Book Review: The Forsaken by Ace Atkins

The Forsaken by Ace Atkins, 2014, Hardback borrowed from library, 384p.

Three out of five golden stars

The Forsaken is the fourth book in the Quinn Colson series and in my opinion, the weakest thus far. The novel spends much of its time tidying up loose ends from a shootout that happened in the previous novel, the amazing The Broken Places. It was refreshing to see characters face consequences for their actions, but at the same time it wasn’t really interesting until the second half of the book. My main issue with The Forsaken was that it took me a while to get into the primary storyline, which included investigating an old crime. One of the main things I like about the Colson novels is the action – there is usually so much action, but in The Forsaken, Quinn spends much of his time in meetings and talking with people. This is the main reason I dislike legal thrillers – as soon as the main character is in a meeting that lasts more than a page, my brain tunes out. I don’t know why, but it has always been like that. The big action scene that these books usually deliver was present, but seemed flat, formulaic and not long enough – more gunfights, less verbal jousting, thanks.

I know I’ve just spent the previous paragraph bitching about this novel, but there were plenty of things that I did really enjoy about it – mostly things that the Colson novels always nail. Firstly the characters are awesome, although I would have preferred more Boom in this story, I still love all the people! Second, Atkins creates the little town vibe so well, you feel like you know all the places the action takes you.

But the real reason I will be picking up the next book in this series was the ending. OMG. So good. I didn’t see something coming, even though I should have, but it has made me SUPER excited for the next novel. So yes, although I didn’t think The Forsaken was perfect, it was still a decent instalment in an otherwise terrific series.