REVIEW: Shannon Kirk - Method 15/33

Closing off the Shannon Kirk interview weekend, this is my review of her debut novel, Method 15/33. This is out tomorrow guys. I urge you in the strongest possible way not to let this one go by without grabbing yourself a copy. It is simply superb!

I would just like to thank Shannon for taking the time to take part in this and answer my questions. I know it has been a very busy time for her and answering interview questions while on vacation shows real dedication. Please don't forget to  look for the "Buy here" buttons further down the page.

I hope you have enjoyed this weekends feature and will, of course, come back for more from Confessions of a Reviewer.

Thanks.

Genre: Mystery / Thriller

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

Publication Date: 5^th May 2015

Pages: 258

MY REVIEW:

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is published by Oceanview Publishing.

Ok it’s two for the price of one review day.

Review 1:

Just buy this (when it comes out tomorrow). No questions. No hesitations. You will thank me for it later.

Review 2:

Dorothy M. Salucci has been kidnapped. She is sixteen and heavily pregnant. She won’t prove to be the normal hostage victim. She won’t lie down begging for release.

She will be very calm and calculating in planning her escape and ultimate revenge on her kidnappers. FBI agent Roger Lui and his partner “Lola” have been given the case. It won’t be easy but with some luck on their side they just might make progress. They had best be quick because it’s not clear who will die first. Dorothy or the kidnappers.

This book needs to be held in the “Thriller” and “Reference” sections at the same time. Thriller because that’s what it is. Reference because it should be kept as a perfect example of how you write a said thriller.

I honestly don’t know where to start with this one because there are so many details flying around inside my head from this story. We will start with Dorothy.

This young girl is sixteen but has already inherited her mother’s cool, calm thinking. Her mother is a trial lawyer and is meticulous in everything she does. Dorothy has all of her qualities plus her own. She has a wonderful scientific and analytical mind. She remembers everything right down to the smallest detail and is planning her escape right from the very second she is grabbed. Plus the kidnapper threatened her unborn child. A big no-no. Everything she sees in her surroundings becomes an “asset” she can use in her plans. She numbers everything and keeps the list in her mind and practices and practices all her plans in a mesmerising way that only special people can do.

Roger Lui is also a special breed. He has hyperthymesia which is basically a fantastic memory. The relationship he has with his partner Lola is fantastic. They each bring their own qualities to form what seems to be the perfect partnership without being overbearing or unbelievable. They need a break in the case and will follow any lead they are given to the very end in the hope it will help.

The kidnappers are vile. Vile vile vile. They have taken Dorothy for one reason only. They want her baby. When they get it they will sell it and dump her in a quarry. It’s not the first time they have done it. Unless Dorothy can stop them, it won’t be their last.

This is a thriller. In some ways the story has been done before. This plot however is different in that you soon feel that the bad guys are in more danger than the victim. Right from the very first page Shannon Kirk grabs you by the squidgies. Her writing doesn’t let you go. If anything it squeezes tighter and tighter as the story progresses. It is told firstly from the point of view of Dorothy and then from Rogers point of view. The different sides of the story come together perfectly as the timelines come together. It’s so believable, convincing you that it is really happening and keeping your heart rate at such a high level throughout the story.

There is a kick ass twist in the story about 70% in that will make you scream. I actually read this bit while travelling on a bus and my audible gasp got me some very strange looks from my fellow travellers. When all is said and done a story normally finishes just there. Not this one. Ms Kirk continues the story for a long time after the ending, giving you some more insight into what happened after the event. Not telling you what this is though. Not going to spoil it for you.

To summarise: this is just superb. One of the best thrillers I have read in years. It’s fresh. The writing totally encapsulates you from the very beginning to the very end. It will sicken you. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. You will read with one eye closed and you will find some of it harrowing. You will be amazed at the strength of the characters and how they think of things you would never think of. This proves to me the imagination Shannon Kirk has and believe me, we will be hearing a lot more from this lady in the future.

The highest possible recommendation.

Do not miss this when it comes out.

General rating:

★★★★★ Absolutely loved it and it comes with my highest possible

recommendation.

Thriller rating:

★★★★★ Where are my blood pressure tablets?

You can buy Method 15/33 here:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Synopsis:

Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who's just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped…Alone…Terrified.

Now forget her…

Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn son and to exact merciless revenge.

She is methodical—calculating— scientific in her plotting. A clinical sociopath? Leaving nothing to chance, secure in her timing and practice, she waits—for the perfect moment to strike. Method 15/33 is what happens when the victim is just as cold as the captors.

The agents trying to find a kidnapped girl have their own frustrations and desires wrapped into this chilling drama.  In the twists of intersecting stories, one is left to ponder. Who is the victim? Who is the aggressor? 

Shannon Kirk is a practicing attorney and law professor in Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband, a physicist and ultra-marathoner, and son, a cat-loving, basketball-playing eleven-year-old. Shannon is a three-time finalist in the William Faulkner Wisdom Writing Competition: 2012 Novel-in-Progress, Heavens (literary fiction, finalist); 2013 Novella, 15/33 (thriller, finalist); and 2014 Novel-in-Progress, The Impossibility of Interplanetary Love (literary fiction, short-list finalist). Prior to moving to Massachusetts, Shannon was a trial attorney in Chicago for ten years. Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, Shannon spent her very early years moving around the country: Texas, Indiana, Massachusetts, Upstate New York, and finally settled to grow up mostly in Raymond, New Hampshire. Her home was an eccentric and loud, although loving, household with ten million pets of dubious origin. Both her parents encouraged pursuits in the arts, often dragging her and her three brothers to flea markets and antique shows, while giving lessons on the genius of Bob Dylan and Santana. Shannon's three brothers are artists: one, a rap/blues musician, another a sculptor, and another a physical therapist with a woodshop. Shannon attended Trinity High School and moved on to West Virginia Wesleyan and St. John's for college. She graduated from Suffolk Law School in 1998, where she is currently an adjunct law professor. When not writing or practicing law, Shannon enjoys creating sea-glass sculptures, painting, and hanging with her family and two cats, Marvin Garcia Marquez and Stewie Poe, named after her writing influences.

Shannon writes in several genres: literary fiction, suspense/thriller, and young adult.

Shannon is a member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.

You can see more of Shannon at her website.