99 problems, and a book ain't one

    Tarryn Fisher is an evil genius!!!!!

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    I was equal parts nervous and excited to start Dirty Red. After meeting Leah in the first book how could you not have some reservations about being caged inside of her head for an entire length of a book? She was portrayed as a callous and jealousy ridden person in The Opportunist, and in Dirty Red she only took that to all new loathsome levels. Levels so depraved that I doubt anyone could have seen them coming. After being subjected to such atrocities I'm sure you are wondering how I could have possibly rated this book the highest of ratings....there was no other option. Anyone that can stick you in the mind of such a disgusting creature, someone you can't stand to even look at, but don't dare to look away from, is well deserving of your awe. I've scarcely ever read a book where I was in the mind of the villain of the story, and can't imagine what a feat it must be to have your audience hanging off every last word, in spite of the fact that the voice luring them in is the same one that makes them cringe away in horror. Tarryn Fisher did this, and she did it well.

   I would say that I felt at times something akin to pity for Leah....maybe. But the way she thought and acted....there was never going to be any atrocity done to her large enough to fill that hole of hate that I felt towards her. And my friends, Fisher said it all for me...

    "Hate is such a prodigious feeling. It's hot and oppressive like fire. It starts burning through your God-given reason until there is nothing left of it but a mound of ash. It moves on to your humanity next, hot tongues flicking across the few remaining threads of innocence until they melt into each other and morph into something ugly. Then, in the rubble of what you were, hate plants a seed of bitterness. The seed grows to a vine and the vine chokes what it touches."

    I don't know that I have ever used the highlighting function on my kindle as much as I did throughout this book. As you read through the seemingly endless lies and gut wrenching manipulations, you find that your precious characters are not the only ones being manipulated here. You are stuck in the web of deceit that this author has weaved, and you are unable to do anything other than frantically watch it all play out for you. You are left dangling, clinging to any truth that comes to light, just waiting to catch another one before your inevitable fall.

   There were so many revelations in this book. Each one jarred me, took me completely by surprise. The hits just kept coming! Right up until one of the very last lines. That one most especially. I don't even know what to think about that, or by god what it means for the next book. I can't get to that next book quick enough. I need to see where this game finally ends.

   "I'm being half loved. I stuff a few handfuls of clothes into a bag and then collapse on the floor. Who am I kidding? I'll never leave him. If I leave him, she wins."

   Leah isn't the only one playing in this game though. We've seen Olivia's side, and now Leah's, all that's left is Caleb's. As shocking and horrifying as Leah's book was, I am thinking Caleb's might be worse! If that's even possible. I don't know how Fisher can top this, but I think if anyone can surprise me and do it, it's her. I can't wait to see all Caleb's dirty little secrets. He's held them closer to his chest than maybe any other person in this series. Which only makes me think that maybe that's because they are the worst! These women have been so blinded by their dirty, obsessive love of him, that they can almost have you believing that he's as charming and good as they think he is. I have no doubts that underneath that charming smile of his awaits some of the biggest lies yet.