Book Reviews

Book Blurb

When Tyler Powell's life is torn apart by an unspeakable crime, the need for vengeance takes over. Every moment of every day, as he tries to pull his shattered existence together again, it's all he can think about—revenge.

Will he give in to his rage and become the very thing he hates most? A killer?

Only with the help of Homicide Detective Christian Martin, the cop in charge of his case, does Tyler see the possibility of another life beginning—the astounding revelation of another love reaching out to him. A love he thought he would never know again.

Will he let that love into his life, or is he lost already? Is payback more important to Tyler than his own happiness? And the happiness of the man who loves him? Tyler is determined to find a way to exact his revenge without sacrificing all hope for a future with Christian, but it will be difficult—if not impossible—and in the end he might be forced to make an unbearable choice.

 

Book Review

This is a very moving story with plenty of powerful emotions. It starts with a bang, and I have to warn you, it is brutal. The senselessness of Spencer’s death and the impact it has on Tyler once he realizes Spencer is gone is excruciating. There are two ways to react to the death of a partner: one is to sink into depression, and the other is to get angry and look for justice or revenge. Tyler is the type of man who gets angry, and the title of this book describes exactly what he is after: payback. Luckily (for me) it is also about dealing with that need for revenge and what comes after the worst is over. The journey Tyler takes when moving from one to the other is fascinating, and so realistically described that this story grabbed me on page one and didn’t let me go.

Tyler is a bookkeeper, a man who likes his life organized and well planned. He and Spencer were making big plans when everything comes crashing down and Tyler suddenly has to deal with the grief of losing the love of his life and a life on his own. The brutal murder is hard enough to deal with, but the initial lack of suspects really gets to Tyler. I can’t say I approve of some of the things he does in his quest for “payback”, but I understand where he is coming from. And his gradual return to the land of the living and how he learns to hope for the future again was a beautiful thing to watch.

Chris Martin is a homicide detective, a man of the law, but he is also human and has a bigger heart than most cops. Chris has some hard choices to make, and I think he navigates the impossible situation Tyler puts him in with empathy and a toughness you don’t find in many people. His decisions are interesting, unexpected, and I don’t think they will be understood by many people, never mind other cops. I could see where he was coming from, and for Tyler’s sake, I was relieved Chris was on the case and not someone else!

If you like gritty stories about the violent reality of life, if tough men who have to take difficult decisions are your thing, and if you’re looking for a read that is as fascinating as it is full of hope, then you will probably like this novel. It is a murder mystery of the brutal kind, and yet it is also a love story that will give you hope and might even make you smile.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 200 pages/67432 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	02-February-2015
Price	$6.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback, $14.99 bundle
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/payback-by-john-inman-3136-b