Chicks Controlled by Books: Pure Punishment by T.L Smith

RELEASE DAY BLITZ & GIVEAWAY

Title: Pure Punishment

Author: T.L Smith

Genre: Dark, Contemporary Romance

Stand Alone

Release Date: January 3, 2015

Intended for Mature Audiences 18+

Synopsis:

One, Two.

Who to kill?

Three, four.

You better open your door.

Five, six.

Cut or nick?

Seven, eight.

Don’t party too late.

Nine, ten.

Watch your gate.

My name is Kayla. Would you like to play a game with me? I promise to only make you bleed and possibly scream.

Are you ready for some fun?

Pure Punishment by T L Smith (**** stars)

Klaire Sutherland for Chicks Controlled By Books.

Gorgeous, clean cover that pulls your eye. Definitely aesthetically pleasing for me. I also love a heartfelt dedication and this book delivers a beautiful one!

The synopsis for this book gives you absolutely nothing except a compulsion to read, the twisted little song always conveys chills in me when I match it with the music in my head and that alone had me itching to read this. I have read T.L.Smith's Krino's so I am familiar with the author. I was hoping that she would pull something out of the bag here as I wasn't entirely captivated by her earlier work. She certainly did and now I'm finding it a little difficult to write this review. It's complex in nature and due to the subject it really is hard to discuss without giving away the whole story. I can say that I have read two other books with this subject so the concept behind it is not so unique to me. Whilst When Rabbit Howls is a little more complicated it deals with the same kind of subject, just in a different manner.

We have four very different people here yet all four are connected to each other in some way, they converge their past, present and futures and one is just as essential to the other in order to survive. Kayla is a refreshing read to be honest, if she was a guy she would be considered the alpha male, the protector, the one who doesn't give a toss. She takes what she wants and shows no remorse or apathy for her actions. Kristy is the exact opposite, the shy quiet one, lacking in self confidence, prime bully target and pretty. She doesn't appear to have a backbone and is aware, quite often admonishing herself for being the pushover. Mr Black, the detective, seemingly has a little obsession over Kristy, quite criptic with his dealings around her, quite pushy. Then there's Kai, head to toe in tattoos and attitude, badass detective trying to pitch himself to Kristy to appeal to his better nature. He needn't have worried as straight-laced Kristy likes what she sees. Kayla also likes what she sees in Kai and makes it her mission to snag him, wanting nothing more than to prove that she is irresistable to Kai. These are your four main characters and T.L. Smith has done a great job developing them, richly woven stories surround the two females, yet the male characters are left with an air of myteriousness to them. There are one or two back characters which are required in order to tell the story fully, these again are beautifully painted and gel extremely well with the rest.

I can't say any more on the story to be honest as it will ruin it and I hate spoilers with a passion. What I can say is that I kind of had it figured out quite early on, possibly because I've read something similar before I don't know. It in no way whatsoever spoilt the journey for me. I started reading about 11 pm and did not stop until I had finished. It's a pageturner, a book that made me want to keep reading. This had my mind going in circles at times, I asked myself a lot of questions throughout, and I found it a tad confusing trying to marry up the connections and straighten out the story. I think the use of the dates on the chapters was a bit of a mistake, several times I had to flick back and forth to check. I don't like doing that, it spoils the flow unfortunately. I liked the little brain quotes between chapters, good touch, and you learn something!

The reason for not giving this 5 stars? Well, I think if you are going to write something like this then you need to go all in, I didn't feel that T.L.Smith did, and I was so disappointed to be missing 3 years of story. There was an opportunity to do something there and it failed with the missing years. It was kind of washed over, a brief explanation, when in reality I felt there deserved to be a more in depth explanation. The back end of the book is most definitely the weakest, almost rushed. I also didn't really care for the epilogue, I didn't feel it was warranted, there was a little info there about the history between Kai and Kristy. It's not even hinted at until the last page so a moot point for me. I also did not quite get the title but maybe that's just me.

This book deals with some very emotional and disturbing subjects, I think some are sympathetically handled and others not so much, whichever way they fit the story. I was pulled along with it, felt emotionally connected to the characters and enjoyed what I read. It's deep and gritty, just enough dark to entice those kind of readers, and a concept that is different for a change. I would recommend this for sure. Reading time of about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Arc received for honest review.

Excerpt:

The sounds of blades being sharpened brings my attention to the right. It’s such a sharp, distinct sound that can make some peoples blood run cold. Me, on the other hand, I love it. As I step into the secluded building, I see the man that directs me to what jobs I have for the night. You see, I do the jobs that no others want to do. I clean up the mess that murderers, rapists, degenerates, and the scum of the earth make. Men that are high and mighty that can get away with their crimes so easily, because they have the money to make their problems disappear. But what most of them don’t expect... is me.

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