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Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

Thirteen was published by Flatiron Books on August 13, 2019.  I actually won this in a giveaway on Instagram, but would have purchased the book if I hadn't.  I've had this book for months, but deliberately held it for October's spooky reading.  Yes, I'm one of those people.

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Synopsis from Goodreads because I couldn't word it better:
It’s the murder trial of the century. And Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house – and to be sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury.

But there’s someone on his tail. Former-conman-turned-criminal-defense-attorney Eddie Flynn doesn’t believe that his movie-star client killed two people. He suspects that the real killer is closer than they think – but who would guess just how close?

I was STOKED to win this book.  A serial killer on a jury?  SIGN ME UP.  The cover also gave me very Silence of the Lambs, "May I use your phone please?" vibes.  The book seemed right up my alley.  I'll be honest right now-I was a bit disappointed.  

What I liked:

The ending was straight out of Criminal Minds.  The action ramped up and it was super easy to visualize.  It wasn't drawn out like some books tend to do.  The killer himself was interesting.  Often times villains aren't as complex, or you don't get to live inside their heads like you do in this book.  He was fascinating to follow and kept me reading.  The killer's backstory was probably my favorite.  When the FBI and lawyers all start working together, what comes out in the finale is perfect.  I wish there were more books prior to this one about those victims (there may be-I haven't looked).  I loved the backstory.  It seemed so incredibly real.

What I didn't:

Those first 200+ pages were fluff for me.  It was a STRUGGLE.  I got so bored, and frequently too.  I often had to re-read pages because I had spaced out and had no idea what was going on.  If I was the type to DNF easier, I probably would have.  It was rough, y'all.  Lastly, any other viewpoint other than the serial killer's was hella confusing.  There are so many names and they are all so similar.  It felt like it took forever to figure out who was who.  I don't want to have to draw a character map for my thrillers.  Give me the gist and let's get on with the story.  In the end, if you asked me about names there's a chance I would get a few of them mixed up.  Just being honest here...it wasn't easy for me, and I'm basically a professional thriller reader at this point.

Overall, it's a good book.  I'm still stoked I won it.  Will I read it again?  Probably not.  Will I always reference the serial killer backstory?  Absolutely.  This book has me torn.  There were so many things I liked about it, and just as many that I didn't like.  I wanted to rank this higher.  I just couldn't given the quality of some of my books this year.  That being said, I would absolutely try out any of Steve Cavanagh's other books.  Maybe this one just wasn't as meant for me as I believe.

🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars
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