Brooke is found on the side of the road at three a.m., clutching a dead body and a burner cell phone. This doesn’t surprise LAPD, who’d expected as much from the moment she went missing. What they also expect is suicide—the kidnapped girls who turned up the same way killed themselves within hours.
Being the sole living witness of the crime is almost more than she can handle, but an LAPD homicide sergeant is there to hold her restrained hand as she retraces every waking moment of the time she spent in that dungeon with her murdered friend, Abby.
Brooke knows why the other girls committed suicide. She might too, if she didn’t have some very complicated reasons to live.
To the dismay of Sergeant Jennings, Brooke delivers the most troubling news of all: the girls are being filmed those three weeks they’re held captive. Not for their captor’s personal enjoyment, but for his number one fan.
Simonson is at the peak of her game. I feel that way every time I complete one of her books {and this is her 5th book that I've read} each time putting down whatever I am reading when she releases a novel and anxiously picking up her fresh work to become engrossed in. SNUFF is the 3rd out of a 4 book series involving FBI SSA Maxwell and I have to say that this series is as well written if not better written than any Crime / Horror / Suspense novel I've read in ages. Simonson keeps me more engaged that Grisham, and that's saying something. SNUFF is a great stand-alone read, or you can go and read Doubles and Hazard Pay first, both of which I greatly recommend. I am in high anticipation of Simonson's next release in this series, where the psychopath from Doubles will reemerge to haunt us once more.
If you haven't read Simonson yet, you are greatly missing out. If you have, then you know exactly what I'm saying.
Wow what a book...I’ve just finished reading it and my blood pressure is still up there, skyrocket high, and not sure when it will come down again. I was hooked from the very first page and when the book ended, I was sorry to see it go. However every single page was truly a satisfying read, and the ending was just as well done as the rest of the novel.
We have pairs of girls gone missing, who after 3 weeks of probably endless torture, either end up dead or if alive, will commit suicide. The pain of those who survived is so strong that they can’t live anymore once they’re free again.
The case belongs to a cop, sergeant Lisette Jennings with the LAPD, who is in the hospital sitting next to the bed of the latest survivor of this ordeal, Brooke, who – if the patterns of the past holds – might just be one step away from committing suicide as well. Jennings is well aware of this, and doesn’t let Brooke out of her sight even for a moment, while also trying to find out as much as she can from the girl about who did what to them.
This is when FBI agent John Maxwell enters the picture. He is requested by the LAPD to assist the case (actually to take over) so that the series of sadistic crimes finally ends.
The story alternates between Brooke remembering and telling her story in captivity (first person point of view), and John Maxwell’s 3rd person’s POV. Usually I am annoyed by such transitions, but not in this book, where somehow they went over quite seamlessly.
Overall Snuff by Melissa Simonson is one heck of a book, a great read, one that I won’t soon forget. Because of the strong feelings and emotions that it invoked in me along with the gripping entertaining hours that I spent reading the book, Snuff deserves full 5 stars from me.
I'm not even sure how I stumbled onto this book. I was hesitant at first since there aren't too many reviews but I'm really glad I read it. It was well written and suspenseful. I really liked all the characters and hope to find the other books. The ending of this book left me with questions and wanting more. I realized after finishing this book that it can be read as a stand alone but is part of four (4) books with Agent Maxwell. So I need to figure out the other three and their order. A word of caution: this book has dark and violent events that are very descriptive.
Brilliantly written, dark piece of work! Sargent Lisette's banter, John's LLI inner dialog, combined with the horrors of 2 sadistic psychopaths murdering young women, keep the story moving very fast. I could be laughing on one page and then terrified the next
no me he dado cuenta hasta el final de que es el tercer libro de una saga, supongo que me ha gustado lo suficiente para leer al menos también el primero
I suppose if God makes miracles, it stands to reason Satan would have a few of his own.
This book is sick, not the cancer type. I mean it in the what-the-fuck-you-need-help type of sick. After months and over half a year, I've finally found a mystery/crime book that kept me on the edge the whole time. Snuff is told from two perspective: mysterious emails, Brooke's (1st pov) and Agent Maxwells' (3rd pov), alternating from the present and from what Brooke's experienced which would've annoyed and confused me but somehow it worked. I would've like it a bit more if instead of Maxwell, we were given Lisette's pov, I like her more and she did more in the story.
Snuff had been sitting on my shelf for a long time and I wanna punch myself now for not reading it sooner. I wasn't disappointed not even a bit. The story is thoroughly captivating. The tension was built effortlessly. The pacing is good, I was anxious to get to the end to know who the perp really is.
I can't rate this highly enough. Melissa Simonson is a notable author, who has the ability to bring her characters to life. I really am a huge fan. This is the #3 in a series of books with the extraordinary FBI Agent John Maxwell. What a man, what a character! He is teamed with Sergeant Jennings to help solve the murder of several girls. With Maxwell's clever ticking mind and Jennings potty mouth, It had me biting my nails one minute laughing the next. You've read the synopsis so I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I highly recommend. A great crime read, full of suspense, which is dark and edgy. Brilliantly written.
A good enough story on the whole I found it a little disjointed at the start but the ending is fairly good. I never got to like the characters that much but a reasonable read.