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Sunday, April 16, 2017

Sunday Suspense: Need To Find You [book review]

Need To Find You by Joseph Souza is an intriguing crime drama, proving that Souza is just as comfortable with this genre as he is with the horror genre. Joseph Souza is well-known for his zombie series such as The Living Dead and The Liger Plague. However, after releasing his award winning novel, Unpaved Surfaces (and, no, that’s not just a blurb, he really did win multiple awards for his first crime drama), Souza is well on his way to becoming the next big thing out of Maine.

Souza avoids the cliché of violence as a plot device, and slowly weaves a story based on a hidden manuscript that might destroy the reputation of a classic author. Mikiela, investigating the memoirs of Robert Cornish, is abruptly kidnapped, but she manages to give her phone to Yasmine. As luck would have it, Yasmine has a history with the kidnappers and plans on using the phone’s contents to exact revenge on a man known only as The Viking. Whip is a former undercover detective struggling to overcome his alcohol addiction, but he accepts the task of finding Mikiela. Haskins is the corrupt assistant police chief who is trying to tie up all the loose ends to pay his debt to The Viking, but both Whip and Mikiela have a score to settle with the dirty cop.

The setup is slow, and there are several more characters to keep track of…to be honest, I wasn’t sure this book was going to be to my liking. I shouldn’t have doubted Souza’s ability to draw readers into one hell of a mystery. I would never have believed a crime drama could be centered on something as simple as a manuscript. Patience is required, but rewarded with the electrifying ending of Need To Find You.

I can’t wait for the next book in The Liger Series, but I’m thinking Souza needs to leave the undead behind and consider giving Whip his own detective series.

As always,

AstraDaemon

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