Sadly, we have seen a lot of this over the last decade, a mass shooting. A mass shooting happens on the beach front in Chicago. A place where you go with your family and kids, enjoy some sun, maybe a picnic, and this is the furthest thing from your mind. That a mad mass murderer is going to pick that day to take what was never theirs to take, human lives.
The book opens with a bang, well a few bangs and then we are taken back a year previous and meet four potential suspects; the ex-athlete, the programmer, the student, and the veteran. This is all we are given to identify each of them as we traverse through their lives for the next year leading up to the shooting. Their every move, thoughts and behavior – each one is being analyzed down to minute details of you trying to figure out if they were the one who pulled the trigger.
The author does a really good job at tying into each character, the truth of real life things that are happening to people right now. The high school athlete who had a few too many head injuries – could one of these have caused something to change in his mental stability and thoughts. The ex-veteran turned cop – we now know that PTSD is super common and often something that is battled with those who are veterans and seen terrible things, and one triggering event can cause a flashback or cause personality change. The computer programmer who has become introverted and hides behind his screen because you can be anyone you want on the internet and not have to come face to face with someone or deal with in person confrontation. Lastly, the high school student who is trying to understand who he is and the changes that are happening to him mentally and physically, sadly most kids have been bullied and this often can cause anger and unstable thoughts.
This was a very detailed, written thriller. I kind of liked how the author kept the suspects as just a title until the end of the book, but it was also hard to put a picture to that person as well. I think he picked four good suspects, in that with everything happening in today’s world, we could easily understand any one of the four being the shooter, for different reasons, so not just one or two was easy to hone in on, as to who might have done it.
Thank you to the author for sending me a free PDF arc of his novel to read and review. I did enjoy this thriller, although at times I did have to push a little through the in-depth details, I did understand why he wrote it this way. Also, I really like this cover!
~About the Author ~
Greg Hickey is a former international professional baseball player and current forensic scientist, endurance athlete and author. His previous works include the novels The Friar’s Lantern and Our Dried Voices, the latter of which was a finalist for Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Science Fiction Book of the Year Award. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Lindsay.
For exclusive access to behind-the-scenes details, updates on my next book, discounts and giveaways, please subscribe to my email list at: https://www.greghickeywrites.com/parabellum-reader.
Reading Is My Remedy 