Boy Interrupted by Patrick King

TW: rape, torture, molestation, animal cruelty, gruesome depictions of murder

4.5 stars, rounded up. The more I think about this book, the more intriguing and heartwrenching it becomes to me.

Boy Interrupted is the story of little Kenny Hanson, who at the age of 4 has his innocence shattered in an attack by his own father. He endures this savagery for eight more years until his "sweetness" is gone and daddy doesn't want him anymore.

As happens in some cases of molestation, young Kenny finds an outlet for his pain and rage, and he does so at a young age. Eventually, Kenny is placed in an institution, where it's expected he will live out his life, unable to hurt anyone.

More than 20 years pass and the elder Dr. Hanson continues to practice medicine with his buddies who also took part in his early charades with young Kenny. But bodies start piling up, all doctors, all tortured and killed in horrific ways.

It's up to Susan, Brian, Raif and the rest of the team to find the connection between these men and stop the killer. Coincidentally (or not?!), Susan at one time was a patient of Dr. Hanson. What role this might play, it's up to the reader to discover.

Boy Interrupted had me at the edge of my seat throughout. Although many parts of this book were gruesome, I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. Indeed, I found myself seeing life through Kenny's eyes, even if only temporarily, to try to understand some of the things he did.

Each of the characters had great depth and were well written and explored, including Dr. Hanson, who's insanity was hard to fathom, yet written to perfection.

I'm looking forward to more by this author. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

See this review on Goodreads, Amazon, Netgalley or Barnes & Noble.

Flowers for the Dead by C.K. Williams

4.5 stars rounded up
TW: rape, suicide

This was an exhilarating read, everything I would hope for in a psychological thriller. It is the story of Linn, who as a 17-year-old was brutally raped. Nineteen years later and forever traumatized by what she can and cannot remember about that night, Linn decides to revisit the past and finally find some answers.

Williams deftly takes us deep into Linn's past and her friendships with Anna and Teo, and Jacob, whom she dated briefly. Minor troublemakers, as kids Linn, Anna and Teo played ding dong ditch throughout the town and had a very specific way of signaling each other through a three-count tapping or doorbell ring. This plays heavily throughout Flowers for the Dead, for while Linn investigates her past and that night, someone torments her with those same doorbell rings in the dead of the night.

I loved the character development in this story. Williams did a wonderful job of digging deep into Linn's trauma and reminding readers that unless you have experienced it, it's difficult to understand the reasoning behind some of the actions victims take (for example, and this is no spoiler, Linn chooses to stay in the house where the attack happened, despite there being no cell service).

I took off half a star because I knew the "whodunnit" about a quarter of the way through the book. Also, I wasn't crazy about the shift in narrators, particularly in the last quarter of the book. Despite those minor annoyances, Flowers for the Dead is a worthy thriller. I look forward to more by this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Flowers for the Dead is scheduled to publish March 30, 2020. Find this book here. See this review on Goodreads.