Heather’s Bookshelf: Alpha
Author: Stephen L Brayton
Released: 07/25/23
Genre: Adult Thriller
“The emptiness persisted, though. The hollow pain still stung. I would not cry, though, because he didn’t deserve my tears. I was too good for him and he didn’t warrant my wishing what could or might have been, wishing things had been different. Wishing…”
“Alpha” is book 1 of the Mallory Peterson Mysteries and is reviewed as a standalone novel here. Mallory is a private detective living in Des Moines, Iowa.
When Mallory’s boyfriend, Bobby Furillo, is found dead, she becomes wrapped into the case. Finding truths about her relationship and Bobby’s life, Mallory can’t help but continue to delve deeper. Her investigation soon puts her in danger. Relying on her skills as a detective and martial artist, Mallory can’t stop, not when things around her keep falling apart.
Will Mallory be able to solve the case? Will Lawrence run away after hearing her tale? Or will her story turn into more of a nightmare?
Trigger Warning: violence, adult language, murder, attempted rape
Overall, I enjoyed this tale. The story is told through Mallory’s POV in both present and past timelines. The present timeline, “now”, is depicted through Mallory telling about events in her past, “then”, to her police officer boyfriend, Lawrence Cameron, after he asks to hear about “one of her toughest cases”. Some of the present snippets added a lot to Mallory’s character- insight into how she felt and how she got to this place in her life. But other snippets just seemed to be filler between scenes of the main storyline. Portions of the main story also seemed a bit convoluted at times with redundancies that dragged on portions of the tale. Mallory was a great protagonist- interesting, smart, and likable. Her reaction to her boyfriend’s death and subsequent revelation of secrets felt authentic and relatable. While there was good connection to Mallory, the same could not be said of the ancillary characters. Besides Lawrence, very little time was spent on anyone in particular and even if they were included it was on a more superficial basis. The ending of the tale was satisfying with all loose ends tied up and a clear opening for future stories as well.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
An adult thriller with an interesting and likable protagonist and a creative structure. A bit convoluted at times with little connection to the ancillary characters.
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