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Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated 55 in Books

May 22, 2019  
55
55
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
*** There were 54 victims before this. Who is number 55? ***

Wilbrook in Western Australia is a sleepy, remote town that sits on the edge of miles and miles of unexplored wilderness. It is home to Police Sergeant Chandler Jenkins, who is proud to run the town’s small police station, a place used to dealing with domestic disputes and noise complaints.
All that changes on a scorching day when an injured man stumbles into Chandler’s station. He’s covered in dried blood. His name is Gabriel. He tells Chandler what he remembers.
He was drugged and driven to a cabin in the mountains and tied up in iron chains. The man who took him was called Heath. Heath told Gabriel he was going to be number 55. His 55th victim.
Heath is a serial killer.
As a manhunt is launched, a man who says he is Heath walks into the same station. He tells Chandler he was taken by a man named Gabriel. Gabriel told Heath he was going to be victim 55.
Gabriel is the serial killer.
Two suspects. Two identical stories. Which one is the truth?

This is a character-driven, tightly plotted thriller that certainly kept me guessing. The descriptions of the outback including a sense of the harshness of the environment year round were extremely vivid.
I really enjoyed the way the past and present were interwoven, bringing a sharpness to the story.
I could not put this book down. From start to finish I needed to keep turning each page to see what was going to happen next. The story really draws you in especially jumping between past and present and both perspectives. This one will keep you thinking and to be honest I think would make a great film.
The ending was just WOW...I did not see that one coming at all.
Looking forward to being able to read more of the same author.
Highly recommended!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK Fiction for an advance copy of 55.
  
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AyL (16 KP) rated Evil Genius in TV

Jan 7, 2019  
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
2018 | Documentary
9
7.5 (24 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
An explosive documentary and must-watch for true crime lovers
Content:
A man casually walks into a bank, with a bomb strapped to his neck and demands money. He gets caught on the parking lot after leaving the bank but he never makes it into a police car. 44 minutes after the first 911 call about the robbery and the bomb, the device around the mans neck detonates and kills him, all documented by CCTV and the Police. The man is Brian Wells, a pizza delivery man from this area. The documentary investigates the events around the murder of Brian Wells in Pennsylvania in 2003, which also became known as the „Pizza-Bomber“ Case.

Review:
If you are looking for a casual show to watch while playing candy crush on your phone, this is not the documentary for you, because things become complicated quick, with loads of suspects, different crime scenes and a lot of different stories that are told.
To really enjoy this documentary, you have to give it your full focus so you catch all the minute details. It’s like working the crime scene yourself. The documentary is not for the faint hearted. It shows the original CCTV footage of Brian Wells death!

The documentary includes interviews with people that worked on the cases, suspects and the family and friend of Brian Wells, which gives it a personal touch and makes it very attractive and fascinating to watch. It creates new questions in the viewers mind: Was Brian victim or perpetrator? Was the detonation an accident, murder or even suicide? And who is Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and what does this woman have to do with all of this?

Trey Borzillieri, director and narrator of the documentary, shows his quite intense research for this documentary which ended in a deeper relationship with one of the suspects.

Evil genius is fascinating to watch, it grabs you and takes you through all Episodes, leaving you wanting more. A must watch for true crime lovers!
  
The Flower Girls
The Flower Girls
Alice Clark-Platts | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A chilling psychological thriller
A child goes missing on New Years Eve from a hotel, and when the police are called in, it is discovered that one of the guests is one of the notorious Flower Girls. The Flower Girls were involved in the murder and mutilation of a toddler in 1997, when they themselves were only 10 and 6 years old. The 10 year old, Laurel, remains in prison nearly 20 years later. Rosie was found not to have participated in the murder and couldn't remember anything that happened at that time, such was her trauma. She and her remaining family were given new identities and relocated. Her rediscovery provokes a media frenzy. The missing child (Georgie) is found alive and hypothermic, but Rosie's new identity as Hazel is now known to everyone.
We see what happened 20 years ago in short flashbacks, which can have some disturbing moments (not gory, not of the original murder - at least not at the start), and we meet the aunt of Kirstie Swann (the toddler who was murdered), who has campaigned tirelessly to keep Laurel behind bars. We are also kept in the loop of the police investigation of Georgie's disappearance. There are a lot of characters to contend with in this book, but I think it was done well, and I didn't have any problem remembering who they were. I really enjoyed this, despite the rather macabre subject matter. The pace was just right, there was a good amount of skin-crawling moments, and an unresolved ending which really suited the rest of the story - and an unresolved ending? Well, that has to be one of my favourite things!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for the chance to read this book, and to Alice Clark-Platts for reading along and commenting on the story with the readers! If you haven't tried The Pigeonhole, it's well worth a go. I've found some really good books on this platform.
  
Blood Moon
Blood Moon
John David Bethel | 2016 | Crime, Thriller
7
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
When businessman Recidio Suarez is kidnapped it is the start of a brutal ordeal of beatings and torture as the gang try to steal as many of his assets as they can, and once they have done so it is clear they will kill him.

The police fail to investigate and it is up to Suarez' lawyer Nolan Stevens to track down the gang and try to stop them before they strike again. He races against time to put the evidence together that he needs, but will his efforts be enough?

Based on a true story, there are two distinct phases of this story. Firstly the kidnapping, torture and theft carried out by the gang. The second that of the attempt to capture them. The first part manage to convey the plight Suarez finds himself in well, the panic, the desperation, the pain and the realisation that he is unlikely to get out of this alive.

But it is with the investigation that this novel really steps up a gear. Stevens is a great foil, using the law to his advantage but also carefully breaking it when he needs to. As he tracks the gang down, piecing together their identities, actions and motivations bit by bit the reader is drawn along too, wanting him to succeed.

Everything is described well, from the sticky heat Suarez has to endure in captivity to the indifference of the police and the planning of the gang and the violence of their crimes. I also couldn't help but chuckle as Stevens find time to settle an old score at the same time.

As crime thrillers go this is a good one. Not a 'whodunnit' as that is revealed very early on, but more showing not only how far some people will go for money but also how guile, wit and tenacity will often produce results in the end.
  
Joker (2019)
Joker (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama
The whole fuckin thing (0 more)
So dark... So twisted... So.... Right
So. A Sunday Night... Nothing happening... Just me and a stepkid.... Lets watch Joker.
This movie grabbed me from the begining and never let me go.
Phoenix put in the performance of a lifetime as Arthur Fleck, a depressed, somewhat BiPolar Clown who does board spinning work and birthday parties for a shit company in shitty Gotham City.
After being beaten by a group of teenagers he begins to snap... And slowly over the course of almost 2 hours. His descent into madness begins.
Without unveiling too much... As I'm certain anyone worth a proverbial fuck has already seen this film.... Phoenix's acting prowess is stretched to the limit in fulfilling a Joker character that makes you feel something other than disdain and hatred. Speaking for myself, this was without a doubt the best Joker preformed for film since Jack donned the makeup for Tim Burton.
Don't get me wrong... Heath Ledgers Joker was phenomenal.... But I felt no sorrow for him. I felt no pain emanating from the screen like I did every time he was in a frame...
Phoenix floored me with the painful portrayal of a man pushed to the edge by his surroundings. The key to this happened a mere 3 minutes before the film ended. When Jokers police car is smashed into by the ambulance and he is removed from the car by his new followers...
Phoenix awakens, stands on the hood of the police car, and with the blood that is running from his nose and mouth, he repaints the smile of his clown makeup and proceeds to do his little dance on the car hood.
The look of insanity that crosses his eyes made my skin crawl.... With anticipation hoping they never cast anyone else in this role ever again.
Joaquin Phoenix... You are now to be known as Arthur Fleck aka.... Joker.