Official Review: The Cured by Nikki Vale

sarahpayne23 · Post by **sarahpayne23** » 11 Feb 2016, 17:35

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Cured" by Nikki Vale.]

3 out of 4 stars

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I was recently given the opportunity to review The Cured by Nikki Vale. This work of fiction is a suspenseful, murder mystery thriller with a romance twist in a style similar to J.D. Robb or James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series.

When a third victim is found, Detective Sanchez and her partner, Detective Critchfield must follow the seemingly nonexistent clues in order to catch a killer without a consistent victim profile. The killer has characteristics of the killer from the Saw movie series and close ties to Detective Sanchez’s past. Her past affects not only her case, but also her personal life, making her relationship with her perfect boyfriend move at a pace too slow for him. In addition, she becomes more aware of her feelings for her best friend and partner, Detective Critchfield. Can Detective Sanchez deal with her past and her feelings for the two men in her life in order to catch the “Witchdoctor”?

The story is told from both the perspective of Detective Sanchez and the killer in alternating chapters. The voices of these characters are very different; Detective Sanchez speaks and thinks in a very personable way, while the killer uses large words making the “Witchdoctor” more difficult to understand. This stark difference in characters, in addition to the italicized text when in the voice of the killer, adds to the readability of this book. The author writes in such a way as to make the reader feel what the protagonist is feeling early in the book. Nikki Vale creates a character relatable to most women, especially those enjoying suspenseful thrillers which will keep them up all night.

The book has some editorial issues, mainly with punctuation, which is a bit distracting and should be corrected before mass production. In my opinion, the personal storyline outside of the case moved too quickly. This book could easily have been made into a series with different killers and cases for each book and slower personal and relationship development.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thriller, which kept me up two nights in a row! Although the readability and storyline of this book were excellent, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars due to the multitude of editorial issues. This book certainly has promise and I would love to see more stories featuring this character!

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The Cured
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Nikki_Vale · Post by **Nikki_Vale** » 19 Feb 2016, 10:12

Thank you for your honest and insightful review. I've been working on having my books edited. I played with the idea of a series, but it's hard for me because I'm not a fan of cliffhanger's. I could take your advice and have Detective Sanchez on other cases, I just wasn't sure how well this story would be received so I've been waiting. Thanks again.

anonanemone · Post by **anonanemone** » 19 Feb 2016, 10:55

With some touchups, it sounds like you have a winner, @Nikki_Vale Congratulations and keep at it!

@sarahpayne23 good job on your first review!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 21 Feb 2016, 06:37

Sounds like an interesting book and Detective Sanchez seems like a relatable character. I have read a few James Patterson books and I am a fan of J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts. Great job on the review!

simplysara · Post by **simplysara** » 13 Mar 2016, 18:51

I am a fan of this genre. It sound like a good addition to my TBR list. Thank you for the helpful review! I'm attracted to the fact that there's a touch of romance included.