Book Review | Ruthless by Steven F. Freeman

I've been incredibly lucky as my copy was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

"A heartless killer ambushes and guns down ex-mobster Jay Mancini. Days later, the killer disposes of Mancini’s live-in girlfriend in cold blood. Desperate to identify the culprit, Jay’s niece Chelsea convinces work colleague and amateur detective Alton Blackwell to help investigate the seemingly run-of-the-mill professional mob hits."

After reading Nefarious and absolutely loving it, I was really excited to pick up the next book in the series, and this certainly didn't disappoint! If anything, I actually preferred it to the first one in the series. I think my favourite thing about Freeman's writing is the structure of the books. The chapters are quite short and choppy, which I think makes it very easy to read and engaging. You find yourself saying "oh just one more chapter" and before you know it, you've finished the book because you just don't realise you're even reading it. With longer chapters, sometimes they tend to drag on and by the time you've finished a chapter, you just want to put the book down and go and do something else. This is not the case for Freeman.

He writes beautifully and gives you just enough detail to keep you reading and yet not enough for you to figure out "whodunnit" before the end. Then the big reveal happens and suddenly it all makes sense. I feel like Freeman is a master at always leaving you wanting more. From start to end, I could barely put my ereader down. Then my ereader broke and I just knew that I had to continue reading it, so I actually went through the trouble of sending it to another device and whatnot, just to finish it. 

I love the fact that the crime scenes are described respectfully. There's not much gore or crudeness, and certainly nothing over the top that needn't have been there. There's no comments about gruesome body bits missing or the depth of the blood splatter or something. It's just a pure, true mystery and nothing is handled disrespectfully. I believe this proves that you can have a wonder of a crime thriller without disgusting people with unnecessary blood, guts or gore. My respect goes out to Freeman for that.

The plot is engaging, I fell in love with all of the (incredibly well developed) characters, and I loved seeing Alton and Mallory's relationship flourish as the novel went on. It's also nice to see that no character ever behaves out of their own personality or ability. No one is a wonderful, does it all, superhero. It's a true, real, gritty novel full of suspense and mystery. Freeman has done it again, and produced a wonderful crime thriller. I cannot WAIT to get started on the third in the series.

It was a joy to read, and I recommend the entire series to anyone and everyone. You've done it again, Freeman, and I give you my highest regard.

* This book was sent to me for free through the publisher in exchange for an honest review.