Chasing Evil (Circle of Evil Trilogy, #1)

by Kylie Brant

[Charli G.]

**I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

First things first, I'm happy to see this book is set in Iowa. In all honesty, I think this is the first novel I've read that was actually set in Iowa... even Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" is set in Nebraska, not Iowa. Then again, there isn't much in Iowa. Cam Prescott just about says it all when he says something to the effect of "This is Iowa. We've got cows. Pigs. Maybe sheep." He didn't mention corn and soybeans, but you get the gist of it.

Murders do happen in Iowa, although serial killings aren't all that common here. Or at least I never hear of them. So it was fun to read about places I've heard of, but haven't been to, in the state in which I live. It makes me giggle to think of someone like Dr. Sophia Channing living in Iowa, to be honest. I always picture big-time psychologists like her to be living in Chicago or New York, not Des Moines or Iowa City.

While it took me a couple of days to read, this book definitely didn't start out slow. This book got right down to it and didn't stop until the very end. While it's pretty common for the first body to be found within the first chapter of a thriller, it isn't as common for the action to continue right up to the end. It's also not quite so common to realize you're going to have a sequel by the way the first book ends.

This book had a few heart-stopping moments, which is good. The characters had great development and in all honesty, while there were some spots I thought were a bit predictable, it wasn't as though it detracted from the story. It probably just means that I've read a few too many thrillers and as such, I am able to determine when certain information is going to be revealed and by whom.

The only thing that sort of bothered me was the lack of clear delineation between the main plot of the book and the flashbacks of the relationship between Prescott and Channing. Once I got used to seeing the flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter it was easier to deal with, but at first I was left a bit confused. Perhaps those should have been in italics or otherwise marked so it would be easy to figure out. Also, it'd be nice to know who was having the flashback just for reference. After all, the two parties might remember things a bit differently.

All in all, it was a 4 star read. Luckily I've got the second and third books so I don't have to wish for the sequel on this one. I definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a good thriller with some romance parts to it.