This was an enjoyable, action-packed read, that seemed to be a mix of young adult, action, horror and fantasy. The writing style sometimes brought me out of the story, but overall I'd say it was an enjoyable read. I do like the way the 19 year old girl is called Rumer, which cleverly works with the title very well. I'm guessing the author planned it that way!

I wanted to like this but the action is so over the top it is impossible to suspend disbelief. Needs a better editor for the next one.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy,

It was an enjoyable read with interesting plot.

Thank you netgalley and Unbound for the release of this book for review!

First let's just take a moment and look at this cover!!....... Okay now on to my thoughts.

This story has a mixture of horror/thriller vibes mixed with the feels of a great horror movie! And for me, that can never be a bad thing.

Vicious Rumer is a dark, gritty thriller featuring a 19 year old girl named Rumer who believes she has been cursed since birth by her notorious assassin mother who disappeared after Rumer`s birth. Everybody that gets close to Rumer dies, forcing her to live in the shadows until she is suddenly thrust into the very world her mother dominated. I love the concept of never being able to touch someone. Can you imagine your life never touching someone due to the fear of them dying! I mean never knowing the feel of someone. Humm this is so for me.

The writing can be a bit choppy but this story was packed! This was also a new author for me so I will be checking out any other work he has out.

Rumer Cross is cursed - everyone around her dies. Which is why Rumer isolates herself, working for a detective agency.
Rumer lives in the shadow of her dead mother, a ruthless criminal with a long list of victims.
When a dangerous criminal that knew Rumer's mother demands that Rumer tell him where the Crook Spear is, she finds herself sucked into a dangerous world.
Her very life under threat, Rumer must do whatever she can to survive.

The premise for Vicious Rumer really intrigued me.
I liked Rumer and I felt sorry for her - she had gone through a lot. I could totally understand why she thought she was cursed.
Bolt was an interesting character and I would have liked there to have been more of him in the book.
The plot was interesting but nothing that happened really surprised me.
I liked the writing style - it felt very atmospheric - but I wasn't gripped.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

I have heard so much about this book and was super excited to be given the chance to review it! “Vicious Rumer is by Author Joshua Winning.
“Rumer Cross is cursed. Scraping by working for a dingy London detective agency, she lives in the shadow of her mother, a violent criminal dubbed the ‘Witch Assassin’ whose bloodthirsty rampage terrorized London for over a decade.
Raised by foster families who never understood her and terrified she could one day turn into her mother, Rumer has become detached and self-reliant. But when she’s targeted by a vicious mobster who believes she’s hiding an occult relic, she’s drawn into the very world she’s been fighting to avoid.
Hunted by assassins and haunted by her mother’s dark legacy, Rumer must also confront a terrible truth: that she’s cursed, because no matter what she does, everybody she’s ever grown close to has died screaming.”
This book was so much more than what Ii was expecting. The characters were well-developed, the story moved at a wonderful pace. There was violent, there was intense. There was Rumer! She was very likeable, and I also found myself feeling sorry for her. I don’t want to give too much away so I won’t go into depth, but I will say that you need to check this book out ASAP!
**I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

3.5 Stars

"I've killed more people than I can count but I never meant to."

Vicious Rumer is a dark, gritty thriller featuring a 19 year old girl named Rumer who believes she has been cursed since birth by her notorious assassin mother who disappeared after Rumer`s birth. Everybody that gets close to Rumer dies, forcing her to live in the shadows until she is suddenly thrust into the very world her mother dominated.

"The dark's comforting. The shadows are an ally.
I'm one of them and they embrace me like a sister."

Non-stop action that borders on over-the-top at times, this story allows no time to take a breath between conflicts. The theme of the story requires some suspension of disbelief and while I enjoyed getting to know Rumer, I couldn't personally relate to her at all, I doubt anybody could. The writing is a bit choppy at times with short sentences and some inconsistencies in minor details.

This book is aimed at the YA crowd and I've no doubt that that demographic will love Rumer. She's a badass and completely unlike the typical female characters in this genre. She's certainly no pining damsel in distress, in fact, Rumer is the one doing the saving in this story.


I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5- Rumer has a pretty dull nonexistent life until she is mistakenly drawn into the world that enveloped her mother the ruthless assassin. What will she do when the world she fought so hard to stay away from won't let her go? This was the first book that I read by Joshua Winning and it will definitely not be the last. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and write about this book.

A real page-turner of a book.

Rumour Cross is a kid with a complex history. She believes that her mother who was also a violent criminal cursed her. She ended up in the foster care system but as soon as she is able to, she escapes and disappears.
A suspicious character, she doesn’t allow anyone to get close to her.
She works for a private detective but one day she is kidnapped by a crime boss who wants an item that he thinks that Rumour has.
Lots of twists and turns throughout the book have you wondering who, if anyone, Rumour can trust.

I really hope that there will be more books featuring Rumour. She’s a kickarse heroine and I really want to read more about her.

I gave this a very rare 5 stars on Goodreads.

This was a very different book for me but i really enjoyed it. Rumer was just my kind of character, feisty and complex. I read this pretty much non stop as even when i tried to do other things i wanted to read more about Rumer. There's odd characters which are just as interesting as Rumer though i don't think anyone could be as bad ass.

A brutal Neo Noir thriller.

When I began reading this book I could tell from the very beginning that this felt very noir. The way the heroine (Rumer) spoke was a little different and yet I loved it. She is a great character and I honestly hope this becomes a series.
This book is set in London and from page 1 it takes off and only slows down in my opinion when it does flash backs. The flash backs themselves give great character backstory but slowed down the pace of the story just a little bit. Each character in this novel is very well written, complex and uniquely their own. It is hard to talk about this book without giving away any spoilers, so the simple plot of this story is Rumer works for a detective agency shadowing people and she’s really good at her job until one day she is kidnapped by a Crime Boss who believes she’s in possession of an item. What follows is a story with twists that kept me turning the page.
The writing in this novel is amazing. The stunning descriptions left me with visuals that this novel should instantly become a movie. The characters are each fascinating in their own way that make you care about them and also want to see them in future novels.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves mysteries, crime thrillers, and tough heroines.

Rumer believes she was cursed at birth by her assassin mother who abandoned her. Everyone she cares about dies. When she is kidnapped by a mob boss looking for a mystical weapon called the Crook Spear, she has to fight her way out and potentially become just like the mother she hates. If you're not into violence, skip this one because it's pretty brutal. I didn't really dislike the book, but I didn't enjoy it all that much either. Some of it just felt too over the top. Seems like I am in the minority since it mostly has 4-star ratings, but I'd give it 2.5, rounding up to 3, because it really wasn't bad, just not my thing.

Vicious Rumer is a fast-paced, non-stop thrill ride from start to finish, filled with punchy, brutal action sequences, tension by the bucketload and just a dash of the supernatural for good measure. I loved that I was constantly made to second guess my opinion of every character, never sure who could be trusted or for how long, which brilliantly reflected Rumer's distrustful nature as she desperately fought to escape her past. The suspense never let up, keeping you on tenterhooks right up until the very last line, and I couldn't stop reading!

Vicious Rumer was a really fun and exciting read! With almost nonstop action from the very first page its a really quick read and I got really invested in the story really fast. Winning does a great job of setting the scene and fleshing out the characters. The descriptions are very old school noir and while they occasionally miss their mark, the style was overall enjoyable. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a fast paced, action packed mystery or to someone who enjoys a dash of the occult in their fiction.

This dark humorous story has you rooting for a very well rounded, down on their luck in life, and CURSED character.

We follow Rumor through past and present chapters of who she is, why now and what lead her through life to be who she is. Rumor through some not so pleasant past experiences grows up to be a London detective who gets kidnapped by the mob who are looking for an ancient relic that grants immortality.

With a little bit of Horror,Fantasy, and Badassery whats not to enjoy about this read!

Rumer is a damaged 19 year old trying to survive in a lonely and dangerous world.
The book begins with a chilling start, a hammer attack. Rumer is screaming and holding a hammer. How did she find herself in this situation?
There is no lapse in the energy and tension throughout. The book jumps back and forward in time which works really well, thanks to the skill of the author. We learn the reasons why Rumer is so damaged and so alone.
I hope that there will be a sequel to this book, Rumer is a brilliant character and I would love to hear more from her.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rumour Cross is a complex kid with a very tough life. The people she cares about have a habit of dying. Only one person is truly on her side. I enjoyed this book, the characters are colourful and are brought to life in a wonderful way as the storyline gallops along and drags you with it for the ride. Some harrowing scenes leave you wondering just who will make it out of this alive.
A real page turner, sit back, make a drink and immerse yourself in the world of Rumer Cross, you’ll be glad you did.

I’ve never read anything by Joshua Winning before picking up this eARC of Vicious Rumer. His writing style was completely new to me and I was blown away by it. This book is so pure, dark and with rough edges.. I didn’t even know I liked this sort of novels until now.

Vicious Rumer is the story about Rumer Cross, a 19 year old girl who lives in London. It all starts with Rumer standing in front of a guy with a hammer in her hands, screaming “Tell me what she wants!” … Well, if that doesn’t get your attention, I don’t think anything will. Only two pages in and I was already asking questions; Who is ‘she’? Why is Rumer holding a hammer? What is happening?

Rumer is a fierce protagonist. She is cursed at birth and abandoned by her mother. Her mother, Celene Cross, was known as “The Witch Assassin” and to say Rumer has had a rough childhood is an understatement. She has been placed in numerous foster homes, all but one she disliked. Her past and the curse haunt her. This has made Rumer ruthless and suspicious, but who can blame her. Everyone who has ever gotten close to her has died and she blames herself for it.

“Our past doesn’t define us, Rumer. It’s always a part of us, like a foreign accent or a wrinkle, but we can grow beyond it.”

The book is fast-paced and it had sort of a comic book vibe. The villains were a bit over the top and some of the settings were too. But this didn’t bother me and, actually, I liked it. The story has a young adult horror feel to it, but it also has a lot of humour, and it was exhilarating from start to finish.

Rumer Cross believes she is cursed by the mother and violent criminal, who abandoned her. She has been through the foster care system, and suffered at the hands of people who would judge her for that. She escapes the system and becomes a shadow. That way, no one will get close. To get close to Rumer means certain death. She is cursed, after all.
Her day becomes unimaginably bad when a top/ the top London crime boss decides that she knows where something is that he wants.
This is a very dark, violent, action-packed book, and definitely not one for the faint-hearted! And I loved it. Rumer is a lonely young woman, afraid to get close to anyone, and fighting for her life. There are so many twists and turns that it made ME paranoid, never mind Rumer. I'm glad I got the chance to read this through The Pigeonhole and NetGalley, and I'll be keeping an eye out for any other books that the writer writes in the future.

Really enjoyed reading and the character development of Rumer. Lots of twists and turns meaning you don’t know who to trust as the book develops