Hi everyone, it gives me great pleasure to share my latest book review with you all. This read is another NetGalley ARC … darn you, Mae Clair, for getting me onto NetGalley! I have enough to read without adding more, lol! 🙂

While my review says it all, I have to say that I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a book as much as this as far as I can remember. It’s not a Stephen King, but it’s just different … and immensely enjoyable and well written. Okay, I’ll stop gushing now and give you the details >>>

About the Book

From the bestselling author of The Butterfly Garden comes a suspenseful new series for the #MeToo era about vigilante justice, close friends, and getting away with murder.

Florida journalism undergrad Rebecca Sorley is like any other college student. She tries to keep up with her studies, her friends, and her hot-tempered roommate, Ellie, who regularly courts trouble with the law.

When a male student’s remains are found in alligator-infested waters, the university warns students to stay away from the reptiles. But then a second body shows up, and the link is undeniable. Both men belonged to the same fraternity and had a reputation for preying on and hurting women.

Ellie has previously threatened to kill men who don’t take no for an answer. Rebecca and her friends thought Ellie was kidding. But now a vigilante killer is roaming campus—someone who knows how to dispose of rapists. Someone determined to save female students from horrible crimes.

With each passing day, those who know Ellie become more convinced she’s responsible. But if she is, stopping her might not be in everyone’s best interest…

My Review

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for a free ARC of this book.

This is definitely one of those blow-you-away reads that I wish I could award 10 Stars instead of 5. What can I say … this is an amazingly good book. So good, in fact, that I feel any review I offer, even an absolutely raving one, will not be able to do it justice.

For sure, I will be following this author around from now (online, lol!) and reading more of her books.

So, what got me so hooked? When I came across this book on NetGalley, the cover caught my attention, and then I read the book description … oh boy. I was delighted when I received the ARC but thrilled as soon as I started reading. It is rare that a narrative will grab me like that on the first line and keep hold of me until and even after the very last word.

In many ways, the subject matter is not an easy one to read; however, the author flipped it on its head and interspersed some much-needed humour at the darkest moments … I found myself rollercoasting from frowning deeply and trying not to leak tears to not just laughing out loud but actually guffawing. And much to my husband’s dismay, even went so far as to read him some of the cornier jokes, which I felt were just perfect for that specific point in the story.

It’s a sad testament to modern life that what happened to these young college students is all too common, as is the reaction (or lack of) to such awful events. When the police and authorities fail to protect them or take the perpetrators of sexual assault into hand, one student enacts her own vigilante justice. We don’t find out the reveal of which one of a group of seven she is until the end of the book; however, I did have a vague idea before then but my hunch only added to the fun of the read, watching the subterfuge that abounded.

Normally, I’m not at all one for vigilante justice or revenge killings … or revenge at all for that matter … but, most surprisingly, I found myself rooting for all of the girls, even the one leading the drunken young men to hungry alligators. I absolutley did not want her to get caught or punished. Yep … I’m still chewing over that one.

Not a single one of the characters was a cardboard cut out, not even the most minor of them. I connected with them all, and felt as though I was tagging along with the main character and her friends, rather than simply reading about them. The scene setting, plot, and pacing were spot on. The only negative is that the book had to end, lol. I call that a job way well done.

So, in case you haven’t guessed yet, Deadly Waters gets a resounding 5 (wishing for 10) stars from me.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.