Book Review: Kill Box
I received this book from NetGalley.
Kill Box is a Thriller by Nichole Christoff. Today we’re starting with the description:
Hardworking Jamie Sinclair can’t wait for the weekend. She plans to be off the clock and on the road to wine country with handsome military police officer Adam Barrett. But when a strung-out soldier takes an innocent woman hostage and forces his way into Jamie’s bedroom, everything changes. Jamie’s never seen the soldier before. But he’s no stranger to Barrett—and with one word he persuades Barrett to pack a duffel and leave Jamie in the lurch.
Jamie cannot fathom why Barrett would abandon her without explanation. But as the consequences of an unsolved crime threaten to catch up with him, a late-night phone call sends Jamie racing to Barrett’s hometown in upstate New York. In a tinderbox of shattered trust and long-buried secrets, Jamie must fight to uncover the truth about what really occurred one terrible night twenty years ago. And the secrets she discovers deep in Barrett’s past not only threaten their future together—they just might get her killed.
I did enjoy this book for the most part, though I stumbled over some things. First, When Barret’s buddy pulls his stunt and Barret disappears, Jamie forgives and forgets that for the most part. I’m just not sure that she would. That seems to be a significant relationship problem. It doesn’t bear a lot onto to the overall story, but it did bother me throughout. The other thing that bothered me for a long time (though the thread finally came back in) was the beginning bit. Jamie is involved in a police operation, and after, she comes home to the hostage scene described in the beginning. That initial scene seems to be important, then simply vanishes from memory. It seems to have no purpose. Eventually it came back, which was nice, but until it did, it bothered me.
I also didn’t like the resolution. The bad guy. The murderer made sense. But I had a little bit of trouble buying the conspirator and mastermind of the uncovered drug operation. That all seemed to come out of the blue and again, I just had a hard time buying it.
However, I really liked the way Christoff built the mystery and revealed the clues. I liked the various characters in the town and the difficulties between Barrett and Jamie. I also like the complications from the old murder and the town’s law enforcement. I did like Jamie as a character, and Barrett grew on me as more of his past was revealed. I could see why he didn’t open up very quickly.
I enjoyed the book. I thought it was a good read overall. The ending was a bit disappointing, but I’ll definitely pick up another book of Christoff’s.