Callous

Okay, I'm not so much into mysteries and thrillers. But this book is a "genre-bender" in the best sense. It offers so much, in both depth and edge-of-seat storytelling. If you like to be simultaneously entertained and challenged, this book is for you. I enjoyed the HECK out of it.

T K Kenyon is launching a literary career from small town Texas. Like the best mystery writers, she has created a unique geographic niche with characters that are every day believable. CALLOUS is hardly a stereotypical mystery where the only plot motivation is to figure out whodunnit. The characters and plot are complex. There is more in the lives of the husband and wife detectives than solving mysteries. You care about them as people as they sort out the differences in their lives. CALLOUS is for those who enjoy mnystery, for those who care about characters, and for those who just enjoy a good can-t-put-it-down read. Highly recommended.

What is it about small towns? Are they magnets for outrageous murderers or what? Or, maybe it's just TK Kenyon's over-active but well-expressed imagination that makes you want to look inside the brain of every slow-talkin' hayseed you meet to see if there's mayhem lurking around somewhere in there. Like Kenyon's first novel, Rabid, this one draws convoluted lines of battle between science and religion. There is also a big dose of small-town intrigue and some really smart law enforcement folks, although you don't always notice that right away. Kenyon has a way of painting vivid characters with a broad brush, although she also keeps a few character traits in reserve to keep things interesting. The book starts conventionally enough, with the disappearance of Ester, the adult daughter of a rancher in Texas. Chief Deputy Max, an old-fashioned cop if there ever was one, is on the case with his wife, County DA Diane, who is a secret Bible reader. You can't have a murder mystery these days without forensics, either, so Ester's childhood friend Vanessa carries on that theme. The tension and suspense build throughout the book, which makes it a tempting one-sitting read. If you get hooked on it, though, take time to enjoy Kenyon's characters, who offer a lot of detail to study. There's an unconventional ending, too, but I better not say anymore about that.

This book is the ever-lovin' bomb! I checked it out and it's a checkered flag with a check-mark and an exclamation point! Just when you think you know what's going on, WHAM! That crazy-mass author hits you with annuther big bomb of plot twist that knocks you off your feet BADA-BING! The ending isn't just da bomb, it's an explosion!