A Life Removed

Jason Parent has done it again! He has created a brilliant story that will grip you tight and won't let go! I found myself turning page after page to see what happens next. From start to finish, this book is mind blowing!

Detectives Marklin and Beaudette have their hands full when it comes to the ritualistic killings that plague Fall River. They have to weave their way through a maze of potential suspects. Officer Aaron Pimental's life is getting worse and worse. He is the traffic cop who goes home to a girlfriend that has grown distant. His friends have joined a religious group and don't really have time for him anymore. He wants to hang out with his friends, but they try to pressure him into joining their religious group.

I thought I knew where the story was going, but I was wrong. There are enough twists, turns, secrets, and revelations to keep you on the edge of your seat. The author has created some memorable characters. The characters feel real because you get to know and understand them as the story progresses. You feel the characters' frustrations and emotions. The personalities of each character gradually unfold as the story progresses, letting you see what the character is like and was like before the murders began.

A Life Removed is equal parts psychological horror and physical horror. This book will have you reading late into the night. This is a fun read because you never know where the story is headed. I will definitely be reading Jason Parent's other work!

I highly recommend this book to fans of mystery/thriller and horror!

5/5 stars!

3 and 1 / 2 stars

When the first victim is lured to her death and found in a dumpster, Officer Arron Pimental responds to the call. He is sickened by what he sees. The victim is naked and her heart has been removed.

Detectives Bruce Marklin, who no one likes and Jocelyn Beaudette show up at the scene. Aaron is offended by the cool manner in which Marklin takes in the scene. Beaudette is more human and able to feel more for the victim. They soon discover that this is not the first victim, and before the carnage is over, four victims die in the same manner.

Aaron is having problems with his girlfriend pulling away from him and his best friend has turned into a religious nut. He wants badly to be a part of the investigation, but is basically shut out.

We learn early on who the murderer is and why he is doing it. He has help. Aaron knows these people and is somewhat torn between good and bad. When he finally chooses, his life is in serious danger. Betrayed by his good friend, Aaron and his partner Brian are kidnapped and taken to a secret place where things turn very serious.

The book turns on a dime and gets even more enthralling.

This is an exciting and interesting read. It is fairly well written and plotted. This is my first Jason Parent book and I will be looking into his other novels. The suspense hits you from the very first and it only gets better.

I want to thank Netgalley and Red Adept Publishing, Inc. for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

A killer who removes the hearts of the victim is roaming the city and Detectives Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette are assigned to the case. Unfortunately for Officer Aaron Pimental he becomes embroiled in the case.
An enjoyable, interesting read with some good twists.

This is my first read by Jason parent. The description was just a bit too vivid for me but nonetheless, a well written book. A mixture of horror and police procedural set in small town America. Good characterisation and plenty twists to keep you engrossed. A good plot with plenty suspense means I would recommend this book. Many thanks to Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Red Adept for a review copy of A Life Removed a police procedural with some horror elements, set in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Detectives Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette are investigating a serial killer who tortures his victims and excises their heart. They reluctantly accept help from rather inept patrol officer Aaron Pimental but whatever they do he seems to be at the centre of the action.

On the whole I enjoyed A Life Removed as it is well written and draws the reader into the clever plot. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested and guessing although I found the reason for the killings impossible to believe and it put me off a bit. I have no imagination so I find these kind of leaps into the unproven silly.

The perpetrators are no secret to the reader as the third person point of view switches between the detectives, the group of killers and Aaron Pimental. The detectives' point of view is straightforward, find the killer and incarcerate him. The killers' point of view is much less so as they are a cult with a charismatic leader. Mr Parent does an excellent job of demonstrating the dynamic in this kind of group and with so many past examples it is easy to believe. The real thrust of the novel, however, is Aaron Pimental. He starts off as a slightly incompetent patrol officer doing traffic duty and not trusted to do much more but as the narrative focuses on him it is apparent that there is much more to him, including some mental instability. He is not particularly likeable but he's fascinating.

I would have preferred a more straightforward police procedural as there is not much focus on Marklin and Beaudette but Mr Parent has crafted a very readable novel which I do not hesitate to recommend.

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

Trusting, faithful followers. Believers and redeemers. Soul stealers. Lemmings. One is evolving, one is regaining his sight. A man with a God complex and a disarming smile. Do not let him into your heart.

A tantalizing mixture of police procedural and horror. The blend makes for a tasty read if you don't mind a healthy helping of gore. I thought it was swell.

Faith is for the lemmings.

Let me start by saying that this is the first novel I've read by Jason Parent. I can't say that I loved it, though it wasn't a terrible read, it just wasn't for me.

Let's start with the premise of the story shall we... it's told from several points of view, the main being Aaron Pimental, a small time police officer who's life seems to be rather mundane, he's been with his girlfriend, Arianna, for 6 years and things couldn't be more "routine" for them if they were married. His job as a police officer lacks that allure and excitement that one might come to expect, he spends most of his days on speed patrol and filling out mindless paperwork for the occasional fender bender. Aaron is on-duty when he is called to a nearby murder scene of a woman who has been discovered in a dumpster behind a sandwich shop. This is where we meet detective Bruce Marklin, a Harvard graduate is was one hell of a detective, but prefers to work alone. He is arrogant, stubborn, and generally pissy, which is likely why he had two failed marriages. We also meet detective Jocelyn Beaudette, an ambitious woman who was every bit the opposite of her mentor, polite, approachable, soft but not weak. Genuinely likeable. We discover that there is a ritualistic serial killer on the loose that is slicing the wrists of it's victims and removing their hearts. What's believed to be a sign of stigmata. Aaron, Marklin, and Beaudette are brought together under the most unusual circumstances throughout this case as it devolves. We find that Aaron's character is forced to make some pretty tough decisions about his friends, his career, and his own morals.

The ubiquity of religion in the novel was a bit too much for me. I realize that religion is a common thread that binds many, and it's found in quite a bit of literature, but something about the way it was intertwined in this novel simply didn't work for me. I also found Aaron's character a bit too melodramatic. I get that it was intended, but as a main character, he turned me off to the novel entirely. The other big problem I had is that key character just goes missing and although the epilogue is intended to close this gap on what happens to this character, it just doesn't quite work for me.

I will say that the book was well edited and that Jason Parent's writing was impressive, I just didn't care for the story itself. He is a talented author, and I'm willing to check out his other work.

Detectives Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette have been called in to catch a new killer that seems to hunt their victims at random. With no clues as to how or why the victims are being chosen or just how the killer is managing to complete the murders the detectives find themselves chasing down clues.

Officer Aaron Pimental has been in a bit of a personal spiral with his girlfriend pulling away and depressed with life. Aaron was at the scene of one of the killings and finds himself really losing faith in humanity but then finds himself right in the middle of the chase for justice from the ritualistic killings.

A Life Removed was a completely different type of story than I’ve experienced from Jason Parent before which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but I found myself not as big of a fan of this one than ones I’d read earlier leaving me to rate the story at 3.5 stars. This book is more heavily a police procedural than the horror reads I’d experienced before from Mr. Parent. Once getting more into the killings and suspects I saw the tinges of horror but had wished there were more to it than I found. I would warn though that the story can be a bit graphic for those that would shy from that but not too terrible with serial killings involved. Overall, a good read but I wasn’t quite wowed with this one.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Well this was interesting book. I don't know why but I was actually rooting for the killer in this book. I think it's because I would like to see more of him in another book. Once I actually started reading the book and didn't put it off I really got into the book and enjoyed it. You feel bad for Aaron but he is nutters. I like detective Jocelyn Beaudette the best out of all the characters besides the killer. This book gets you thinking on how some people will just follow anything someone says is from God. People need to think for themselves but this book is a good example that people do not. I really did enjoy this book and hope there are more to come.

This was an odd story. To say that I wanted to maybe go out and kill a noisy neighbor and munch on their heart might be a little overblown.......but then I had a snickers. I didn't get the energy boost from it that I might have received from a bloody, still beating heart, but hey, the neighbors are still alive! I loved everything about this story. The murderers and their motives were truly screwey. I like that. The police however were bumblers. Think keystone cops, without the billyclubs. While I finished this book yesterday, as of today I can't recall any of the characters names, except Aaron, he's impossible to forget. I don't know what that says about the book or the main characters, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. I prefer more character development. It's still a book I'd recommend. My thanks to Red Adept Publishing and Netgalley.

Officer Aaron Pimental attends a crime scene only to find a young lady naked and with her heart missing, detectives Marklin and Beaudette are to investigate the crime and when there are more bodies found it seems a serial killer has moved into their town. Marklin and Beaudette find it odd that Pimentall seems to turn up at their crime scenes more and more and they can't help wondering why.
This is a police procedural with added horror. It's told in the 3rd person and even though it changes to different characters it is so easy to follow and means you get to know the characters more. It's not for the feint hearted though as there is snippets of gore but totally appropriate and enhanced the plot. I did however find a couple of parts that were slightly amusing when Aaron finds himself in a canoe in the middle of a lake for instance. It's a fabulous book that that keeps you in suspense all the way through.
Thank you to NetGalley and Red Adept for a copy of the book.

I've read and listened to the author's books before and have come to expect a sort of lowbrow entertainment, but I'm thrilled to see that he's actually improving as an author. With this one, somewhat unimaginatively named thriller, Parent enters a new territory. It's more ambitious, the dialogue is stronger and more importantly the characters are finally acquiring some dimensionality. This might have been just another middle of the road cops chasing a serial killer story, but Parent elevated the plot with the ambiguous protagonist who hears the siren's song luring him to the dark side and fights to resist it. That internal moral struggle made the book a much more interesting and compelling read. Plus it was fun, lots of fun and had some genuine thrills in it to appease genre fans. Nice done. Always great to see an author up their game. There's enough mediocrity out there plus one should really reach for the stars. Thanks Netgalley.

I have received this books as an ARC from netGalley with intentions of writing an honest and truthful review.

I have never read a book from Jason Parent, but have heard some really good things about his writing, so when I saw this one on NetGalley I wanted to give it a shot. Wow is all I can say I will be reading more books from him in the future. He is a well written author and awesome story teller. His book had my attention from the minute I started the book to the minute I finished the book. It transported me to another realm, I felt like I was in the book with the characters. It is a good mix of two genres, intense genre and horror. I tend to not like horror books but I found this one was pretty good. A Life Removed was a real page turner because it had you always guessing what was going to happen on the next page.

An excellent book. I enjoy the books by Jason Parent and he hasn't let me down with this one.

'A Life Removed' is a thriller which runs the gamut from psychological to horror. When several bodies are found missing their hearts, detectives Marklin and Beaudette have a hard time investigating the case. The book has no fix POV, as parts of the story describe the police investigation, while others follow Aaron Pimental, who happened to be the first officer at the first crime scene. As a third angle, we have the viewpoint of the culprit, so we also know the who, how and where of each next murder. As the reader knows from the start who the murderer is, this is not a typical 'whodunnit' mystery, though of course one focus is on how and when the murderer will be caught, if at all. However, a large part of the book centers on the psychological aspect of the murders and the persons involved.

My favorite chapters where those featuring Marklin and Beaudette, both not necessarily likable characters, but I liked how they complemented each other in their work. On the other hand, I felt an instant dislike towards Aaron Pimental, who was complaining too much, showed too little initiative and turned out to be a very unstable and troubled character. With his psychological profile and background, I wondered how he managed to become a police officer at all. The psychopath responsible for the gruesome deaths at least had a clear and simple motive for his deeds. It was fascinating to see how he was able to easily influence, or rather brainwash, other people to serve his purpose, abusing religious belief for his cruel benefit.

While I enjoyed the unusual concept of this thriller at the same time I think it was unnecessarily long and often slow which too much dialogue. I also could have done with one or two less detailed descriptions of the murders, not because of their shocking brutality, but because it got boring.
At about sixty percent I was tempted to put the book down, as most questions where answered and, even with the subsequent turn of events, there was no tension left to hold my interest. While I did finish the book, the final twist held no surprise and rather felt like an overlong epilogue. Overall, this was an interesting story, but not exceptionally so.

If you're a thriller and suspense fan, this book by Jason Parent should be at the top of your list. Scary and full of twists and turns, this was just a rollercoaster of a ride! Just when you think you've got a handle on what's happening, you get thrown a curve ball that leaves you biting your nails. Very highly recommended!

4 Stars!



I have recently discovered Jason Parent through some of his shorter works and have been impressed with what I had read. I was happy to dive into A Life Removed and see what Parent had to offer in a novel.



There is a new serial killer on the loose and it has the police, and more specifically detectives Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette, confounded. The victims seem to be completely random and the only binding element is the ritualistic and extremely violent way in which the murders are conducted. Another policeman closely tied to the case, Aaron Pimental, feels as if his own life is falling apart even as the body count climbs. In this gritty world in which we live, is there anyone who is truly innocent or guilty or is it all just shades of grey in between? And to what lengths would one go to achieve godhood? The weight of the world rests upon Marklin and Beaudette to stop the killer before he strikes again and to maybe save the soul of the world along the way.



I was not really sure what to expect when I started the novel but I definitely did not expect a story that was more police procedural than horror. Maybe I should not have been that surprise since the short stories I had read were a blend of genres. The story is essentially a crime novel and a strong one at that. Parent navigates through the developing story of the crime in a way that keeps the story moving along even while introducing different elements into the mix. The story is a good one strictly on its merits as a crime novel with all the elements deftly handled to create a novel that drew me along from the opening page.



While this is not a true horror story, there are a lot of horror elements to the story and the violence is extreme so that the novel should still appeal to many horror fans. Parent does not shy away from pushing the envelope at times with his descriptions of the murders and this may be too strong at times for those who are used to police procedurals as seen on TV. What really makes the story stand out, though, are the characters. Parent gives them a depth that is not common in thrillers and this element allows the reader to not just experience the events of the novel but to understand them as well. No character in the story is perfect just as in life which gives the reader a glimpse into the psyche of the characters. Even the most immoral of characters are accessible as the are understandable and feel real.



A Life Removed is a novel that rests in an area between genres and thus may not appeal to all. There is the hard element of horror and violence that could be too much for thriller fans while this is undeniably a police procedural that may not be right for some horror fans. As a fan of both crime thrillers and horror, I found the book to be an exciting read that had plenty of development to the story and yet kept up the pace throughout the story. Parent is a writer to keep an eye on and this novel just served as further proof of his talent.





I would like to thank Red Adept Publishing and NetGalley for this review copy. A Life Removed is available now.