Review: Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk *spoilers at the bottom of the post*

Publication Date: May 5, 2015

Synopsis:
Imagine a terrified, pregnant, 16 year old, shoved into the back of a truck. Kidnapped. Alone.

Now forget her.

Instead, imagine a pregnant, 16 year old prodigy. Manipulative, highly calculative, and bent on saving her unborn son and raining revenge on her captor.

She is plotting her escape, leaving nothing to chance, planning every minute detail. Her scientific, calculative methods lie in wait for the perfect moment, the chance to strike hard. "Method 15/33" is what happens when the victim is just as cold as her captors.

Meanwhile, the FBI agents trying to find a missing girl and are left frustrated, following a twisted trail of stories and leaving them to wonder, who is really the victim and who is really the aggressor?

Thoughts:
From the beginning, I really liked the idea of a teenaged girl who was more...sadistic, I suppose? Not that the main character is sadistic really, but she's definitely a lot darker than the majority of teenaged characters you'll read about. It was interesting to have a kidnapped girl be more vengeful and active, rather than having her be crying and screaming to be let out.

The author's writing style and the way she formatted the book is one of my favorite things about reading this. I can't really go into detail about what it was that I liked, so you'll have to see for yourself. But I can tell you that it was at the beginning of almost every chapter, and I think it adds a lot to the reading experience.

The way that the author described emotion was so raw and different from anything else I can recall reading in the past. Emotion flowed so easily, so fully, and it all felt realistic. I found that it was so easy to connect with the emotion that the main character was feeling, and I didn't think that it was at all unrealistic or out of place for her to feel like that. She was trying to protect her baby, and since she had all the capabilities, I didn't see why she shouldn't feel the right to escape and dole out vengeance on her captor.

About halfway though, there was a twist that completely threw me off. I had no idea it was coming and was so surprised when it happened. It led to me changing my theories about what would happen later in the story.

All the while, in between the main character's chapters, there are chapters from the perspective of a FBI agent and his investigation regarding a missing girl. It was really interesting to see how his investigation went along with the main character's chapters and how it all led to further development of story. Having an outside voice about the process of the investigation gave the story a depth that it otherwise wouldn't have had.

When I hit the halfway point of the book, I couldn't put it down anymore. I had to finish it, had to know what was going to happen next. Which mean that I was up until almost 2AM trying to finish the book before going to sleep. I had contemplated doing it, really contemplated staying up, but I had to wake up early for work the next morning and wasn't too thrilled about teach two classes in the morning on less than 5 hours of sleep. So, I forced myself to put the book down until I had more time to read and finish it.

Now, while I did like the book a lot, there was one aspect of it that I didn't agree with. I have included a spoiler section below in which I will talk more about it, so if you're insanely curious and feel like spoiling yourself for a pretty major part of the book, feel free to read the spoiler section.

I really liked the ending and thought that everything was well resolved, even bringing in elements that I didn't expect. This is one of those endings that just makes you smile despite everything, even though it still has it's own little twists that makes it stand out. If you're halfway through, or wondering whether or not to read it after reading about my thoughts, I'd say that you can totally read this book and look toward the resolution. If anything, the ending is worth reading the whole book for.

All in all, I really loved this book. This, like Never Smile at Strangers is one of those books that I'm probably going to keep referencing and mentioning in my other reviews as well. I don't think I could really describe how much I loved this book without spoiling you, so I'll just tell you: READ IT

Characters:
I have to say, I quite liked the main character. As twisted and sadistic as she could be, I kind of enjoyed that about her. She had good reason for it, considering all that she had been through, the way her captor treated her, and the fact that she was doing it all to save her unborn baby's life. It could easily be said that she didn't have to act the way she did, but then we wouldn't have a story as interesting as this one and there wouldn't be a twisted side to the story that makes you question what kind of person you are for liking certain characters. In a way, I think I admired the main character. It's kind of twisted, but it was there. And though she did something that I strongly disagreed with, I can understand her reasoning behind it.

I also liked the FBI agent's chapters and found myself wishing that I could see from his perspective a little more. The investigation that he was conducting was so interesting, and I liked that we got to see the other side of the kidnapping case. He was also a pretty interesting character, making funny little quips here and there, and also relating some stories that eventually all factored into the overall story.

This is one instance where I felt that a character's swearing was more understandable. The main character's captor was constantly calling her vulgar names and screaming swear words and obscenities at her. I'm not sure if the author intended it to be this way, but I felt like it emphasized the captor's inability to properly express himself and the anger that he felt. It showed me that he wasn't the smartest person and that his use of foul language was basically the only way he was able to express all the hatred and dark emotions he was feeling.

Overall:
5 stars! I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who likes darker mysteries and thrillers, or someone who really likes the more twisted kind of stories.

If you're more squeamish (if the Hunger Games arena made you queasy), then I don't suggest reading this, because there are several very graphically described scenes.

And if you do pick this up, just keep in mind that this can become quite dark and it's really not a book for everyone. I think that it takes a certain kind of...twisted-ness from the reader to appreciate this? Yeah, it takes a certain kind of strange twisted-ness to appreciate this book.

Acknowledgements:
Thank you to NetGalley for hosting this on your site. Thank you also to Oceanview Publishing for approving my request to read this in exchange for an honest review.

*SPOILERS* DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK OR WANT TO BE SPOILED
Okay, so the thing that the main character did that I didn't agree with, was when she lied on the stand. In front of a jury. Under oath. She lied and included details that never actually happened, and she also fabricated two stories so that The Doctor would surely go to jail.

Now, I can understand that she wanted justice for all that The Doctor and everyone else involved in the trafficking ring had done, but it still didn't make it okay, in my opinion, for her to lie on the stand, to a judge and jury. For someone like myself, who personally knows several lawyer friends, and has considered going into law myself, I am...well, quite honestly, repulsed by a witness who would lie on the stand, under oath. It doesn't matter what the intentions are, I do not believe that it is right for someone to lie in a court of law and justice. It defeats the purpose of the term "a court of law and justice."

I suppose some of you who might just have wanted to read that are wondering why I refer to the main character as "the main character" and never call her by name. Well, that's something for you to find out on your own.

To all others who have read the book, you can understand why I choose not to name anyone, really, not even the FBI agent. I thought that using more anonymity might perhaps make people want to read the book more. After all, there's a certain something in discovering things for yourselves.