Undertow by Kelly Cozy-a review

Undertow by Kelly Cozy-a review

Young drown woman in a poetic representation, red hair girl

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 18, 2014

Drew Finley was a crime journalist, until his mind couldn’t shut out the images of blood and bodies. Alcohol made the images go away, but also ruined Drew’s career and innocents’ lives.

Drew’s eager to make amends and he’s got a story that will help him: a profile of a local celebrity who may have been framed for murder. As he digs deeper, he’ll uncover secrets and grudges that will put the people he loves in danger.

REVIEW:

Reviewing books by Kelly Cozy is becoming difficult. How many times can I use the words OMG, WOW, and HOLY SMOKES? But I find myself yet again at a loss for different words to review her latest book except to say WOW, she blew me away again. In most books you normally have two main characters that the book focuses around with a few others mixed in for substance. Not when Kelly Cozy writes a book. You have your main character, Drew Finley but as you read the book, character upon character is added that adds depth and intrigue to the plotline. And the attention to detail for each person, situation or scenario is remarkable. Reading a story with so much detail transports me to the places and I’m in the book as a bystander watching it all unfold like it was really happening in real life. I know I’ve probably said that before in a previous review but it’s true. The first sentence in chapter one is “He knows who I am.” If that doesn’t grab your attention and keep you reading, I feel sorry for you.

Drew is a recovering alcoholic that let a crime story destroy his life. He has finally found a place to rebuild his life when he moves to Los Cielos and begins working for the Weekly. Normal is what he wants and that is what he has…for a little while. His girlfriend Evie is a little eccentric in a great way and she balances him out quite nicely. But once his attention gets focused on the local celebrity who may have been framed for murder, everything important to him gets overcome with his obsessive need to get to the truth. Jones Cavanaugh was the basketball coach that was convicted of killing one of the players. Audrey, the boss at the Weekly wants to do a piece on Cavanaugh and she assigns Drew to the story. And that is when his life is changed forever. After a meeting with Cavanaugh, Drew is beginning to think he is innocent so he digs deeper, talking to witnesses and anyone involved to get to the truth. But what he finds is not what you expect. And Drew’s reaction changes many lives forever. Could I see the ending coming? NO WAY. That’s the best part about reading a Kelly Cozy book, you never know what will happen and at the end you have to pick your mouth up off the floor. And then you are depressed because the book is over and you have to wait until the next one is written! That’s what happens to me anyways! This book is a great read and I highly recommend it and any other book she has written.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Tricia

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Undertow by S.M. Stelmack – a Review

Undertow by S.M. Stelmack – a Review

undertowLinks to order Undertow: Amazon

Book Description:
Lindsay Sterling’s niece has gone missing in the New York underground and the cops do nothing except pass along a name. Jack Cole. Twenty years ago they were good buddies but horrors have changed them both. Lindsay lost her entire family except for her niece in a car accident, and Jack was held captive in New York’s underbelly for nearly two years by demented sub-humans. It was a soul-sucking experience that’s left him a shell of a man. He refuses to descend into that hell again, especially for a girl who’s probably dead anyway. But when Lindsay is nearly killed there after going it alone, Jack feels compelled to save her skin. Jack navigates Lindsay through a strange territory, populated with the eccentric, the insane and the desperate. Each encounter takes them closer to Lindsay’s niece but also closer into the clutches of the mad creatures that will enslave them.

Review:
Undertow by S.M. Stelmack was an excellent adventure. I give it a 4/5 rating  This book is full of danger, intrigue and friendships.  Imagine a city under a city, levels of this city divided, until we get to the lowest of the low. Each level has their hierarchy, rules and laws. At the top we have running water and electricity. Each level goes deeper and deeper, until we hit total darkness. And the monsters.

Lindsay once had a friend called Jack, they were inseparable. Jack was the ultimate adventurer, he would travel underground searching for treasures and stories to tell his avid follower.  An incident in their past puts a strain on their friendship. Then Jack and his father have to move away, this is the end of the dynamic duo. But they keep in touch, postcards, letters and birthday phone calls. Then a blow rocks Lindsay’s world, and she cuts Jack out if her life forever…..

We jump ahead eighteen years. Lindsay’s worse nightmare comes true, she loses her remaining family member underground. The police can’t help, due to lack of funds and manpower. She is given a name and number to contact, to her shock, it’s Jack’s name looking back at her. 

Tracking him down, she arrives at a rundown building, where she meets a mountain called Reggie. Getting past Reggie to see Jack is a challenge in it’s self.

Their meeting doesn’t go as planned.  He is cold, distant and totally disinterested in her plight. Undeterred, Lindsay plans to go underground and look for her niece. Packing a rucksack full of things she will need, Lindsay ventures to Grand Central Station, in search of a guide, to take her underground. She meets a bunch of youths who promise to take her to the people she needs to see. Only trouble in the shape of a knife is what she gets. Reggie rescues her, and takes her back to Jack.   Jack relents and tells her that he will take her underground, and to be ready the next morning. 

Along the journey, we meet characters, who know of Jack the legend. (it seems Jack has his own underground story to tell, which we get to see in flash backs)

Jack has loved Lindsay since childhood, but Jack is broken. The moles (who are at the bottom of the underground social network, but are feared by everyone) broke him, tried to remould him into someone else. Jack’s flashbacks are very important to the story, we get to see them try to break him, and all the horrors he was forced to endure. 

The moles want their property back (Jack being theirs), and will do anything to keep him from returning to the surface.  Jack and Lindsay reconnect and their love for one another begins to grow, from the child worship to adult love. The story is fast paced and nail biting, right up to the ending.              

What I liked about this book was the adventure, I could see this as a movie, the monsters scary enough for any horror fan. It flowed really well. And it felt like real time, as there was the sleep, eating, fighting and escape. Do they rescue her niece ? Do they find happiness, or will reality set in ? Well I’m afraid you will have to read this amazing book yourself. 

My only niggle, the end felt a little rushed, I thought there would be a meeting, or a showdown. I see there is another book due out 2013, I will be putting it on my kindle list. I can’t recommend it enough. It really was a ride a minute. 

Reviewed by Julie B.

Copy provided by Author

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