Tag Archives: Kevin O’Brien

You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Kevin O’Brien

After you’ve devoured this tantalizing thriller and shared it with your friends, it can easily double as a doorstop. Even at 536 pages, there’s no lagging or stagnation. It’s all action. O’Brien has carefully crafted another entertaining standalone.

When 17-year-old Spencer (with two last names) is released from prison after serving his allotted time for killing his parents, he goes to live with his aunt, Andrea Boyle. The two of them move to Seattle to start anew and hopefully avoid the stigma of Spencer’s past. Andrea meets and falls in love with Luke who also has a teenager, Damon. But Damon spends most of the time with his mother. That’s the main cast of characters, a number that’s easy to follow.

Damon becomes the first to blow up the novel, literally. When the bullies at school no longer have Damon to pick on, they turn their attention to Spencer. Then the fireworks have only just begun.

One Amazon reviewer said: As with all O’Brien books, there is never a dull moment. He is able to hook his readers from the first page and never allows the story line to drag.

One Amazon reviewer raved: Another wild ride from Kevin O’Brien! I was fortunately under the weather when my copy arrived so I had nothing else to do but read this fast-paced thriller…don’t even remember stopping for meals…

O’Brien himself experienced bullying in high school so he knows what he’s talking about. My only beef with this book is the high body count. I didn’t think it was necessary.

Otherwise, I highly recommend “You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone” as a great way to spend a weekend. You may have to sleep with a nightlight on though.

With this Seattle author, and a story set in the Emerald City, you can’t go wrong.

Kevin O’Brien’s Unspeakable

One of my favorite thriller writers has a new book out titled “Unspeakable.” In it, a child actor (Collin) realizes that when he’s hypnotized another person emerges, a very dark, sinister and dangerous boy who lived 50 years before. While Collin sleeps, his friends become murder victims. Could he have done it unknowingly? That lays the foundation for fires, stabbings and untold unpleasantries.

Once again O’Brien, who lives in Seattle, has made me sleep with the light on. And this book contains more than 500 pages so the bulb burnt out a couple of times. A silhouette was lurking in the shadows on many of these pages. And I heard creaks around the house long after everyone, including the dogs, were deep into their slumber.

But that’s what makes the suspense real and why I’m such a thriller fan and especially an O’Brien devotee. My friend wants him to write faster so we’ll have more to read. I don’t know if faster would be better, because now he pens some terrific stuff.

What I also found appealing about this book was the author’s accurate portrayal of the atmosphere in Seattle during the days of the World’s Fair in 1962. How could someone who isn’t old enough to remember Century 21 write such precise details of the culture we experienced then? I worked at the Fair and my coworker’s daughter had a date with Elvis Presley when he filmed his movie here. I may have dated “Wade” from Unspeakable, but escaped before I became a liability. You’ll have to read the book to find out about that reference.

I highly recommend you pick up this paperback original or put it on your Kindle or Nook. Feel the tension for yourself.

Kevin O’Brien: A Favorite Author of Mine

For relaxation, I read thrillers, thrillers and more thrillers. But I’m fussy about what I select. I don’t care for stories that have detectives or agents as the main characters and I’ve found legal thrillers, for the most part, a bit tedious. My attention wanes after just a few courtroom scenes. The ones I like the best have ordinary people as the heroes and heroines.

One of my all-time favorite authors in my particular genre has to be Kevin O’Brien who lives in Seattle. Because he talks about places I’m familiar with in his books, it’s not hard to visualize where a scene takes place and that makes the book that much more fun for me.

I keep track of what I read in a Word document. This is what I said about “Vicious,” which I gave five stars: A thriller that kept me enthralled, one that I couldn’t wait to get back to reading and one that surprised me.

And “Final Breath,” which I also gave 5 stars and believe me, I’m very stingy with this perfect rating: I wanted to be reading this all the time and not taking care of my responsibilities. A reporter and her son are stalked and “heroes” from her stories murdered. The body count was a little high, but the story moved right alone. A high octane thriller at its best.

Now, I’m ensconced in his latest “Disturbed,” and I’d really like to go read instead of work, just like with the others.

If you like thrillers, give O’Brien a try.