WOW. Twists and turns on every page full of didnt see that coming.. Great book I cant wait to read #2. ( )

It was a good book. It was exciting. I love how the author showed the FBI side and also the serial killers' side. The plot is different, something new. I love the twist at the end. The story just started a bit slow for me. ( )

Lee’s wife and daughter will killed because he worked for the Russian mafia. Since then, he has gone of the grid and is taking out different members of the family to get revenge for the deaths. While trying to kill another member of the mafia family, he stumbles upon a petite brunette placing a large red bow and gift card on the all ready dead family member that Lee was planning on killing.

Cyn lost her family to the same Russion mafia. After loosing her sister in foster care, Cyn started training to get her revenge on the family. Although she is small, she packs a powerful punch and has great aim with her knives. Although they work alone, when Lee stumbles upon Cyn at another kill he decides to follow her. They then try to work out a plan to continue their work.

Owen is the FBI agent that has been assigned to the Grudge Ninja case. Owen is having one heck of a time. None of the information matches up, profilers are not helping, and he is having a hard time with his marriage. Owen is torn. He wants to catch the Grudge Ninja, but he is taking care of a larger problem, the Russian Mafia.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt for Cyn and Lee but they managed to overcome what happened to them. Cyn. I loved Cyn. I can’t get enough of strong female characters that will stand up for themselves instead of waiting for someone else to help them.

This is a great thriller. I recommend this to everyone that likes thrillers. You will not be disappointed.

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Not a big fan of the sound effects or the musical "interludes" at the end of various chapters. Not a big fan of the [often subtle] sexism i.e. where Lee lectures Cyn over her "man-baiting" (Lee, apparently, believes that as long as Cyn led a guy on, it's okay for the guy to rape her since she asked for it by leading him on) and where he thinks it's perfectly acceptable for him to break into her home and expect her not to want to attack him.

Not a big fan of the book being too long for its content: too much repetition about how skillful Cyn was and how much Lee missed his family. Not a big fan of the (almost) sexual tension that was juxtaposed against Lee thinking of Cyn as his daughter. This was probably the creepiest part of the story and distracting - if a 20 year old wants to fool around with an older guy, okay, I can accept that, but if that older guy is thinking of her in terms of his daughter... that's just kinda gross.

Oh, and if Owen went on one more time about how he loves his wife so much that he's going to leave the Bureau I'd have biffed the book - every single time he shows up in the story, he mentions that he wants to leave his job and spend more time with his family. Okay buddy, go for it, just shuttup about it.

But, overall, I actually liked the story. I like the type of justice they deal out and how the characters were so well-developed. I just wish I hadn't had to skim so much to get past Cyn doing her forms, or Lee thinking about how Cyn is so much like his daughter. And they really only had to kill/kidnap about half the number of people they did in order to make the point of the story. There was nothing new in each additional "kill", just more of the same - preparing for the kill and driving here and there - which dragged the story on about 3 hours/100 pages too long. ( )

Description:
Vengeance by A.J. Scudiere is appropriately titled; it's about getting vengeance, and lots of it. Claymore Beller was an accountant for the Russian mafia, until the day he tried to turn them over to the IRS, resulting in the murder of his entire family, and of Claymore; or so they thought. Claymore's youngest daughter Cynthia survives and makes it her mission to get vengeance on the men who killed her family.
Lee Maxwell's family was also killed by the Russian mafia for his own betrayal. He, like Cynthia, yearns to get vengeance for the deaths of his wife and daughter; and upon meeting, they decide to make the mafia pay for their crimes. Law enforcement and the media refer to them as the "Grudge Ninja".
Owen Dunham has been following the "Grudge Ninja" case, but none of the evidence/profiles seem to get him any closer to apprehending the suspects. Until he figures out their motive, leaving him to decide whether the "Grudge Ninja" has the right to deal out payback, or if it's his sworn duty to report them.

Review:
After reading A.J. Scudiere's Resonance, I was excited to read Vengeance, especially after reading the book blurb. The characters were very unique and well developed, and the plot was definitely solid, two of the many reasons that the book took off as soon as I started reading. I love a good thriller, but most times I find them predictable, so the fact that I was constantly on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen earned this book huge Brownie points. I also appreciated the level of detail, particularly the grittiness, violence, and gore associated with the pairs' vendetta. I wouldn't be surprised to see this as a movie or as the plot in one of the many crime shows currently on television. This fast-paced thriller is definitely on my recommended list!

Rating: On the Run (4.5/5)

*** I received this book from Griffyn Ink in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ( )