This book. This book.

Hope, love, and faith are all in waiting. Power is not the truth of life; the love of power is the love of death.

It's been a while since I have loved a main character as much as I do Billy; reading from the perspective of an actual intelligent person is so refreshing. I never really screamed at him for his actions because they were always logical (in his POV), and when I did disagree, he turned out to be a couple steps ahead of me! I didn't realize until the end how much I grew to care for his happiness and future.

Spoiler

I was kinda disappointed in the reveal of the killer. Not the actual identity (though I was at first) but how he died. He was built up to be such a calculating, make-no-errors type of guy and then he just gets knocked out and has a round unloaded into his chest? Yes, his own arrogance and insanity blindsided him but still...Overall still a very compelling villain and unsettled me greatly.

The psychological aspect of this book is what really got me above all else.

Spoiler

Watching Billy's dissent from a guy who refuses to act so his moral conscious is clear, to becoming something full of potential for evil and brutally interrogating a seemingly innocent person was so raw and believable that it terrified me.

The fact that I was subconsciously making choices of who should die struck me; who am I to play God and decide who's life is worth more?

All in all, a very solid read and a good introduction to the thriller/mystery genre for everyone. Nothing too wild but will definitely get your adrenaline flowing and have you paranoid, constantly checking to see that you've locked your doors.