Official Review: Vengeance by Bryan Koepke

[literarycat]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Vengeance" by Bryan Koepke.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In his thrilling mystery, Vengeance, Bryan Koepke makes his debut by taking readers on a roller coaster ride. Bryan tells the story of Reece Culver, an aerospace engineer turn private investigator, who gets more than he bargained for when he takes on a missing person’s case. Bryan takes the mystery world by storm with this novel and makes a name for himself among the likes of Patterson and Koonz.

Shortly after his father’s death, Reece Culver ends his career as an aerospace engineer to become a private investigator. While Reece contemplates the events surrounding his father’s death, Crystal Thomas walks into his office seeking to hire him to find her missing mother. The case takes Reece on what seems to be a wild goose chase throughout the Midwest. This case has everything thrilling to a P.I, art theft, gambling, murder and even a bit of romance. As the case progresses, Reece discovers evidence that causes this case to hit closer to home than he ever expected. Will he be able to find a woman who has been missing since 1989? Will his emotions and personal vendetta get in the way of his job?

For this being his debut novel, Bryan Koepke utilizes all the elements that take a novel from being okay to being fantastic. Once you get started in the story, it is difficult to let the book out of your hands. While the story is thrilling and fast paced, there are a few moments where it seems to stall before picking back up. Some scenes feel forced and choppy, but those moments do not take away from the overall effect of the novel. There is a lot going on in the story with several different story-lines happening at once. It is almost as if Koepke had so many stories wanting to tell their tale that they all fell into this one. Oddly enough though, it works.

The characters are realistic and well-defined. They each have strengths and flaws making them unique to the story. This also makes it easier for readers to relate to the characters. I enjoy novels flawed and personable characters like this. This gives them room to grow and become stronger as the story progresses. I found the character of Crystal to be mysterious and interesting. She is the kind of woman who will do anything to protect those she loves, even if that person has done despicable things. While the characters are strong and well developed, there are a lot of them. Too often it gets hard to follow which characters are in each scene.

I enjoyed this novel a great deal. I think any mystery, suspense and thriller fan would enjoy this novel. Murder mystery fanatics may find a new favorite author in Bryan Koepke. I also believe those looking for a good starter mystery would find a gem within Vengeance.

As for a rating, I would give this novel a 3 out of 4 because there are moments of staleness and the over abundance of characters.

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Vengeance
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Like literarycat's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Bryan Koepke]

Literarycat thanks for reading and writing this honest review of Vengeance. I'm glad you enjoyed reading my debut novel in the Reece Culver thriller series. Since publishing Vengeance I've written a short prequel titled Damage, and book two in the series, Sabotage, will be available up on Amazon December 7th.

[literarycat]

It was my pleasure to read it. I will keep my eyes open for book 2.

[Bryan Koepke]

Thanks!

[GRMike]

Vengeance by Bryan Koepke is am amazing book. I fell in love with it. The characters are well defined and unique. It is a breathtaking novel that keeps the reader on their toes. Would be great for people who like suspense, the novel has many parts which get your heart pounding.
I would love to see more from Bryan Koepke.

[herquilarh]

Nice review by literarycat. Its good to see that OBC is also a forum for authors to share their works. I will definitely like to read the book and post a review

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

Oooh Vengeance. Me likes already. Just kidding. Glad you enjoyed this book Literarycat; it shows in this spectacular review of yours.

-- 06 Nov 2015, 07:53 --

Oooh Vengeance. Me likes already. Just kidding. Glad you enjoyed this book Literarycat; it shows in this spectacular review of yours.

[rachel_bruhn]

Great job on your review and congrats to the author for a positive review!

As with "horror" movies, I think it can be tough to pick a CMTS novel that meets your expectations. It seems like Koepke did a good job with this book in this genre of writing. Definitely seems like it would be worth checking out.

[anonanemone]

This book definitely sounds like an interesting read. I don't read a lot of mystery but I could get into this one.

[Bryan Koepke]

Vengeance by Bryan Koepke is am amazing book. I fell in love with it. The characters are well defined and unique. It is a breathtaking novel that keeps the reader on their toes. Would be great for people who like suspense, the novel has many parts which get your heart pounding.
I would love to see more from Bryan Koepke.

Thanks GRMike! The next book in the series, Sabotage, comes out December 7th. You can find it and my short story prequel to Vengeance at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

[zaynab_m]

Awesome review, and the book sounds amazing too! I love the theme the story revolves around, amd I'm sure I'll love the book too. The title and cover of the book are intriguing, and often I find myself judging a book by its cover before I begin to read it. The cover of this book is definitely fascinating and mysterious.

[literarycat]

Awesome review, and the book sounds amazing too! I love the theme the story revolves around, amd I'm sure I'll love the book too. The title and cover of the book are intriguing, and often I find myself judging a book by its cover before I begin to read it. The cover of this book is definitely fascinating and mysterious.

I completely agree, the cover completely enthralled me and then I read the synopsis and was hooked.

[Bryan Koepke]

zaynab_m

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed literarycat's review. The e-book version of Vengeance is marked down right now on amazon, since the next book in the series, Sabotage, will be coming out in early December.

Take care,

Bryan

[zaynab_m]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed literarycat's review. The e-book version of Vengeance is marked down right now on amazon, since the next book in the series, Sabotage, will be coming out in early December.

I can't wait to get my copy of the book, amd for the release of Sabotage! I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the series.

[BookShelfy91]

Sounds like a fantastic book, will definitely keep an eye out for it.

Shelfy