19 Souls by J. D. Allen (NetGalley)

                                                  19 Souls (A Sin City Investigation) by J. D. Allen
                                                                   (Novel to be published on February 8th, 2018)
                                                                                     ★★★★☆

I would like to thank Midnight Ink for approving my request to read and review this novel! This was made possible through NetGalley! Now, I will honestly review this book which will be published in February 2018!

First off, it took me a few chapters to actually get into the book. To be quite honest, I was not hooked from the start. However, once the pace started picking up, I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns. The cover of the novel is what enticed me, as well as the summary of the novel. 19 Souls by J. D. Allen is a fast-paced thriller, and a great start to the Sin City Investigation series. 

Sophie has been obsessed with Daniel since her childhood. But due to Sophie being far younger than Daniel, he always brushed her off. That hasn’t stopped Sophie. She will do whatever it takes to be with Daniel, even if it means killing anyone who gets in her way. 

She has had difficulty locating Daniel for a few years, so she hires Jim Bean, a private investigator, to help her find him. She has to make sure the PI doesn’t get suspicious of the reason as to why she wants to locate Daniel. So, Sophie tells Bean that Daniel is genuinely missing, and that he owes his mother a lot of money. How does she go about doing this? She pretends that she’s Dan's sister by killing his real sister and taking her identity. Sophie tells Jim Bean that Daniel is a drug addict and she wants him to go to rehab, rather than jail, so as to ensure that Jim does not get the police involved. Sophie’s hope is that Jim will lead her to Dan, at which point her sinister plans will take heed.

But the story can’t end there……… right? 

Inevitably, Jim figures out that Sophie is not Dan’s real sister, and that she actually means to do harm. What does Jim do to protect Dan? Can he protect him from a psychopath killer? What is Sophie’s next move?

I found Jim Bean, the private investigator, particularly interesting. He is a clever, fast-thinking investigator, which I admire. Sophie, on the other hand, is a manipulative woman who is in fact very intelligent and is at odds with a voice inside her head throughout the novel. She argues with this voice, and has discussions with it regarding the rationality of her actions and decisions. This ‘voice’ added another dimension to Sophie’s character, which definitely made the novel more suspenseful. Will she give in to the voice’s demands?

In conclusion, I definitely enjoyed this book and give it a well-deserved 4/5 stars (as seen above)! You'll love the ending, I am sure! Make sure you get yourself a copy once it comes out on February 8th, 2018! Thanks again to NetGalley & Midnight Ink for an advanced digital copy of this novel.

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                                                                       ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. D. Allen attended Ohio State University where she received a degree in forensic anthropology and creative writing. She had dreams of publishing mystery novels one day, and these dreams have come true as she is set to publish the first novel of the Sin City Investigation series in 2018. She has a significant interest in crime scene investigation, which she speaks about publicly as a member of the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention National board. (This information was taken from J. D. Allen Books, check it out!)

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