Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents' latest scam. Now she’s much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for – Camden McQueen.
Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie’s counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she’s not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie’s plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn’t dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it’s one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road.
Review:
So you think you like flawed characters, huh?
Well, do ya? Punk?
That there is the challenge Karina Halle lays down for you with this, the first of her new Artists Trilogy, Sins & Needles. And you will be challenged by it, make no mistake. I myself am a card-carrying member of the I Heart Flawed Characters Fan Club*, and yet still I was challenged. Almost to my limit. If you're familiar with Karina's other works, specifically her Experiment in Terror series, you'll know that unusual and quirky characters are something she excels at. They're layered, flawed and not always good, but they are always effective, engaging and real. I think she took that skill to a new level here with Ellie and Camden. There are times you may find yourself unsure if you like either of them, or at least, you probably won't like their actions. Some of which are extremely hard to reconcile. Halle pulls no punches, nor does she baby her readers with characters whose flaws are only puddle-deep and eclipsed by them being otherwise perfect in every conceivable way. Nope, with this book, you either take her characters as they are, or walk away now and we'll say no more about it.
Still here? Well alrighty then.
So, let's break it down a bit. Your main character is Ellie Watt, but that's only one identity of several she's lived under as part of her drifting, grifting, con artist lifestyle. But what's in a name, anyway? Well, when you're starting to lose sight of who you actually are because you've been playing someone else—or several someone else's—for so long, then quite a bit, actually. Reconnecting with her past, including reverting back to her real name and moving back to the town she considers home, the place where she spent her formative high school years, may have seemed like the first step on the straight and narrow road to going legit for Ellie. Instead, what she finds is a one-way ticket to Oh Crapsville, and, a rather interesting fellow by the name of Camden McQueen.
What to say about Camden... without spoilers, this will be difficult. Let's start with the basics. He's hot. He wears nerd glasses (*dies*). He's charming. He's confusing. He's a musician. He's a tattoo artist and is covered in them practically from head to toe (and all the yummy, muscular places in between). But really that's just scratching the surface. There's a ginormic plot twist in the first quarter of the book, and it's not until that point that you can really, truly get to know Camden. And when you do, I defy anyone not to be sympathetic to his character.
As well as being told in 1st Person from Ellie's POV, there are regular flashbacks in third person featuring "the girl." It's obvious straight away that "the girl" is our Ellie. I don't think she's called "the girl" to try and hide her identity from readers. I think it was done to show Ellie's disassociation of herself from the girl in the memories; as though she's just another one of her fake identities. When in truth, only through gradually reading "the girl's" flashback passages and combining those with the Ellie of today, can we finally start to understand and appreciate her character. And don't worry if you really don't like Ellie at first. It's supposed to be that way, I think. I mean, she's a con artist, which means she's deceitful, sneaky, dishonest, untrustworthy and an opportunist of the highest order. But the flashbacks will help explain why she is what she is, and the reasons for her behaviour. As well as her complicated and emotionally fraught relationship with Camden.
At several points during the read, I wasn't sure if Ellie was ever going fully win me over, but I can safely say that by the end, she definitely did. I'm also rooting hard for Ellie and Camden's romance, as intense and complex as it is. But be warned, as book one in a trilogy, the ending is left wide open and you'll be gasping and desperate for book two the second you're done. We do know book two is set to be called Shooting Scars, and that it's scheduled for Summer 2013. And before that, to stave off the withdrawals, there's a prequel novella called On Every Street coming in April. It may not be enough to completely dull the ache, but surely it will help.
To sum up, this book gets a full house from me. I stayed up till 2am both evenings I read it, and if that's not an indication of a good read, I don't know what is.
Now, someone pass me the matchsticks to help prop my eyes open...
5 Stars! ★★★★★
ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
* I make things up.
Original Title
Sins & Needles
ISBN
1479359084 (ISBN13: 9781479359080)
Edition Language
English
Series
The Artists Trilogy #1
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