October Book Reviews

October was another slow month, as this book is LONG and took me forever to get through, mostly because I had to go back and reread so many passages due to missing things due to my focus issues. Definitely did not want to miss a second of Tess Sharpe's Barbed Wire Heart.

I'm going to be honest, I have been avoiding thrillers my whole life, aside from quite a bit of Edgar Allan Poe, if he counts, maybe a few crime shows and documentaries, and dystopian novels that could resemble a thriller if you turn your head to the left and really, really squint. It's kind of funny, since I'm the kind of person who keeps skulls next to flower arrangements and spent about 80% of her teen years writing the most abysmal poetry about darkness, and blood, and whatever other things teenage girls with a streak of fire truck red hair and heavy black eyeliner like. Definitely a lot of heavy metal and pining for boys with greasy hair and snakebites, but decidedly not horror movies or thrillers. This first step into the world of Tess Sharpe, told through the eyes of Harley McKenna, an enforcer and the heir to her father's methamphetamine empire.

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The Review - There Be Spoilers, Kinda, I'm Somewhat Ambiguous I Reckon

I don't know any way to describe my love for this book in a way that doesn't make me sound a little messed up and more than a little morbid, but here we go anyway. This book had all the gross and macabre stuff that I like in a crime story. Drugs, violence, hardened criminals, casual assassinations and subsequent dismemberment, and a little bit (a lot a bit) of girl power.

The book follows Harley McKenna, a young woman in her early twenties who has been raised from birth to be a deadly boss in her father's crime network. Her mother was murdered in a deadly meth lab explosion, and she was left to her father's devices. The first time she witnesses an execution is before she is even ten, and she is involved with the murder and dismemberment of a rapist before she is even 18. A hard woman in a hard life.

I was happy with the way the book was written. It alternates Harley's memories of her childhood with real time events, showing her training and the impending storm of a turf war. Harley is hiding a secret that would push the already shaky peace in her town over the edge. Throughout the book, more twists and turns come up. Seeds are planted early on and grow to become a writhing network of changing circumstances and narratives, and culminates in a showdown that display's Harley's intensity and poise.

I particularly enjoyed the idea of Harley's late mother as a badass in her own right. She operated a motel that harbored and armed victims of domestic violence, and protected the women of the motel, dubbed the Rubies. The loyalty of her girls and the resilience of women is truly showcased here, and Harley's calm, commanding right hand woman Mo is incredible.

The end of the book is where my issues come in. I felt it to be a little forced and rushed, and a little preachy. Without revealing too much, Harley essentially changes the nature of her father's empire, and some of the writing near the end seems to be the author getting excited about her research into drug production and just word vomiting technical information.

In all, this is worth the read, but fair warning, it is descriptively violent and there are scenes of sexual assault. Spoiler alert: all the men get theirs in the end, don't you worry.