As gritty and dark as always, Saul Black again drags Detective Valerie Hart through the worst of humanity in order to give the reader another incredible, heart-pounding, tension-filled thriller ... Black gets the twists and the action started quickly and never lets up ... Not for every suspense-lover or thriller-reader, Anything For You goes dark – even in comparison to Black’s other work. There is no one unscathed when the dust settles ... This tightly-wound, brilliantly paced thriller will keep the reader engaged, excited, and glued to the page. This isn’t the kind of book you spread over a few weeks – you read until your eyes can’t focus, sleep, and then read some more!
The moment you think you have the latest Valerie Hart thriller figured out, Saul Black takes the narrative in a new and stunning direction. Exquisitely plotted, this police procedural unravels with the deftness and striking prose that Black fans have come to expect ... There’s an icy self-awareness and a self-deprecation to both Valerie and Sophia that helps them transcend typical femme fatale stereotypes. Black gives Sophia, in particular, a complex and sometimes unsettling back story that makes her feel like more of an anti-heroine than a villainess. By the time Valerie is closing in on her quarry, we are so invested in both of these characters, and in the incredibly intricate plot, that it is almost a disappointment to see the mystery solved. Black blends nuanced characters, immersive prose and complex plotlines so skillfully that it feels practically magical. When Valerie and Sophia finally meet face-to-face, readers will be breathless with anticipation and the promise of delicious secrets being revealed.
Black weaves past and present to create a visceral tapestry of sex and murder that will lead Valerie down some exceedingly dark alleys ... Black does a nice job of getting readers acquainted with Valerie without a lot of exposition, and his meticulous plotting will likely stymie even the most jaded thriller fans. This series keeps getting better and better, and each book is a dark gem. If you like ‘em gritty, with a beating heart at the center, this one delivers. Don’t miss it.
Fans of mystery novels will recognize Valerie’s hard-boiled detective persona...The author also does little to paint nuance onto her character or indeed onto any of the characters we are introduced to, except the villain. They all have secrets, some of them fairly large, but they are all pretty straightforward in spite of them and the only twists and turns here occur in the plot ... Even that isn’t very curvy. This is a methodical, detailed police procedural where solid investigating and following hunches lead to a stunning but well set up ending. The dénouement did surprise me, but I could look back and see how the trail inevitably led to this conclusion. I love when the author can make the resolution a revelation but also show you how the clues were pointing in that direction all along and that definitely happened here. I always find that kind of closure deeply satisfying ... for fans of detective fiction Anything for You is satisfying overall. While the story doesn’t transcend genre or push this category of fiction to new limits, it does a decent job of meeting its standards.
Valerie unflinchingly taps into her own weaknesses as a way to gain insight into her quarry; this angle, along with the skilled story crafting, will appeal to fans of Carol O’Connell and Chelsea Cain.
The pacing of Saul Black’s Anything for You will have you absolutely soaring right through it. One surprising twist after another will keep your head spinning. You’ll walk alongside Valerie as she agonizes over her future and bemoans her past. Valerie is a tortured soul; she needs guidance to steer her on the right path. Will she find it? See if you agree with her decision --- rather, decisions --- at the end.
... best described as an intricate puzzle ... a thriller filled with hair-raising twists and turns, fueled by haunted characters, graphic violence and raw emotions. Black deftly transforms this rawness into a strength through the character of Valerie. He bares her wounded psyche and the self-deprecating awareness of her own darkness ... Albeit elegantly crafted, the climax of this novel comes with a final sleight of hand that might make you feel played. Forgive Mr. Black, it’s one more canny bit of mischief that makes Anything for You such a splendid read.
From the first gruesome scene of the novel it’s clear that this is a thriller with ragged edges, haunted characters, and graphic violence. Yet Black transforms this rawness into a strength through the character of Valerie. We see her wounded heart and her self-deprecating awareness of her own darkness, layers that illuminate the truth of the novel: that the actions we take for love are not always beautiful, or right, but they still carry meaning. It’s in learning to accept the consequences of our decisions that even the most troubled heart can find a kind of peace ... Gritty and grim, this is a terrific thriller made more luminous by its refreshingly human detective.
... [a] glossy game of mirrors from Black, who exploits multiple narrative perspectives and extended flashbacks to heighten the suspense. In the end, his sleight of hand may make some readers feel a bit played—but only after they’ve stayed up late into the night to discover the tale’s final twists.
