Customer Reviews

When She Was Bad: A Thriller

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Excellent reading. Highly recommended. You will read this book in one sitting.

Jonathan Nasaw's new thriller, When She Was Bad, again demonstrates why Nasaw has been called "the new master of the psychological thriller" (Toronto Sun). The plight of Lily touches you because her character is so well-developed that you sympathize with her even while she angers you. FBI agent, E.L Pender, is again onboard as is the serial killer, Max/Kinch/Lissey.

Readers will better understand this one if they have already read The Girls He Adored, Nasaw's first book in the series. Although the subject is serious (dissociative identity disorder--once called multiple personality disorder), a quirky humor is present throughout and makes the tension more bearable. Nasaw delves deeply into the psyches of two sexually abused individuals and wants the reader to understand how events in their young lives fractures their minds so badly that they can no longer cope.

It seems as though is not Nasaw's objective to try and trick the reader as to who killed whom. His writing is much more intelligent and serious, with humor thrown in for a read that is both thrilling, while seeking to define what happens to sexually abused individuals in our society today.

Oh, I enjoyed this one quite a bit! It was a very fast read, and it made for a rather happy ending for everyone. I suppose I was a little disappointed for Max's fate - he was a pretty charming killer in the first book... also, the end of this one was pretty preachy about child abuse, but it still made for a very exciting book and one that I'm happy to have read (even if the first one, The Girls He Adored, was BETTER!)

Very happy with my book almost like new , just reading now, It is the continuation of a prior book that he has written.

Ulysses and Lilly, two people suffering with multiple personality disorder, fall in love. This story starts there and goes full tilt until the very end. One personality is a serial killer, another a hard-edged biker babe unafraid to kill. Then there's the sweet, naive man-child and the trusting, hopeful young woman. Personalities fight for dominance and the good and bad guy are all wrapped up in one package.

Nasaw is an excellent writer. He tackles a fascinating subject with sizzling suspense that kept me on the edge throughout the book. If you enjoy psychological suspense, this is one book you shouldn't miss.

This was my first time reading this author's book. It was a strange book. I didn't know what to expect and parts of it seemed to be a little far-fetched (one guy overpowering and killing four people at once?). It seemed to be a take on the "Natural Born Killers" aspect, only using mentally and emotionally damaged people instead.

Obviously the subject matter concerns psychologically and physically abused people, which is traumatic enough to those who have suffered in this manner, but to exploit them to commit crimes rather than to seek help for them was a real turn-off for me.

I know it can happen and probably has, but the psychotic "break" the two main characters had in their mind should have been an impetus for healing at the hospital, rather than the so-called "treatment" they were given. Instead,the end result of non-healing created the violence they perpetrated, so those involved with the responsibility of caring for these people have no one to blame but themselves for not establishing a true and honest program to help them get well, instead of allowing them to be overcome by their other selves, hence the frenzied mayhem of deceit, rampage and murder.

Other than this, the book is well written.

I have not read this author before. This entry was not one that would hook me for another. The bad guy is only part of several personalities and the switching was carried to the ridiculous.