Review: Killing Faith by Eric Meyer

Title: Killing Faith
Author: Eric Meyer
Series: Gabriel De Sade # 1
Genre:  Crime Thriller
Source: Amazon
Format: E-book
Pub. Year: Sep. 21, 2011
Purchase:Smashword/ Amazon/ B&N/
I received this book free from Amazon in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb from Smashword:

When dismembered bodies turn up in New York City, the search for a serial killer begins. Leading the hunt is Afghanistan vet Gabriel de Sade, a Manhattan detective. What should be a simple murder investigation escalates as more bodies are found. The nightmare is just beginning for the Delta Force trained cop. The pursuit takes him to Moscow with his FBI partner, Special Agent Faith Ward.

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What I will remember: The novel asks for the reader to suspend rationality

It was a fun read but not what I expected. This book promise me a serial killer instead I got a Russian mafiya lord who did ritualistic kill females but he also killed people who got in his way of controlling nuclear weapons. Basically, he’s a terrorist so it’s a little unfair to say he is just a serial killer. I don’t classify the Russian man as such.

There is no red herring in this book. Within 20 pages or so (It is an estimate since it is an e-book), the identity of the serial killer is revealed and he’s the only suspect that the FBI places major emphasis on. I’m not a fan of that but let’s move on.  Can an FBI agent really be on a mission in a foreign country? I know a CIA agent can but an FBI agent, I’m not so sure.

Gabriel de Sade is a very tough detective and likes to work outside the law. He has definitely committed some illegal acts that should land him in prison. Faith Ward is the FBI agent  assigned to Russia because there are no CIA operatives in Russia. Plus, Russian priests are badass; they are so tough and apparently wield a lot of power in Russia. Interesting.

I thought Faith was going to be a strong female character but instead, she ended up being bait most of the time. Faith had moments where she was a strong character and quite useful but she was captured twice by the enemy, raped, and later had a near hanging. While I don’t like what happen to her character, I thought Meyer did a decent job handling her rape. No details were given but she was still traumatized by the incident, she didn’t ignore that she was raped but she didn’t wallow in misery. She was actively trying to work through her emotions. Plus, Gabriel did acknowledged her situation and was actually respectful in not trying to push her to “talk” about it. Am I wrong here in saying that it was a good thing that Gabriel didn’t push Faith to talk about her rape? When bad situations happen to me, I know I don’t like talking about it until I’m ready to so I think the situation was handled right. Either way, Killing Faith is highly misogynistic.

There is a lot of action in the book so it was highly entertaining but it’s also highly unrealistic (in my opinion) that any of those events could happen under the radar. Or maybe they could and I have no idea. There is also grammar issues and typos so be forewarn in that department. It annoyed me to no end. It’s very misogynistic so it’s not about female empowerment. Just be aware that there is no strong females in this book. The final verdict on this book is 2.5 butterflies.

2.5 BB- Look for in the library

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12th in the 150+ Reading Challenge
Also qualifies for: First in a series, Self-Published, Ebook, Why buy the cow? and Where are you reading?-Russia.