Book Review -- "Exposure: A Novel" by Brandilyn Collins

Synopsis:

Kaycee Raye is single woman with an incredible fear of, essentially, everything. All her life she has dealt with almost crippling phobias and paranoia. To Kaycee, there is always the possibility that someone is hiding in the shadows, watching her and waiting for a chance to attack. To cope with her fears, Kaycee writes a newspaper column where she discusses fears; both her own and fears her readers send into her. Kaycee has her world rocked when she returns home one day to find a camera sitting in her kitchen; on it, the picture of a dead man. Kaycee is forced to deal with her worst fear head on, all the while struggling to find out if the photo and her fear of being watched are real, or if she is losing her grip on reality…


Story:

“Exposure” is a simply intriguing tale of mystery and suspense. The story squanders no time initiating the conflict of the protagonist, and the story’s pace does not slacken in the slightest from that point forward. “Exposure” quickly introduces another storyline in the earliest part of the book; this one concerning a young man, and his struggle to support his unprosperous family of a young wife and a four year-old daughter.

The story is an exhilarating adventure of suspense and mystery, filled with serpentine cosa nostra, enigmatic abductions, and the arduous inner conflict of a woman trying to come to terms with not only her own fears, but attempting to unveil what it means to be afraid.

This book is awesome. Right out of the gate: BAM! Picture of a dead guy. End of Chapter 1. Damn, shit just got real. You wanna know what’s going on! But then zoom, you got this other guy. He’s a money-counter or something in a bank which just closed. Slowed down, right? Wrong. Bunch of guys with automatics just bust in right out of nowhere and rob the bank – AND it turns out they are from the mafia. Holy shit. It just goes back and forth between mafia bank robbers and a woman trying to catch a guy who won’t stop sending her this picture of a guy who was capped in the face. Then, here’s the great part, it all comes together in the end! You never see it coming. You’re just there reading, the book is being awesome, the stories get connected, and you are just like OH SNAP THAT JUST HAPPENED.

This entire thing is just awesome. You got the mafia, you got a psychotic killer, you got action scenes (Since it’s suspense, imagine all the action. It’s the same, only the bad guy is freaking invisible. Intense).


Characters:

The characters are deep and layered. No one is simply as they appear. Each person has their own past, their own life, and their own motivations. Of course, like all humans, none of them are flawless.

Kaycee is a truly interesting individual. Throughout the story, she attempts to cope with her fears, thinking back to a uneasy childhood with her mother and how that relationship shaped who she was. She grapples with her fears and her current relationships, striving to discover who she is as a person.

Martin Giordano, the primary protagonist of the robbery storyline is a proud individual, concerned first and foremost with the security and happiness of his family. His dearest wish is for his daughter, Tammy, to get well. He is an emotional character, full of love, as well as strife over what society dictates to be right, and what he knows is right for his family. Martin is a noble example of how far a father is willing to go for the sake of his family.

The secondary characters are intriguing as well: Mark, the well-meaning policeman who gives faith to Kaycee’s tale; Lorraine, Martin’s wife who fights a newly grown distrust of her husband; Hannah, a young girl very dead to Kaycee due to being estranged from her family and step-mother; and Nico, the Mafioso responsible for the bank robbery, and everything which must happen after.

For someone being stalked, Kaycee keeps her cool damn well. She’s damn smart too. As soon as she saw the picture of that dead guy, WOOSH – she was outta that house in a second. A lot of people probably woulda been stupid and stuck around, looked through the rooms, then followed a ‘strange noise’ they heard in the attic. Not Kaycee. She went straight to the police, told them to give her some damn help. She’s got serious guts – even though she’s got a creeper on her, she keeps her cool and goes on about her business.

Martin is all cool. When the bank’s getting robbed, he is just like, ‘Whatever, man. Tell me when you done, I don’t wanna be here late tonight.’ He’s even claustrophobic, so they toss him and his coworkers into the vault. But he stays cool – doesn’t give them the satisfaction. He also stays chill so his friends don’t panic. A true Bro.

It ain’t just the main guys who are awesome, either. Everybody is. You got Mark, a cop who’s always got Kaycee’s back. You got Lorraine, who works a job AND raises a kid at the same time (Respect). You got Hannah, whose family kept giving her shit, so she just up and left at eleven at fucking night (she’s nine by the way). Then you got Nico, who worked up the mob ladder from scratch to get where he is, and has still gotta to prove himself to his boss who hates him for being too awesome.


Overall:

This was a delightful read. The twisting plot, as well as the real and easy to relate to characters, kept me hooked from start to finish. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense or thrillers. Even if you don’t know whether you like suspense and thrillers or not, I would still suggest this novel. I find it to be an excellent example of what an exquisite suspense story should be. 4.5 / 5 Stars.

This book was awesome. Whenever I had time, I was reading this thing. The chapters are nice and short, so even if you’re busy, you can still read this in small chunks. Give it a read, it’s great. 4.5 / 5 Stars.