Within the Mind, Alice Winters

Entering the mind of a victim can bring resolution and justice, but when Chevy is invited to enter the mind of a serial killer he quickly realizes that resolution and justice might not ever come.  Not if he can't escape the mental manipulation the killer employs against Chevy and everyone that stands in the way of his own brand of justice.  Monsters, truth, memories, and darkness swirl and weave a complicated web that Chevy and his perfect yet unattainable partner may not survive.  Nothing is what it seems both in the case and in Chevy and Seneca's relationship and if they can navigate all of it successfully, they might discover a future where their best dreams can become reality.

The overall story line was pretty confusing and didn't come together until almost the end where it really did make a lot of sense with how everything connected.  Being completely in the dark and surprised by every interaction yet still interested and invested in the outcome of a story and its characters is pretty rare and I think this story achieved that.  I had pretty much no idea what was coming next and trying to anticipate and postulate the links was futile since a lot of the little pieces didn't seem to be related at all.  Some tie-ins were glossed over briefly at the end and could have come together a little more...importantly?  Hard to say exactly what I feel about it.  For instance, there were some individuals who were so important that their involvement gave rise to the investigation and others that were acting strangely and they just ended up getting a tiny sentence including them in the wrap-up.  They just seemed like they should have a bit more of an explanation and a bigger connection.

While I'm not sure there was enough romantic chemistry and soul-baring confessions, I did think that Chevy and Seneca worked well together as partners both on and off the job.  Sometimes the humor was a little heavy-handed and distracting and while we get one moment where we're given a concrete reason for the constant humor it doesn't ease up once the honesty is out there.  When the banter is going on, though, I found it quite funny and truly appreciated how it lightened the story since the more psychological and gory elements were quite severe.  I'm a sucker for confessions full of feels and this story really didn't have those at all.  I liked the pair but felt the sappy aspect of a love story that I enjoy was mostly missing.  Except in Chevy's thoughts we were privy to a whole host of conflicting and sweet feelings that went a little way to making up for it.  That said, this wasn't meant to be a light, fluffy, cheesy love story, so bear that in mind.

This was a mind-bender and a half and incredibly intense.  The flow was fantastic despite having a chapter that was super confusing at the start.  Once I skimmed over what I thought I had read previously before just sucking it up and continuing on, without skipping ahead like I tried to do at first, I realized it was supposed to be that way and I got back into the story really quickly.  The repetition was incredibly effective to outline the chaos, uncertainty, and strength of what was going on.  It also highlighted Chevy's history in a way that was jarring and yet fluidly integrated.  I honestly couldn't stop reading this once I got started and was internally annoyed any time I was interrupted.  Whether this becomes a series or not, I'm a huge fan of this frenetic, confusing, violent, humorous, and tender story.  Strange that one story can be all of those things and still work, but I really thought this one did.

*$3.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!