted by a killer who uses her own childhood games as devices to taunt her, while killing others.

Gericke's debut thriller introduces the slightly naive cop, who is forced to delve into her past to find the trail of a killer. Events move rapidly in the seventy-two hours before Emily's projected death at the hands of a madman. Hour by hour, the tension builds as Emily and the reader race toward a confrontation with a killer.

You can't go wrong with this first novel. You'll truly be "blown away" by an exciting story that leaves you hungering for the next book by Gericke.

When a woman's body is found, an apparent suicide, the presence of rookie cop Emily Thompson's card is suspicious. Emily doesn't know the woman but later, when it is determined this is murder, the card becomes relevant.

When subsequent crime scenes also appear to be set up just for Emily, she recognizes that they seem to be represent childhood games such as Clue, Operation, and Chutes and Ladders.

Who has it in for Emily and how many more deaths will occur before she can decode her past? As it becomes clear that the goal is that Emily would die on her birthday, only a few days away, the tension ratchets up and Emily has to examine everyone in her past.

Flashbacks reveal Emily and the killer as children, growing up together and attempt to explain the grudge he has against her.

I find it incredible that this is Shane Gericke's debut novel. Emily is mature and intuitive. The story moves quickly and draws you in from the first page. Even the secondary characters are well drawn and add personality to the story. I look forward to more from this author.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended book.

Rookie cop Emily Thompson knows someone wants her dead; bodies are turning up with links to her, links that track back to her childhood. But the bodies are getting closer, and Emily knows the killer is shooting to make his move on her birthday, only a few days away. Can she outfox him and remain alive, or will this killer win the final game?

Shane Gericke has penned a page turner that will keep you up until the wee hours of the night. His writing sparkles, flows like water over worn rock. Smooth. But with suspense that will drive you to turn those pages.

In Naperville, an affluent suburb of Chicago, while jogging, rookie police officer Emily Thompson thinks nothing of seeing the headless bodies of a goose and two ducks. Later that same day she is at the scene of a dead woman in a rented car possessing a card with Emily's name on it. Emily and her superiors believe the woman committed suicide. When she returns home, the heads of the goose and two ducks are in her mailbox, her business cards in their mouths.

Her bosses take it as a threat and warn Emily to be careful. That night she visits the library where a naked teen has an envelope for her, a birthday card telling her that her real presents are in the library. A dead man is found in one of the chairs making it obvious a serial killer is on the prowl with the ultimate objective being killing Emily on her birthday which is just a few days away. The culprit is someone who knows Emily but she has no idea who hates her so; unless she can figure out who it is, she will die because this is a brilliant murderer who never gives up.

Nobody reading BLOWN AWAY would believe this is Shane Gericke's debut novel because it is better than most police procedurals written today. There are plenty of action and chase scenes but it the amazing character development that makes this book worthy of an award nomination. Readers get to know the men and women in blue and what they face every day on the job. This is the ultimate chilling cat and mouse game in which the more the audience learns about the UNSUB, the more they want to see him locked away (preferably in a coffin).

Harriet Klausner

This novel pits Emily Thompson, a police officer who's been on the force less than a year in a suburb of Chicago, against a serial killer who's ultimate goal is to kill her. Interwoven into the story are flashbacks to both her childhood and that of the killer, designed to give us insight as to how they each came to this juncture in life.

Emily seems to have arrived at police work on a whim. She can't seem to decide if she's a tough as nails cop or a vulnerable woman on the verge of her 40th birthday, trying to sort out whether or not it's time to move on romantically since the death of her husband about 10 years prior.

The killer, on the other hand, has arrived at this point with a great sense of purpose. The flashbacks to his past make it very clear that his was a less than ideal upbringing, and hits most of the usual items normally associated with serial killers.

The final confrontation between Emily and the killer is exciting enough, but most of what the killer reveals in the moments that, at least according to the pan, are supposed to lead up to his final victory and her death, is not that shocking if you're really paying attention.

I read a lot of books and this was a pretty good book. I like to see what different authors do and I enjoyed this book.

I admit not to have finished this book, but since it is not the story itself I am writing about, then I feel like my criticism is still valid. I read about a quarter of the book and have no problem with the story. Even if the rest of the story gets better and better and has a smashing ending, I still cannot enjoy the book due to bad dialogue writing.

I am a huge fan of police procedurals and crime fiction in general. Good dialogue is one of the most important aspects for me, and it is impossible for me to become absorbed in a story if the dialogue is written like it is a bad play. Unfortunately, Blown Away was like that. Gericke surely tries to write good dialogue, but the result is a complete failure. I think he had a good thriller on his hands, and so I will give it 2 stars rather than 1, but it is surely not the kind of book I can enjoy.