Title: Rubble and Wreckage
Series: Gabriel Church Tales, #1
Author: Rodd Clark
Genre: Crime Thriller
Length: 315 pages
Publisher: Driven Press (30 Jan 2015)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2.5 Hearts
Blurb: Gabriel Church knows you can’t take a life without first understanding just how feeble life is, how tentative and weak it stands alone. If you desire murder, you hold a life in your hand. Whether you release it to grant life or grip tighter to end it, it is at your command and discretion.
Gabriel is a serial killer with a story he wants told.
Christian Maxwell studied abnormal psychology in college but chose instead to focus on a career in writing. His background comes in handy when he thinks of writing about a serial killer. He can’t think of anyone more qualified to write the story of Gabriel Lee Church, and do so in the murderer’s own words. It’s been done before, but never with a killer who has yet to be captured or convicted.
There was never anything more than a gentleman’s understanding between the two men that Christian would record Gabriel’s life story. The killer did not ask for his complicity in any crimes, nor did he ever ask for his silence. Christian’s interest in the man, though, is fast becoming something more than academic. When the writer and his subject become unexpected friends and then lovers, the question remains: What is Gabriel’s endgame . . . and why does he want his story told?
ISBN: 978-1-925296-02-0
Product Link(s): http://www.drivenpress.net/#!rubble-and-the-wreckage/cw9l
http://amzn.to/1Qd73Ci
Reviewer: Prime
Review: Okay, this is a complicated one for me. I’ve not read anything by Rodd Clark before and to be totally honest, I’m not entirely sure if I am willing to read more (but there is a sequel to this book which I would like to give a chance despite my thoughts on this book).
I was interested when I read the blurb, though I already had a couple of reservations. But immediately I was reminded of the Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay (and yes, the TV series) and I have to admit that having read the entire Dexter series did actually colour my thoughts and reactions of this story, although Gabe is definitely no anti-hero like Dexter. The mention of Florida on the first page definitely helped me cement the connection in my mind.
Things are pretty straight forward when you read the blurb. Gabe is a killer – one that isn’t in jail – and he is being interviewed by writer, Christian. Christian wants to get into the mind of a killer and wants to know what makes Gabe tick. It is a very promising start that, unfortunately, doesn’t hold for me.
The fact that Gabe isn’t in jail is the first stumbling block for me. How did Christian know to track him down? Why didn’t he go to the police, especially with Gabe’s nonchalant claim that he has killed 40 people? Seriously, dude, does the words shallow bush grave mean anything to you? What makes you think you aren’t going to be the next victim?
At first this made me wonder that Christian is also a sociopathic serial killer, or at least a sociopath of some description. Yes, Christian is socially awkward and so far in the closet it isn’t funny, but I do like to think that isn’t an indication for Christian to be a sociopath.
This also leads me to the next stumbling block(s), which brings up my connection to Dexter once more. How does one expect a relationship with a sociopath to go? A sociopath has no empathy or no social cues, but it evident that Gabe definitely draws Christian into his web. I think it’s also clear at this point that I didn’t really connect or like Christian either, which we will call the third stumbling block.
Finally, I am going to add what I consider to be the fourth and fifth stumbling blocks of this story. For readers of MM books that don’t like girly bits in their books (with some rather vivid sex scenes which are more detailed than the MM sex scenes), you may want to avoid this. There is also cheating involved. Yes, I know we have a sociopath on our hands here, but still, I’m not happy about it. Also, the twisted (and very predictable way) Gabe deals with things should set off alarm bells in Christian’s utterly besotted mind.
The writing style also didn’t overly appeal to me. I got irritated at the repeated description of Christian as “the writer”. I know he’s a writer, it felt a bit silly because we know Christian so there was no reason to describe him as though he isn’t a main character that we don’t already know.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *