Zoë Sharp

This was crazy intense and it was actually pretty funny. Charlie had a wry sarcastic humour that I loved. The plot was interesting and the action had me on the edge of my seat. I did find the romance stupid but it was a minor part and it didn't affect the rest of the book too much.

Charlie was fascinating - she was such a mess of contradictions. I liked her a lot and I felt sorry for the ordeals she had to go through. Particularly when the cops ignore her because they're under the impression she's the girl who cried wolf. But also her strength to overcome her past and the horrible betrayal she suffered from people who should've had her back.

I do wish she had more good friends and a better support network. It made me feel sad that she didn't. I did like that she was violent but advocated for the first rule of engagement to always be to not engage. I think it's important to know your limitations and to always try to avoid such situations where possible and to defuse them if able to.

That said, I didn't like that she always held back. She got hurt a lot more than she ever should've been. The thing is, yes you should avoid fighting but the fact is if you do engage you have to go in, hard and fast and put them down. Any half-hearted measures will just make a person angrier and more likely to hurt you worse.

What made it worse was she had the skill but lacked the confidence to judge when she should or should not use her skills. For instance the fight she breaks up on the dance floor between the two guys - the second he picked up the glass bottle she should've been aiming to incapacitate. A weapon always ups the danger level.

When she gets jumped in her apartment, she hesitates to break bones. I mean they jumped her in her home - that should've been the first move. Instead she let them off easy and got ridiculously beaten up. Realistically, no one that has studied that much self-defence and martial arts would let those situations go as far as she did. But all that said, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book. It was just a minor thing that bugged me.

Overall it was a really strong read. Complicated plot, great action, well written and a badass main character. 4.5 stars. Will definitely pick up the next one.… (meer)

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE LAST TIME SHE DIED ABOUT?
I'm feeling pretty paranoid about what I'm going to write in this post, I don't want to give anything away. It'd be really easy to do with this one, so I'll just borrow this from Sharp's website:

She came back on the day of her father’s funeral, ten years after she vanished. But she can’t be who she says she is…

When Blake disappeared as a teenager, on a cold dark night, her father never reported her missing. She is presumed dead.

Now, ten years later, a young woman with white-blonde hair sits comfortably in the family living room and smiles at the shocked faces around her.

“Don’t you recognise me?” she says. “I’m Blake.”

Detective John Byron isn’t sure whether she’s telling the truth. But as he investigates, he soon realises no one is happy to see her.

And the people who should be welcoming her back with open arms know she can’t be Blake. Because they killed her the night she vanished…

Didn’t they?

LILY

‘I’m Lily. Does this mean you’re sort of my sister? I’ve always wanted a sister. Well, I really wanted a kitten, but a sister would be nearly as good.’

At the root of everything in this novel are some deep and dark secrets—many of which will be brought out of the shadows--but there are several moments of light throughout. The brightest beam of light comes from Gideon Fitzroy's twelve-year-old step-daughter, Lily.

She's adorable—it jumps off of the page. She feels neglected by her mother and uncle, her older brother's at that stage of adolescence where the last thing he wants to do is spend time with his little sister. So the prospect of having a brand-new, adult, sister? Lily's awed by her. And then when Blake's friendly with her, spends time with her? Lily's devoted.

She doesn't understand what's going on—and is largely kept in the dark by her family. But she's Blake's biggest fan, no matter what that might mean for her family. There's a sweetness to her that makes her future and welfare as important to the reader (at least this one) as Blake's and Byron's.

BYRON +
Byron, considered solely, is an intriguing character—and I have a note or two about wanting to write about his psychology a bit. But I don't think we have quite enough information yet to do the deep(ish) dive that I want to. Sure, not having that information is part of what makes him intriguing.

Where we really learn about him is from other characters and from his interactions with others. For example, PC Jane Hudson knew him as a trainee, and gained certain impressions of him, and shares them with her superiors, predecessor, and others (including the reader).

But it's in his interactions with others that you really get to like him. With the pub's skittish cleaner. He's great at winning her over and getting her to talk. He's got this wonderful banter with his superior that speaks to a long association/friendship and liked their conversations enough that I'd pay for a novella featuring them just meeting for tea and chatting. It's probably there that I decided that I liked him as a person.

But in his conversations and interactions with Blake (and the way they both respond after each encounter) is where he really stands out. The two "get" each other in a way that just makes you want to read more, just to watch their verbal dance (and the choreography of what they don't say is just as agile). We're talking Poe and Tilly, Spenser and Hawk, Cormoran and Robin levels of chemistry here. It's almost like there should be a series based on the pair.

Oh, wait...

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE LAST TIME SHE DIED?
I've been reading Sharp's Charlie Fox for over a decade, but I hadn't read anything else by her. I've always suspected that was an error in judgment, and this certainly suggests that I'm right.

How many times since Martin Guerre* has the story of someone presumed dead come back and had to prove they weren't an impostor? How many times have we read about a police detective with emotional and physical scars doing some off the books work because they can't do anything else? How many stories of small-town secrets being exposed have been written? How many...well, you get the idea. This novel is full of ideas we've all seen more times than we can count. But Sharp shuffles them, remixes them, and presents them to the readers in a way that could almost convince you that you've never read/seen anything like it before.

* Sure. before that story, too.

How good is Sharp? The series is called Blake & Byron Thrillers—and yet you will wonder on more than one occasion if she's actually Blake. And you may keep wondering after you finish the book.

So many of the characters really popped and will linger in the back of my mind for quite a while. I'm already impatient about getting answers to how Blake and Bryson will have another adventure together. I wouldn't mind an update on some of the other characters, either—although it appears that Bryson's new job will be taking him to a different part of the country.

The Last Time She Died is entertaining, twisty, tense, with just enough wit to keep you grinning. This is going to be a series to watch, readers, get started now.… (meer)