Vicious

met him at the festival of mystery in oakmont,pa, listended to him speak about his book and tho't, hmmmm i think i'd like it. he laughed about the books cover making it look like his middle name was vicious. he seemed like such a mild mannered nice man until i read this book.. let me tell ya...the man is one sick puppy... to come up with such a plot line!! i contemplated calling in sick to work to be able to finish reading this!!<br />every page is a new twist. if you like lisa gardner you'll like this guy..,there is a serial killer on the loose the police call 'mama's boy' he kidnaps mothers infront of their children leaving behind a used toy. then he disappears... for a while.<br />oh just read it! if you like lisa gardner style of books you will like this one.<br />i'm going to go add the rest of his to my 'to read list' this sure was a GREAT way to get to know a new author!<br />i guess i'm now going to have to be one of his 'Slasher girls' for sure!

In 'Vicious', Susan joins her fiance, Allen together with her son Mattie for a vacation at a remote and tranquil lake house. Things start to fall apart when she suspects a stranger of following them and then Allen leaves to buy some supplies only to fail to return. With the notorious serial killer Mama's Boy known to be active in that area, Susan wonders if she will make it out alive.<br /><br />This story started off really good, with plenty of suspense and threats at just about every corner. The man that kept showing up wherever Susan was and constantly struck up conversations with her was creepy. Besides that, the sightings of a prowler outside the lake house further contributed to the alarming atmosphere. I found myself questioning whether it was Mama's Boy or someone else lurking around and what would happen next.<br /><br />Unfortunately, whatever promise the story had gradually diminished due to several reasons. The writing was long-winded and repetitive, hence boring me to no end. Mattie was unbelievably annoying throughout. Susan was always worrying about Allen's whereabouts and dashing from one place to another while somehow managing to not do anything smart or productive. It's really not that hard to lodge a report and get the hell out instead of being a sitting target for an unknown assailant.<br /><br />Her stupidity was truly unbearable, as proven time and again by her string of poor decisions. So you know that someone is following and spying on you - what do you do? According to Susan, you should keep leaving your child alone (or with a stranger), tell him to stay put, run off to do something pointless and freak out when you hear him scream or not respond to your call. I have an idea Susan - why don't you just bring him with you so that the perpetrator has a harder time kidnapping or hurting him? <br /><br />Despite her fears, she was quick to confide in other people about Allen being missing. Great. So you know that one of them could be Mama's Boy yet you let them know that your fiance is missing and you're vulnerable with just your little boy. Okay. Meanwhile, the other characters were one-dimensional and interchangeable. The only one who stood out was Jordan since his background story perfectly explained his actions and motivations. As for the identity of the lurker / possible murderer…<br /><br />It wasn't shocking because the pool of suspects was small to begin with. It couldn't have been <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="b56eeda7-ff0a-46e3-a2a8-6955f60d0197" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="b56eeda7-ff0a-46e3-a2a8-6955f60d0197">Jordan and Leo due to their age. That left Allen, Tom, the cop or someone else entirely. The author repeatedly emphasized Tom's good looks so I had a feeling he was being set up for Susan.. no prizes for guessing. The cop stealing Susan's underwear seemed forcefully thrown in. So it had to be Allen</label>. Although I liked the revelation about the <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="747d3d7e-a8f7-4f91-afb8-ab558cf9564c" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="747d3d7e-a8f7-4f91-afb8-ab558cf9564c">cop being a fan of Mama's Boy,</label> it definitely didn't make sense. There were a couple of plotholes caused by this. The story also dragged on and on all the way to the needless epilogue.<br /><br />Overall, 'Vicious' was misleading in terms of its title. It barely had any fangs or danger. If your idea of an engaging mystery / thriller is reading about a dumb woman running around mindlessly looking for her fiance, then this would be a good read. Otherwise, steer clear from this disappointment.

This is the first book I've read by <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/48927.Kevin_O_Brien" title="Kevin O'Brien" rel="noopener">Kevin O'Brien</a> but it will most certainly not be the last! Great book! So many twists and never knowing what is about to happen next! I could not put this down!

This supermarket thriller moves along at a decent clip despite some eye-rolly details like a serial killer coined “Mama’s Boy”, all the men being handsome, mid-30’s with black hair (that’s one way to increase the number of potential suspects), about 15 flat tires, and excessive use of the word “panties” (shudder). The book would have been a lot shorter if the main character had made any logical decisions, but I was still able to whip through 468 pages in a day and a half so I guess I wasn’t necessarily bored.

Oh, this was one fantastic wild ride that I didn’t want to end, but did want it to to know what would happen. Kevin O’Brien never disappoints. <br />Susan has finally moved on from the tragedy that killed her son and husband and is now engaged to Allen. While it isn’t really a whirlwind relationship, it is comfortable and she’s ready to move on with him and her son Mattie to become a family. After their engagement, Allen has an idea for a family getaway for the three of them at a cabin on a lake, and even renting a sailboat for the duration of their stay. Shortly after their arrival, Allen disappears. Meanwhile, down the road, lots of interesting events are happening all over the place. My head was spinning, in a good way; with a roller coaster of twists and turns. <br />This book kept me guessing, I never knew who to trust. I couldn’t tell who was good and who was evil. Do you really know the people you love? Your friends? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? People that are supposed to protect you? <br />While I loved the book, I did think Susan didn’t always make the best decisions for her or her son but saying that, it didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment of the book, I just wanted to slap some sense into her at times. <br />Kevin O’Brien consistently writes delightful thrillers, with lots of action, suspense, some a little creepier than others; but always a book you don’t want to put down. His way of storytelling keeps you reading. I haven’t made my way through all of them yet, but like to savour them; I will be sad when my pile is done but fortunately he is still pumping one out every year. Definitely he is one of my favourite authors.

Incredible, nail-bitting read! You know when you're in a quiet place reading this book, and a loud noise scares the s*&amp;t out of you, that the author has successfully got your attention. I could not put this sucker down. The author doesn't overdo the scenes and ties everything up nicely to keep it satisfying. Bravo!

One of my Favorite Authors!!! As usual Excellent+++++

This is your typical "Jason-type" novel. A young mother (with her 4 year old), alone in a rustic cabin in the woods who is too stupid to stay inside and stay safe. <br /><br />Susan's fiance disappears after running to the grocery store and instead of staying put she puts the baby in the car and drives all over town looking for him. Not only that, she leaves the baby locked in the car while she goes investigating in the woods and on the boat. Heck at one point, she hears something outside and leaving the baby in the house sleeping, goes out looking around. Seriously. WTF? <br /><br />Not only is her husband missing, she's had various aggressive guys approach her and stalk her and still she goes out alone. UGH!<br /><br />These types of main characters drive me nuts.

This is the second Kevin O'Brien novel I've read the first one was called Disturbed. I really loved this book started yesterday and i couldn't put it down.<br /><br />I loved the whole idea of the storyline.

This is easily one of the better books put out by Kevin O'Brien in recent years. It contains, without a doubt, some of the most suspenseful and addictive scenarios in the thriller genre. Keeping the timeline of the events at the lake so close together really heightened the tension, as if the characters were trapped in a pressure cooker about to blow. This book was a very fast read and, with a few exceptions, was exactly what I was hoping for. <br /><br />I'll cross my fingers that his new and darker direction in Kevin O'Brien's writing means that we'll be seeing more of it. I could have done without some of the Mama's Boy murders in the beginning, because once you know the killer's plan of attack, it becomes a bit repetitive. The story could have started in present day at the lake and just knowing that the Mama's Boy murders had happened would have been enough without going through each one. In fact, Jordan even lists them in detail at one point, so it really wasn't needed. Maybe have one or two to set up the premise, but that's just a minor gripe. <br /><br />Overall, I really enjoyed this one and I am definitely looking forward to what O'Brien comes up with next. By the number of positive reviews, it seems this is one of the author's most successful books, and rightfully so. This one is well earned. The statement from one of the review headings is quite accurate in that it felt like a Hitchcock thriller that he never got around to making. I thought the characters were solid, but it was the atmosphere and nearly unbearable suspense that really had me flipping the pages and holding my breath. Fans of the genre should definitely pick this one up. <br />