One Kick

One Kick by Chelsea Cain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am stil trying to decide why I liked this story so much. It has a lot of tropes that these mysteries seem to have...eerie coincidences, plot points that don't make logical sense but create drama and/or mood, hospital scenes, and a fight scene with at least one naked person. And the protagonists are always beautiful, brilliant, or way too physically capable. Kick is beautiful, and smart, and knows how to lay you out with a single punch, but she is also messed up. Deeply. After being a victim of a kidnapping herself, she knows 500 ways to defend herself, but she is still so messed up mentally that you realize no matter how many weapons she has, she is still the most vulnerable person in the room. And I think that is what makes Kick so like able, and One Kick so readable. It is about heavy stuff...child kidnaping and abuse, but Cain wisely glosses over details so it isn't too disturbing.

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