When a rapist is found mutilated in a brutal attack, Detective Kim Stone and her team are called in to bring a swift resolution. But, as more vengeful killings come to light, it soon becomes clear that there is someone far more sinister at work.
With the investigation quickly gathering momentum, Kim finds herself exposed to great danger and in the sights of a lethal individual undertaking their own twisted experiment.
Up against a sociopath who seems to know her every weakness, for Detective Stone, each move she makes could be deadly. As the body count starts to mount, Kim will have to dig deeper than ever before to stop the killing. And this time – it’s personal.
Review
Evil Games is the second book in the Detective Kim Stone series and a follow up to the earlier book, Silent Scream.Both books can be read as stand-alone novels, however I think it is helpful to read both books in sequence in order to gain a better understanding of the returning characters.
The investigative team is led by Stone, with detectives Bryant, Dawson and Stacey, assisting. The detectives all have their own strengths and weaknesses and have learnt how to combine their skills and knowledge to create a successful team that gets results.
Evil Games begins with the murder of a man just released from jail. There are no witnesses to the crime and no clues, just the man’s loyal pet dog which is found at the scene. The case is followed in quick succession by a chain of further deaths which Stone believes to be somehow connected.
It is difficult to write about the plot without giving too much away! I will therefore choose to say only that as the team continue to investigate the seemingly unconnected killings, Stone quickly realises that not only are the deaths connected, but that they are dealing with a very dangerous sociopath. However, persuading her colleagues of this hunch proves difficult, as does proving that person’s involvement in the deaths.
The author takes us on a journey into the mind of a sociopath. We hear their thoughts and get a real understanding of their motivations. The sociopath demonstrates a curiosity about human nature, being unable to understand and feel those same emotions themselves. They satisfy their curiousity by experimenting with the emotions of some very vulnerable people. Worryingly, Detective Stone’s own traumatic childhood seems to leave her vulnerable to that same sociopath’s experiments. The sociopathic character is cleverly created as a deeply narcissistic character with a very cold and calculating nature, using their high intelligence to manipulate subjects into acting in a specific manner determined by the sociopath. The reader feels that character’s true lack of emotion and empathy towards the subjects of their experiments. Interestingly, the sociopath is also outwardly a charming individual, however it is their underlying superiority complex which catches Stone’s attention and leads her to suspect their involvement in the deaths. I really enjoyed reading the author’s analysis of this character.
The book is filled with little plot twists and turns which leaves the reader wanting to read more. Marsons is not shy at dealing with some challenging and disturbing subjects, making Evil Games a compulsive read.
So, in conclusion, Evil Games is a gritty, real, tense and absolutely gripping book. The characters are great, the writing pulls you in and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the most critical of readers on their toes. Book number 3, Lost Girls, is released on 6 November 2015 and I’ve already got a copy on pre-order!
Angela Marsons is the author of Amazon #1 Bestseller SILENT SCREAM.
She lives in the Black Country with her partner, their bouncy Labrador and a swearing parrot.
She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s”.
After years of writing relationship based stories (My Name Is and The Middle Child) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.
She is signed to Bookouture.com in an 8 book deal. The second book in the Kim Stone series, EVIL GAMES, is released 29th May 2015.
The Curious Ginger Cat 