Review of book "Hushed" by Kelley York
Well, it was definitely suspenseful, emotional and well-written. To be honest, I was a little biased because of the romance that was supposed to develop - it wasn't girl/boy, but boy/boy, and I'm not really into that kind of thing. BUT, once I got to know the characters, it didn't really matter anymore.
The story is blood-curdling right from the beginning, plunging us into the world of Archer Pond - a college freshman with one sure goal in life - to kill the rapists of his best friend/secret sweetheart Vivian, and thus set her free. He's killed two of them already. Brody, Vivian's brother was the third to go, and also the first murder we are allowed to witness.
What catches attention is the cold-blooded way Archer plans and undergoes each of the murders. He wears gloves, doesn't leave any print that he might have had something to do with it, and he feels that he's doing the right thing. For Vivian. For his Vivian. Undoubtedly, he would've gone on until the list of six was complete.
But then, out of nowhere, Evan Bishop walks into the picture. A well built young man the age of Archer, Evan is the first person who wants to be friends with Archer for no reason other than his company. He doesn't want or need anyone to take care of him; he doesn't require a track of blood and hatred. And that surprises Archer most of all, because he's not used to having friends other than Vivian.
The more Archer hangs around Evan, the more he realizes that what he's done is terribly wrong and that he can't continue doing it anymore. But it's too late, because Vivian's figured it out - all the murders, all of Archer's secrets, and now she requests one last thing - the death of her current messed-up boyfriend.
That is where everything backslides in Archer and Vivian's relationship. It's when he sees her as her real self - not the sweet girl he remembered her as, but the malignant person who liked the adrenaline of the kill - and he decides that it's way overdue that he broke it off with her. In rage of fury, jealousy and madness, Vivian becomes uncontrollable, pushing Archer into fighting for the one thing, the one person who really loves him. Evan.
I give it 5 stars because it was great, and I recommend it to anyone who'd care to see that sometimes hope is waiting on the other end of the tunnel. Enjoy.