One Kick by Chelsea Cain
Jun. 19th, 2014 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Kidnapped aged six.
Rescued aged twelve.
Kick Lannigan is a survivor.
In the early months following her freedom, Kick’s parents put her through a litany of therapies, but nothing helped. And then the detective who rescued her suggested Kick learn to fight; before she was thirteen, she learned marksmanship, martial arts, boxing, archery and knife-throwing. She excelled at every one, vowing never again to be a victim.
But then two children in the Portland area go missing in the same month. An enigmatic man approached Kick with a proposition: he is convinced her past experiences and expertise can be used to help the abductees. Little does Kick know the case will lead directly into her terrifying past …
Kidnapped when she was 6 years old, Kathleen ‘Kick’ Lannigan spent the next 6 years with Mel, a paedophile who renamed her Beth and brainwashed her into viewing him as her father, even as he peddled films of her abuse on-line.
It’s 10 years since Kick was rescued.
In the intervening years she’s learnt how to shoot and perform a variety of martial arts to expert level, determined to never be a victim again. Now aged 21, she’s estranged from her mother and lives in a luxury apartment in Portland above one belonging to her brother, James (a computer genius) and devotes her time to trying to find other missing kids.
When two children going missing near Portland, Kick’s approached by the mysterious Bishop, who believes Kick’s past will him to help find them. Kick, James and Bishop find a connection with a number of other children who’ve gone missing over the past 15 years and Kick discovers that Mel and his friends aren’t finished with her yet …
Chelsea Cain’s new crime thriller (the first in a series) goes into the dark world of paedophilia to follow an abuse survivor determined to prevent other kids from suffering her fate. It’s slickly written with a plot that keeps moving (although a number of twists are telegraphed too early). I did have a problem with Kick who’s sold as a kick-ass survivor but who actually needs a man to tell her what to do and lead her towards conclusions she should be able to make on her own. That kind of faux-feminism is usually a deal breaker for me but what makes the book worth a look is the complicated relationship Kick has between her mother (who’s used Kick’s experiences to further her own celebrity) and Mel (who’s currently in the final stages of kidney failure). This, combined with an interesting set-up for the series means that while I have strong reservations about Kick as the protagonist, I’m interested enough to want to read the next in the series.
The book makes a lot of Kick’s determination to stand up for herself but I found it depressing that she needs men (notably Bishop) to tell her how to use the information inside her head. I hope this will improve in the future books because at the moment it’s the biggest weakness in what could otherwise be an interesting series.
The Verdict:
Chelsea Cain’s new crime thriller (the first in a series) goes into the dark world of paedophilia to follow an abuse survivor determined to prevent other kids from suffering her fate. It’s slickly written with a plot that keeps moving (although a number of twists are telegraphed too early). I did have a problem with Kick who’s sold as a kick-ass survivor but who actually needs a man to tell her what to do and lead her towards conclusions she should be able to make on her own. That kind of faux-feminism is usually a deal breaker for me but what makes the book worth a look is the complicated relationship Kick has between her mother (who’s used Kick’s experiences to further her own celebrity) and Mel (who’s currently in the final stages of kidney failure). This, combined with an interesting set-up for the series means that while I have strong reservations about Kick as the protagonist, I’m interested enough to want to read the next in the series.
ONE KICK will be released in the United Kingdom on 14th August 2014. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book.
Rescued aged twelve.
Kick Lannigan is a survivor.
In the early months following her freedom, Kick’s parents put her through a litany of therapies, but nothing helped. And then the detective who rescued her suggested Kick learn to fight; before she was thirteen, she learned marksmanship, martial arts, boxing, archery and knife-throwing. She excelled at every one, vowing never again to be a victim.
But then two children in the Portland area go missing in the same month. An enigmatic man approached Kick with a proposition: he is convinced her past experiences and expertise can be used to help the abductees. Little does Kick know the case will lead directly into her terrifying past …
Kidnapped when she was 6 years old, Kathleen ‘Kick’ Lannigan spent the next 6 years with Mel, a paedophile who renamed her Beth and brainwashed her into viewing him as her father, even as he peddled films of her abuse on-line.
It’s 10 years since Kick was rescued.
In the intervening years she’s learnt how to shoot and perform a variety of martial arts to expert level, determined to never be a victim again. Now aged 21, she’s estranged from her mother and lives in a luxury apartment in Portland above one belonging to her brother, James (a computer genius) and devotes her time to trying to find other missing kids.
When two children going missing near Portland, Kick’s approached by the mysterious Bishop, who believes Kick’s past will him to help find them. Kick, James and Bishop find a connection with a number of other children who’ve gone missing over the past 15 years and Kick discovers that Mel and his friends aren’t finished with her yet …
Chelsea Cain’s new crime thriller (the first in a series) goes into the dark world of paedophilia to follow an abuse survivor determined to prevent other kids from suffering her fate. It’s slickly written with a plot that keeps moving (although a number of twists are telegraphed too early). I did have a problem with Kick who’s sold as a kick-ass survivor but who actually needs a man to tell her what to do and lead her towards conclusions she should be able to make on her own. That kind of faux-feminism is usually a deal breaker for me but what makes the book worth a look is the complicated relationship Kick has between her mother (who’s used Kick’s experiences to further her own celebrity) and Mel (who’s currently in the final stages of kidney failure). This, combined with an interesting set-up for the series means that while I have strong reservations about Kick as the protagonist, I’m interested enough to want to read the next in the series.
The book makes a lot of Kick’s determination to stand up for herself but I found it depressing that she needs men (notably Bishop) to tell her how to use the information inside her head. I hope this will improve in the future books because at the moment it’s the biggest weakness in what could otherwise be an interesting series.
The Verdict:
Chelsea Cain’s new crime thriller (the first in a series) goes into the dark world of paedophilia to follow an abuse survivor determined to prevent other kids from suffering her fate. It’s slickly written with a plot that keeps moving (although a number of twists are telegraphed too early). I did have a problem with Kick who’s sold as a kick-ass survivor but who actually needs a man to tell her what to do and lead her towards conclusions she should be able to make on her own. That kind of faux-feminism is usually a deal breaker for me but what makes the book worth a look is the complicated relationship Kick has between her mother (who’s used Kick’s experiences to further her own celebrity) and Mel (who’s currently in the final stages of kidney failure). This, combined with an interesting set-up for the series means that while I have strong reservations about Kick as the protagonist, I’m interested enough to want to read the next in the series.
ONE KICK will be released in the United Kingdom on 14th August 2014. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book.
