Review: The Broken

The Broken by Shelley Coriell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

She’d discovered each attack mirrored hers except for one thing: She survived. 

If you followed along with my updates, you'd know I was really enjoying this from the beginning. Kate who survived an attack by her brother goes on the run only to be found by Hayden, a FBI agent who is hunting the Broadcast Butcher serial killer. The first half has everyone thinking the Butcher is Kate's brother but there were secondary characters who had me side-eyeing them. The second half switched gears and has the Butcher's identity a secret again and the hunt continues. 

The first half is more focused on the mystery/suspense plot about the serial killer, we get povs from the killer that help bring a chill to the tone (in one scene, the killer uses their latest victims blood as lube to masturbate with). There's also povs from a police sergeant helping to search for the killer and a colleague rival of Kate's, along with Kate and Hayden's povs. I thought the secondary characters were great red-herrings in the beginning and helped ramp up the mystery and suspense but the second half and ending kept some going too long and then one in particular ended up feeling a tad ridiculous. 

She’d just shaken the unshakable Hayden Reed, and if she wasn’t so damned furious at him, she’d laugh. 

The romance does take more of a back seat, which I thought fit the overall structure of the story but the second half does have Hayden and Kate feeling more for each other, the bedroom scene was pretty much fade to black though. This was more of a book of friendships, Kate's friendship while being a caregiver to Smokey Joe and the Apostles, what the group of FBI agents Hayden works with are called for their talent with getting the job done in unusual ways. We get a couple glimpses of other Apostle agents and I definitely want to read their stories. This had a strong beginning but the end really overworked itself with dragging out redherrings and creating a very convoluted villain, it's probably not a good sign when your serial killer is finally identified and my first thought was "Who?" as it took me a couple seconds to remember who they were. I'm still going to search out other books in the series because the mystery was pretty intriguing there for a while. 

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70%

 

*Spoilers in updates

“The cat—it’s not in the profile. The Butcher does not have close attachments. He’s isolated and cares exclusively for his own pleasures. If the Butcher had a pet, it would be dominated, most likely caged. Such an animal would instinctively fight to escape.”

A clue but when the cat is brought in again later in the story, I hope it turns out to be even bigger clue (like the police officer who brought the cat to the cottage Kate is staying at better be the Butcher, because why? otherwise)

“Sometimes I think I’m chasing two people."

I thought knowing the identity of the killer by 30% was too easy, I've been keeping a hawk eye on secondary characters. That's one thing this story is doing well, the redherrings don't feel forced and the number is kept around only five to make it fun for you to keep them straight and guess. 

There on the end of his fishing line wasn’t a fish to beat Neil Parker’s mackinaw record. It was a human foot.

When I would go on walks with my dog into more out of the way wooded areas, I'd always tell him, "Let's not find a dead body today". I read too much and watch too many horror movies and true crime, my mind just goes there. 

Jason is dead.

Not incredibly shocking because I think the build-up was there, I'm just curious as to how all the dots are going to be connected. 

Witnesses keep mentioning a woman, which I think is supposed to make you think Robyn the colleague rival is involved but I think the povs from the killer make it seem like it's definitely a he and he just dresses up as a woman. 

 Obedient and subservient to a fault, Jason attacked Kate three years ago, but he did it on someone else’s orders—the Butcher’s. Jason, who genuinely cared for Kate, hated himself for the attack, and he couldn’t stand to see himself after he stabbed her, so he broke the mirrors. He also folded her hands to try to make peace.

This passage makes me think Beth (Jason's possible girlfriend, who slipped up when identifying the body) is involved somehow because who else would Jason listen to?

(There is a wild theory in the back of my mind that Kate's father is the Butcher)

“You’d run, Kate Johnson, if you knew what I wanted to do with you.” The air between them arced as if a storm had rolled in. 

“Maybe I wouldn’t.”

There's more of the romantic part in this romantic suspense in this part. I actually like how it hasn't been front and center because of the fact Hayden is doing a job and Kate is the victim/witness he is supposed to be protecting. Hayden does open up more in this section too but he still feels a little shadowed to me. I like Kate's character a bit more but I feel like I'm missing something from each that gets drawn out more when the two characters spend sometime together; their personalities get flushed out more while the procedural part takes a rest.  

“We’re chasing one person. Not two. A master of disguise.”

I thought so!

So, the first half operated under the assumption that the Butcher was Jason and it was more trying to catch up to him, this second half is all about going back and taking a look at secondary characters. Like I said, my wild call is Kate's dad, but the author did have Hayden say, they've probably talked and/or shook hands with the killer, which  to me, is the author telling us readers have seen the killer. 

The whole killer's thing about masturbating with the victim's blood is so messed up in a way that I'm not sure it fits in a romantic suspense genre book. 

There's been one sex scene and it was pretty much fade to black but again, I think the romance part of this fits better to the side.

30%

 

*Spoilers in updates

So we have a serial killer that looks to murder broadcast journalists by stabbing them in excess of 50 times, breaks all the mirrors in their homes, leaves their breasts and groins untouched, and positions their hands on their chests as if they are at prayer. 

I feel like serial killers in books always have such elaborate rituals.

She’d discovered each attack mirrored hers except for one thing: She survived.

Start off introduced to Kate who looks to be a caregiver to a Vietnam vet named Smokey. Hints that she was a victim of the Broadcast Butcher.

The pov then moves to a FBI agent named Hayden who is apart of the Apostles, a group of FBI agents who think outside the box or are a tad rogue. He's the one hunting the Butcher.

“We’re looking for a male between the ages of twenty and forty. Thin or small in stature. A social misfit who may live alone or with his parents or an older relative. High school education. Few if any physical relationships with women. Not gainfully employed or has a job with a good deal of flextime. Has some kind of disfigurement or handicap, possibly unseen, such as a stutter, or visible, such as acne scars or a limp. Home and person are meticulous, and he thrives on clear, written instruction. Carries around a small spiral notebook everywhere he goes. He’s methodic and craves order.

I will never not be fascinated with how profilers can come up with specific details about who the killer might be. Understanding the human psyche so well must be wild and make family dinners fun.

He tilted the glass, allowing a few precious drops of Shayna Thomas’s blood to land on his semi-erect penis. Those few drops furthered his arousal. Power. He slicked it over himself.

I like when we get a pov from the killer, even though this look was eek. I think it helps to drive the tense and creepy tone.

“You’re telling me the man who stabbed you is Jason Erickson, your brother?”

What??? Are we learning the killer's identity already?

Ok, so a pretty good start but I have questions, there's supposedly a man following Hayden sent by the killer because he knows Hayden will find Kate, but wouldn't an agent of Hayden's caliber be able to tell he was being trailed. 

When Jason is 'talking' he comments that his first kill was his mother at age 12 but then they find Kate's mother and the time of death is only about six months ago?

Some interesting side characters like Sargent Lottie and Kate's professional rival Robyn. 

Why do I get the feeling that Jason being the killer or who attacked Kate isn't the full story. 

Great start because I'm pretty locked in, as for the romance plot, fairly to the side but some moments of tense attraction between Kate and Hayden.

Reading Update: Page 1

 

Reading for my Halloween Bingo square

and enjoying with some festive sprinkled sugar cookie bars

Have a good start to the week, everyone!