This is a very strange book so the rating is a difficult one.
On one hand, I finished it in hours because I wanted to know what happened, which is the only reason I can give it 2 stars really. On the other, the main character is extremely unlikable and very difficult to relate to in any way. I found myself rolling my eyes so many times reading his voice. He’s boring, selfish, combat obsessed, luckiest guy going, but honestly quite predictable. I wonder if he has been deliberately written that way.
Everything happens very quickly, everything is very ‘macho man look at me I’m so good at fighting oh look a female I must make love’. At some points it’s hard to follow, there’s so many similes it’s quite lazy. Too much pointless description in some places, it’s a lot of filler. I don’t care what you’re eating, drinking, or wearing. It doesn’t add to anything. There’s a lot of inconsistencies I found, how it reads, he sounds young, he’s definitely got a young gaze, but then timelines suggest he’s getting on a bit. Which is it? He’s been in the forces and by all accounts (his own) he’s sooo great at combat and being a soldier, then he just isn’t? He can’t make simple decisions, second guesses himself all the time, makes bad decisions, which was mentioned by another reviewer and I have to agree.
The blurb makes it sound like a psychological thriller but it’s just an action novel with very disposable characters and a main character you just can’t get behind. The front page tag lines also say ‘one night stand’ and there isn’t a one night stand in it, he had a three week relationship. In my personal opinion it’s just not believable at all, so that detracted from the story quite a bit.
I’d give it 2.5 stars, but 3 would be a massive stretch. Is it worth reading? Yeah if your type of thing, it’s not mine as I have discovered so I’ll stay away from this type of genre next time I deviate from my TBR pile.