ARC Review: Backfire by Keri Lake

By -
Ricochet was one of my favorite reads of 2015, so when I found out this seemingly stand-alone book was getting not one, but two sequels, those babies went to the top of my TBR. I started stalking Keri Lake's Facebook feed, and as soon as I saw the sign-ups for Backfire ARCs and the blog tour I jumped all over that.

It's been a few weeks since it released, and it's getting rave reviews, for good reason. Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you why you need to add Backfire to your summer reading list.

 Spoiler free, of course.


Backfire was riveting from beginning to end, there were twists that I guessed and twists that I didn't, I really liked the main characters both together and individually, and it was dark and gritty with moments of levity and lightness, which I've come to really enjoy.
As easily as if I hadn't fought at all, he flipped me over, and his hands slid up under my shirt. Within seconds, my bra popped loose, and I nearly gasped at the relief, and in surprise that he's unclasped it so fast.
Like a damn tit-slinging ninja.

 What I'm struggling with is trying not to compare it to Ricochet, the first book in this series, the reason I found Keri Lake. Ricochet is one of the two best dark romance books I've read, and I had Backfire hyped up in my mind, ready for a follow-up that was going to knock my socks off. It didn't. It's a solid book. But it didn't have that wow factor for me that Ricochet had. And it's not fair for me to compare the two. 

So I'm going to focus on the things I loved, and there were many: Detroit front-and-center once again, 
Detroit had always been a thing of beauty in the hours before it awakened. Both my home and my tomb. I was forged in the city like the steel of its rusted out factories. Infected by its unshakable hope. ~~Molded and shaped by its pain and abandonment, until I'd become as much a part of it as the graffiti that colored its destruction.
Wouldn't matter if I left Detroit. It'd never leave me.

 an incredibly badass and sexy hero (with a car that curls my toes and feeds my addiction to pure American muscle), 
maleficent-black 1969 Camaro SS with a rear spoiler, cowl hood, and beautiful chrome rally sport grill


 a smart and feisty heroine,

a riveting mystery that kept me guessing through all the reveals, (like the wonderful twist about a certain character's history!), 

 a toe-curlingly sexy relationship between the MCs with well-written sex scenes and genuine affection for one another, 
I hated that she saw beneath the mask, beneath the bones and flesh, and yanked at my soul like a beam of sunlight fighting its way through murky waters of a swamp.
That warmth called to me, as she lay sprawled out on my bed--a fucking prayer trapped in a mind full of debauchery.

and a great side character that I'm looking forward to taking center stage next.

 The only thing in the book that I can point to and say I didn't like, wasn't because it was problematic, or poor storytelling, or anything wrong with the book. It was just uncomfortable. Hard to read. Painful to think about even now. But I do love it when a book makes me uncomfortable, even when I don't like the thing that causes that feeling. 

 Keri Lake is a gifted storyteller who deftly balances the hideous and the beautiful, who makes us understand how two people can be drawn to one another's darkest parts. She gives us an unflinching look at a crumbling Detroit while showing us why so many refuse to give up on the place where their roots run deep. The Vigilante Series is a study in the duality of life, and Backfire is equal parts awful and wondrous. I love the way Ms. Lake weaves together the strands of her tale, creating a stunning tapestry from pain and suffering. I'm looking forward to see what picture she creates next. 

 Wench Rating:




Comments

Post a Comment

You Might Want to Read...

Black Dagger Brotherhood: Scenes That Left us Begging for More

By -
Image
Created by Olga Daniels What better way to prepare for the impending release of the next Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, Lover at Last by J. R. Ward, than to relive some of our favourite scenes in the previous books?! Some of these scenes were selected by multiple Wenches, others are just personal favourites. One is. Clearly. The. Wench. Favourite. It won't be hard to tell which one! After the jump, see which scenes made us ooh, ahh, and pant for more.
Keep reading »

A Tribute to The Fiery Cross

By -
Image
Or How I Learned to Stop, Smell the Pig Shite, and Fall in Love with the Fifth Book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series A young White Sow dreams of all the food she’ll be eating to grow into her role in this book As the wait for the new Outlander book and television series drags on (and oooooonnnnnnnnaaaarrrggghhh), many fans have been rereading the first seven books in the series. Fascinating online discussions abound as to the motivations of the characters, the nuances of meaning within various scenes, and future possibilities and foreshadowing. Amongst enthusiastic effusions about all things even remotely associated with our beloved series, I’ve seen one recurring subject of complaint. People like to pick on The Fiery Cross . “It’s too slow.” “It doesn’t have enough action.” “Where’s the mystery?” So during my recent reread, I set out to take a few notes about memorable moments. But I gave that up early on. There were far too many. Because the book was like a beautifu
Keep reading »

When The Music's Over

By -
Image
A SUPER Spoilery Discussion of Feversong by Karen Marie Moning by: Zee the Terrible and Barbara Bones By Olga. It's now been two weeks since we got our hot little hands on Feversong , the final book in the Mac & Barrons part of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. It's almost all we can talk about in the Saucy Wenches hallways (which is really online, but you get the drift) and we have lots of thoughts and opinions so we aren't putting off our Super Spoilery Recap Extravaganza any longer!  Zee told you about how much she loved it in her Wench review, here , and it will surprise exactly no one that Barb did, too. Loved it to pieces. Thought it was pretty much perfect, exactly the kind of conclusion KMM has been promising us since she gave us Iced , leaving everyone precisely where they need to be. That said, we have lots and lots and LOTS of thoughts. So come with us through the jump where we're dishing all the dirt, in filthy, spoilery detail. We menti
Keep reading »

Dani Mega O'Malley: Superstar

By -
Image
Giddy with anticipation for the release of Karen Marie Moning's Iced , a lot of the Wenches have been thinking about Dani "Mega" O'Malley, the young sidhe -seer we first met in Bloodfever , who is poised to step out of the shadows behind Mac and Rowena and take center stage. Though Moning has recently said the three books she is writing for Dani will continue the story we've been following in the Fever books, the POV will shift to reveal the next chapters through Dani's eyes. With our heads firmly buried in Shadowfever in a frenzied effort to finish our rereads before the new release, we Wenches have been wondering what's in store for Dani. But no one has wanted to stop reading long enough to write a proper tribute to our young heroine as she prepares to take the leap to leading lady. Though we all think she's pretty awesome and deserves a big ticker-tape parade to show our support. So a sneaky Wench tried the stealth approach and asked us
Keep reading »

Review: Annihilation (Book and Movie)

By -
Image
When I read Annihilation last fall, I was intrigued, repulsed, mystified, enchanted, horrified, compelled, absorbed, and ultimately so unable to articulate what had happened that I didn’t attempt a review. But it has never stopped growing on me, new insights twining around in my brain. It’s insidious. Then the movie happened. I. Had. To. Go. I didn’t think anyone could film the book, and I was on Cloud 9 when I saw the abundance of rave critical reviews. It got compared to Apocalypse Now and 2001: A Space Odyssey ! It got called “stunning” and the “Best Sci-Fi Film in Years” that “ranks among great philosophical sci-fi”! And though there were many differences from the book, it sounded almost as batshitcrazybrilliant as the book!! Which means there are now two equally haunting versions of this story for me to wonder WTF happened. I might not have all the answers, but I’ve certainly enjoyed replaying scenes in my mind and pondering the possibilities. And I suspect that’s
Keep reading »