Swerve by Vicki Pettersson (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"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."

My Thoughts:

What a crazily intense way to start out my year of reading in 2018!  I picked up this book expecting a thriller but what I didn't expect was this book.  I don't even have words to describe this one really.  It was so much darker and way more intense than I could have ever guessed.  There were times that I literally had to put this book down and stop reading.  I just couldn't continue as I thought it might end up giving me nightmares.  That's how squicked out I was (not a word but you can tell what I mean by it).  Honestly, this book probably isn't for everyone which is completely okay.  I even marked my copy with a little note of warning as I'm passing it on to my sister to enjoy.  All of that to say though, it was also such a great read!  Easily a four star read and one that I won't be forgetting about anytime soon.  

One of the things that I find most surprising is that this is Pettersson's first thriller.  What a way to begin your mystery writing career!  She actually also has an urban fantasy series that I want to check out but this looks to be the one and only thriller that she has written.  I sure do wish that I had more books to look forward to!  I found this book to be very fast paced and hard to put down.  Sure there were times that I "had" to put it down but by the time I hit the halfway mark, I just couldn't stop reading.  I was at the point where I was this close to reading the ending just to make sure that everything turned out okay.  That's seriously how intense this book was!  I'm not going to say anything more because I really don't want to spoil this book for anyone.  Suffice it to say that it is the following:  crazy, dark, and thrilling to say the least!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and wish that I hadn't waited so long to read it!  It was different than I originally expected it to be but that isn't a bad thing in the slightest.  Instead I got a book that was both dark and twisted - two of my favorite things in a thriller!  I can't recommend this book to everyone as it is a bit violent to say the least and not always an easy read.  But if you want a thriller that is completely different from everything that is currently out there....then this is the book for you.  It was a pretty great way to start off my reading in the new year.  I'm going back to check out this author's other books for sure!  Recommended but be warned that this isn't a book for sensitive readers.

Bottom Line:  A dark, thrilling read!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publishers.  My apologies for waiting until now to read it!