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Necessary Evils
John Kane’s quiet mundane world is suddenly ripped apart and he is thrust into a hellish nightmare existence after the murder of his beloved wife. The pain and anguish over his wife’s murder has been harnessed, molded and channeled into a hatred of the most abnormal ferocity, and an un-closable door had now been wrenched open in his mind, and he had crossed over into the darker realms of humanity where the merciless, cruel, vicious and uncompromising sides of human nature reside. His brain had been rewired and the switch had been flicked.
Has all this been preordained? Are there sinister dark forces at work at here? Necessary Evils will have you on the edge of your seat with your heart in your mouth.
Has all this been preordained? Are there sinister dark forces at work at here? Necessary Evils will have you on the edge of your seat with your heart in your mouth.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 2012
51 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 31, 2013
Excellent thought provoking read about the modern day condition of good people. I must confess a huge interest in narratives about good people who do bad things for good reasons. Necessary Evils did not disappoint. Yeah its about murder and throw in some moral ambiguity. Did I say some; A lot.
Society is failing the law abiding decent citizen. The good guys get screwed and the bad guys get away with wrong doing. Necessary Evils shows what a good person can do when he is sufficiently enraged. This will be a cold calculated rage.
It also celebrates the power of one. There is not a large complex apparatus behind our protagonist. He does it all on his own.
But the avenging angel is in for a few surprise twists that he did not count on. The avenging angel continues to bear a few more injustices. But for those about to die; well lets just say there may be a very large supply of people who will pay for their sins before final judgement.
Buy this book immediately. I hope Bill Carson continues with this character and builds a series.
Society is failing the law abiding decent citizen. The good guys get screwed and the bad guys get away with wrong doing. Necessary Evils shows what a good person can do when he is sufficiently enraged. This will be a cold calculated rage.
It also celebrates the power of one. There is not a large complex apparatus behind our protagonist. He does it all on his own.
But the avenging angel is in for a few surprise twists that he did not count on. The avenging angel continues to bear a few more injustices. But for those about to die; well lets just say there may be a very large supply of people who will pay for their sins before final judgement.
Buy this book immediately. I hope Bill Carson continues with this character and builds a series.
June 23, 2015
After the devastating loss of his wife Sarah who was murdered, John Kane looses all faith in the police and the criminal justice service and decides to take matters into his own hands and fight back at the criminals. Obviously the police are not to happy that some vigilante is taking matters into his own hands, especially DI Nick Harland.
The story is quite fast paced and I was hooked from start to finish with this book.
I had every empathy for John, though don't know if I would go quite to the same extremes as he does. I really did like his character though as over all he does come across as quite a sensitive and caring guy. It does make you think hard about whether you agree or not with his actions.
Necessary Evils was quite a quick read for me as I devoured it in less than 24 hours, even though this is quite a hard hitting story overall with a couple of unexpected twists towards the end there is a certain softness to it which I think is mainly to do with John's character.
This is the first book I have read by Bill Carson and will certainly be keeping my eye out for more by him.
Many thanks to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The story is quite fast paced and I was hooked from start to finish with this book.
I had every empathy for John, though don't know if I would go quite to the same extremes as he does. I really did like his character though as over all he does come across as quite a sensitive and caring guy. It does make you think hard about whether you agree or not with his actions.
Necessary Evils was quite a quick read for me as I devoured it in less than 24 hours, even though this is quite a hard hitting story overall with a couple of unexpected twists towards the end there is a certain softness to it which I think is mainly to do with John's character.
This is the first book I have read by Bill Carson and will certainly be keeping my eye out for more by him.
Many thanks to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 25, 2015
Necessary Evils is an intense, gritty and often dark story that still manages to be surprisingly relatable. It is a story about John, an ordinary man living an fairly mundane life, who finds that life destroyed in the space of a few minutes when his wife is brutally taken from him. Coming to terms with his loss he spirals into a dark, suicidal depression and takes just a few days to hit rock bottom. When everything seems completely hopeless he finds his light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of vengeance.
John had been left empty at the loss of the most important thing in his life, and unfortunately that emptiness was eventually filled by darkness. Fuelled by his hatred John sets out on a mission to gain retribution for his wife. What he becomes, what he encounters, and what he discovers will shock you at every turn of the page. Despite the seemingly terrible person he becomes, I can’t help but relate to and perhaps even like John. It’s impossible to say what any of us would do in this scenario, but honestly if we truly think about it, his actions don’t seem so extreme anymore.
In terms of writing style I am really impressed, there is just enough colloquialisms to really make you feel like you are in John’s head but they don’t detract from the flow of the story. Carson builds suspense expertly and includes enough well timed twists to keep you on your toes; just enough is given away at a time to keep you hooked and desperately reading to find out more. The cast of characters are incredibly well developed and the dialogue is superb, it really sucks you into the atmosphere of the story. This is not the first novel I have read by Bill Carson and it most definitely will not be my last!
John had been left empty at the loss of the most important thing in his life, and unfortunately that emptiness was eventually filled by darkness. Fuelled by his hatred John sets out on a mission to gain retribution for his wife. What he becomes, what he encounters, and what he discovers will shock you at every turn of the page. Despite the seemingly terrible person he becomes, I can’t help but relate to and perhaps even like John. It’s impossible to say what any of us would do in this scenario, but honestly if we truly think about it, his actions don’t seem so extreme anymore.
In terms of writing style I am really impressed, there is just enough colloquialisms to really make you feel like you are in John’s head but they don’t detract from the flow of the story. Carson builds suspense expertly and includes enough well timed twists to keep you on your toes; just enough is given away at a time to keep you hooked and desperately reading to find out more. The cast of characters are incredibly well developed and the dialogue is superb, it really sucks you into the atmosphere of the story. This is not the first novel I have read by Bill Carson and it most definitely will not be my last!
June 5, 2014
It has a nice cover. That is all I can say that is positive about this book. It is poorly written, not edited - at least not by anyone competent - and painful to read. It needs editing for grammar, plot development and continuity. The characters are differentiated only by names and physical descriptions, the dialogue unrealistic, the knowledge of anything remotely technical or related to forensics non existent. Gunshots do not give "an intense white light" they give a reddish orange flash, and sound does not travel faster than light. You do not hear a gun before you see the muzzle flash. People do not die in seconds from a knife wound - they have to bleed out, blood flow to the brain has to cease. The plot is tired and poorly presented. It is effectively a collection of cliches linked by adverbs and excess verbiage. People do not "go" anywhere, they scamper, trot, dash, etc. They also do not "say" anything - they use every possible word from a thesaurus in an attempt not to speak normally. Superlatives abound. Every noun and verb is surrounded by superfluous words. Puerile. Police do NOT act or relate in the way described. It is the sort of book that provides you with more of an impression of the author than the characters. It would be a good idea for anyone with any erudition or literary standards to give this book a miss.
December 2, 2013
Not a bad read; I could empathize with John on his situation with his wife's murder and even later when he had to handle some sick punks after they beat up his girlfriend; I must say I was surprised how things went towards the end with the lead detective and the road he took and even though there were some rather cheesy lines in the book it reminded you a bit of the old crime noir movies from the 30's- 50's so it was tolerable as I enjoy those movies. The end of the book though showed just how far his mind was gone because all he could do was regress back to brutally punishing people; even if they did have it coming.
July 20, 2013
Where is the line between justice and revenge? What would we do if...?
I don't give spoilers but will say that this is a good crime story /psychological thriller, where the characters were believable and the plot convincing.
It could do with an edit, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment.
Worth reading.
I don't give spoilers but will say that this is a good crime story /psychological thriller, where the characters were believable and the plot convincing.
It could do with an edit, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment.
Worth reading.
December 7, 2015
God, this was awful. While the story concept had promise, the writing was as incompetent as any book I have ever read. Grammatical errors, spelling errors, run-on sentences, you get the picture. It's hard to get into a book when you are distracted by 'WTF?' moments on every page. I would have failed 8th grade composition with an effort like this.
March 26, 2015
Cursed was John Kane!!!
A honest bad and hard working man life aS t turned upside down. No one looking to seek justice to right what he felt as wrong. Losing everything can drive any normal person insane. Taking the law into your own hands can turn into a necessary evil!!!!!
A honest bad and hard working man life aS t turned upside down. No one looking to seek justice to right what he felt as wrong. Losing everything can drive any normal person insane. Taking the law into your own hands can turn into a necessary evil!!!!!
March 7, 2013
I loved it. Wonderful writing. So good it felt like I was watching a movie!
May 7, 2013
4.5 stars from me. One of the best written and most interesting books I have read that was written by an Indi author.
November 30, 2013
Fell apart at the end, in my opinion.
May 15, 2015
Outstanding book.
Great fast-paced book from beginning to end. Excellent book with a great cast of characters with an unexpected and mind blowing ending.
Great fast-paced book from beginning to end. Excellent book with a great cast of characters with an unexpected and mind blowing ending.
March 29, 2022
I have often been pushed to make decisions. I have often had to accomplish tasks that I disliked or thought I would never have wanted to do. I have had to finish jobs on my own with no help from others.
I don't think I would become this character but ? Loved feeling distant from the role and yet relating to the reason and path.
I didn't relate to the lead detective.
I don't think I would become this character but ? Loved feeling distant from the role and yet relating to the reason and path.
I didn't relate to the lead detective.
September 30, 2018
An incredible story! More please!
This was a sad and violent book, kind of a" Death Wish" (Charles Bronson) type of story. Well written plot with strong characters and clever twists. Would love to see what's next!
This was a sad and violent book, kind of a" Death Wish" (Charles Bronson) type of story. Well written plot with strong characters and clever twists. Would love to see what's next!
June 27, 2017
One of the best books I have read in some time. will most certainly be reading this one again.
January 17, 2018
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
November 6, 2018
Not as gripping as I'd hoped.
Although the plot was sound, the writing was very disjointed which took away from my personal enjoyment of the novel.
Although the plot was sound, the writing was very disjointed which took away from my personal enjoyment of the novel.
November 26, 2024
Silly plot. Far too many adverbs and adjectives. Stereotyped characters. Spelling errors and poor use of English.
September 7, 2014
Something inside John Kane breaks when his wife is murdered; He becomes a type of Jeckyll and Hyde. He begins to prey on criminals, and with each murder he becomes a more perfect killing machine. He methodically plans his disguises, his weapons, and method of escape. He loses more and more of himself with each murder. For a while John stops his killing spree, recovering from injury, and attempts to find himself again, but his old demons return.
His counterpart, the detective in charge of fimding the man committing the murders, Nick, has his own struggles, and learns that each man has his own price to keep silent or look the other way.
Both men attempt to find that which will bring happiness. Will money, a willing woman, or a new, fresh start in life bring that happiness? Can John regain his former life, or is he a helplessly lost psychopath with no remorse? Can he stop killing? At times, I found myself almost rooting for John and found it hard to put this thriller down.
His counterpart, the detective in charge of fimding the man committing the murders, Nick, has his own struggles, and learns that each man has his own price to keep silent or look the other way.
Both men attempt to find that which will bring happiness. Will money, a willing woman, or a new, fresh start in life bring that happiness? Can John regain his former life, or is he a helplessly lost psychopath with no remorse? Can he stop killing? At times, I found myself almost rooting for John and found it hard to put this thriller down.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews