REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Backbone
AUTHOR: Kayleigh Sky
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 306 Pages
Blurb:
Struggling to survive in a deadly new world, Brey Jamieson soon discovers that the man who holds his heart might not be willing to set it free.
A universal vaccine eradicates all known viruses from the human population, but in the wake of this miracle, a deadly new virus suddenly surfaces. As the death toll rises, people riot in panic and civilization collapses.
Brey Jamieson, a convicted felon, is suddenly set loose in this violent new world. Desperate to reunite with his family, he sets out on a journey across the country but is captured by a brutal man who plans to sell him into slavery.
Hank Kresnak is a cop in the new world. It is his job to preserve the law. But when he sees Brey, his belief in everything he has built his new life on begins to crumble. Memories of a dark and terrible time reawaken. He was the cop who arrested Brey, and with one look into Brey’s eyes, he knew his life would never be the same. He was a married man with two daughters, but he couldn’t forget a man he barely even knew. Now his wife and daughters are gone, and he must struggle to save the man of his dreams from a nightmare fate.
Review:
Hank is a black and white man stuck in a new world that is covered in shades of grey. Before the world went to hell, he was a cop and had definite ideas about right and wrong, but now he’s a cop who has to turn his back on so many things that he wants to fix. Then he see’s Brey, a torment from before the end of the world and he can’t stop himself from stepping in.
Brey is a man who finds himself in the worst circumstances possible in this terrifying new world. Captured and turned into a slave, he’s abused in the worst possible way before being rescued by Hank.
This is not an easy read. There’s not a whole lot of light and laughter in this story, but if you want to be pulled along for a heartbreaking ride with a hopeful ending, then this is your story. It’s harsh and scary and so very sad, but somehow, it leaves you feeling okay when it’s all over.
Hank is a man tormented by his feelings because even though he can’t help himself, he feels like his obsession with Brey, both before the apocalypse and after, is something he shouldn’t be wanting.
Before the end of the world, Brey ended up in jail for manslaughter and Hank was one of his arresting officers. They never really spoke to each other, but Brey is just as taken with Hank, especially after Hank rescues him.
This story has excellent characters who are well-developed and you can’t help but be fascinated with what’s going to happen to them. The story sweeps you along, almost pulling you along against your will and while how it ends isn’t really a surprise, the journey you take as a reader to get there is totally the best part.
If you get triggery over things like rape and torture, be warned. A lot of people in this book are not nice people and Brey suffers at their hands. The world they live in is scary and hard but it only makes surviving and thriving all the bigger accomplishment.
A compelling read with excellent writing and superior editing (trust me, it’s important).
I’ve not read something from this author before but I will be looking at her other books in the future.
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