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Everything Burns by Vincent Zandri

Brief synopsis (no spoilers)
Fire has been part of Reece's whole life. His mother and two brothers were killed in a fire when he was young. Then he tried to burn down another house as a kid. Then he tried to burn down his estranged wife's house- with his child inside. He's also been through much therapy, and it's mostly in the past. But in the course of one single day, all of his ghosts rage back into the present.

Category
Thriller

Why I chose this book
Kindle First

My personal opinion (the review)
The book was pretty "meta". It's a book about an author that wrote a book, and the consequences of writing it. The story line was okay- a little predictable, but okay. And I did finish it, so it wasn't awful.
But overall, I'd give it a rating of "it stunk". The bad language was way more than I should have tolerated. When it got to a point that it should have ended, the author just kept writing- about 4 more chapters. Much of the violence and use of fire made me uncomfortable. I have no idea how any of the manipulative, unkind, psycho main characters are anything but social rejects.

Warnings:
Language - lots. It's spread out, so it didn't raise alarms at first, but by halfway through, I was sick of it
Violence - fighting, burning people, entire plot
"Adult" situations - flashbacks are prevalent, but not graphic
Death - yes, and of fairly major characters

Movie rating equivalent
R

Protagonist description
Reese has mental and emotional problems, and at first you're led to believe they still are problems. But by the end of it, it's clear his demons are behind him

Point of view of story
First

Book length
Medium-short

Story flow
Sometimes choppy during flashbacks, but the story takes place in one day, so it moves pretty consistently.

Grammar and spelling issues
None

Character connection (no spoilers)
None. I wouldn't want to get to know ANY of the characters personally. They all left a bad taste in my mouth, except Anna, the 8-year old.

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