Rules of Desperation

by Mark Love

How far would you go to achieve the goal of your dreams?
All Nicholas Burr wants to do is traditionally publish a mystery novel. Sure, he's had some success as a ghostwriter for a young adult series, but that's not the same.
It's not even close.
Camille, his long-suffering wife, has had enough. She's tired of being the breadwinner. Tired of listening to him prattle on about his next project. Tired of... him.
Nicholas Burr is desperate. Should he do something rash? Something unexpected? Something so outrageous it would get everone's attention?
Yet, if there's one thing he knows, it's that he must follow the rules.

423 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 20, 2024

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Donald Levin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rules of Desperation, Mark Love’s latest novel, is a wonderful addition to his already-impressive body of work. Like all great thriller writers, Love keeps the ground shifting under the reader constantly as unexpected twists and turns force us to reevaluate what we think we know throughout the book (following Rule #3: Misdirection is good). Love masterfully combines elements of many different genres—the book is part love story, part murder mystery, part police procedural, part courtroom drama, part domestic tragedy—into an immensely enjoyable read. Complex characters ranging from ex-cons to bank managers populate the book and bounce crazily off of each other under Love’s sure narrative control. Rules of Desperation is one of those rare books that is hard to put down and hard to forget about afterwards. A must-read for fans of fast-moving, quality fiction.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Love takes the reader on so many twists and turns with the plot. Just when you think you know who murdered Camille, he takes you down a different plot twist! He had my attention all the way to the very end! I typically do not read mysteries, but so glad I read this one. I highly recommend reading Love’s latest release!

[Erika Tinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was truly surprised by this book. It’s a local author that is self published, selling his books at Art and Craft fairs. I was intrigued but didn’t have great hope for it to be a good read. In fact when I initially flipped through the book right after purchased, I laughed at the font size that was used. There were small areas or sentences that could have been redone. Where it was hard to follow which character Love was writing about. That is were a big end editor would be a help. That being said….

This book was surprising, I wasn’t expecting the plot twists. The characters were well written and described, I could envision the scenes because there are based here in Michigan. It will keep me wondering what happened between chapters 31 and 32. Why the need to burn his research notes?…..

4.5⭐️s. Love a book that makes ma think about and question things after I close the back cover. Well done

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desperate to get his mystery book published, Nicholas takes matters into his own hands with disastrous consequences. Rules of Desperation is a mystery that has elements of pulp fiction and hard-boiled mystery. The premise is well-conceived while the narration yanks the reader into the mystery. The characters are not likable but very realistic. Writers will relate to Nicholas and his yearning to get published. If you’re a fan of Mickey Spillane and pulp fiction with morally gray characters, you’ll love Rules of Desperation.

The narration is the cornerstone to this mystery, a vehicle to propel the story. Every scene is detailed as is the investigation. What really happened is unveiled slowly through the narration of the various characters. What really happened isn’t revealed until the very end.

The characters are another reason to love Rules of Desperation. Nicholas is a man desperate to get his mystery published. Is he the murderer or is it just a coincidence his wife is murdered? Is his mind warped or is it just his imagination? Mark Love creates an intriguing morally gray hero. Nicholas is not a strong main character but is your average guy with an annoying demoralizing wife. Did I connect with him? No, but I couldn’t look away. It was like watching a car wreck. I just had to see what happened next.

The rest of the characters are realistic and well-written. Each character is not easy to peg down but intriguing none the less. The detectives on the case are well-written and their detecting is classic Mark Love.

The plot unfolds at a good pace with false clues, dead ends, and many suspects to weed through. The writing is part pulp fiction, part homage to Stephen King. Rules of Desperation is an original little mystery, unlike anything I’ve read before.

My rating: 5 stars

Reviewed by: Nancy

This review first appeared: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/po...

[Tammy Mannersly · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with his other brilliant book series - the Jamie Richmond mysteries and the Jefferson Chene mysteries - Mark Love has brought his love of procedural police work and twisty, nail-biting storytelling to this newest edition, Rules of Desperation. He has created gritty, well-developed characters whose motives keep you guessing as you flick through the pages. I couldn't help myself in feeling such a pull to the main character, Nicholas Burr. I still found myself liking him even as he did the unthinkable. It's the sign of a great writer to keep you rooting for a character who may be troublesome to say the least. Besides being an excellent mystery worthy of a movie adaptation itself, the story stays with you long after you finish reading. Mark Love has also woven in an endearing romance which only had me falling harder for Nicky even when I knew I shouldn't be. A thrilling read worth a fiery 5 stars! Highly recommend!

[Annette Freid · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. The story did hold my attention but there were a number of un believable events. Spoiler alert. It really is not believable that any district attorney no matter how young and inexperienced would put someone on trial for murder when the body could not be identified as the person he believed was murdered. Who was the body that was thrown in the river? Since latter we learn it was not the murder victim for whom the main character was found not guilty. Did he kill his wife later and what did he do with her body then? Just didn’t completely hold together.

[Kevin Larabee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining book, with a creative plot and fun characters. Easy to root for the main character and hard to put the book down. Thank you.

[Nancy Brutsche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rules of Desperation

Mark Love you did it again with this amazing book. I can't wait to see what your next book will be.