Noise

2.85 out of 5 stars

I feel like the first line in the blurb describes Leon perfectly...

"The world is an ugly place, and I can tell you now, I fit it just fine."

Leon is such a sad man. It's hard not to pity a man who has but one ray of sunshine in a very bleak existence. Lily, Leon's sister, disappeared 10 years ago, presumed to be dead, until a cryptic anonymous message from someone saying that Lily was in New York city and in desperate need of help. From there this story evolves in to something very dark. The things Leon finds are not pretty, and the things he does in the name of love are even worse.

"The world was not as we had imagined it to be, sister, not even close. The world is a cruel, bastard place, inhibited, every last inch, by predators and runners, Lily cold and lost somewhere, me hot and bleeding and swinging a hammer. Life as it is, not as we wish it to be."

The world that Mr. Rose paints is indeed this dark and terrible beast, living, breathing, and devouring all the goodness inside of it. Leon stumbles across much more than he bargained for, but will stop at nothing until he finds his dear sister, or avenges her. Any in his wake will parish. As things go on this reads much like a shoot 'em up type script. Lines of right and wrong seemed blurred. While Leon certainly can not be considered a "hero" in the typical sense, he is definitely a dark avenger of sorts. And if he's the "good guy" all should tremble before the bad ones. They were a sick bunch of people, and it was hard not to root for Leon to unleash his street justice upon them all.

My only real complaint about Noise was that while I did feel pity for Leon, it was hard to feel much else, and forget about feeling anything for much of anyone else, sans disgust. I felt a little disconnected from the characters. I could clearly see their story, but I just couldn't invest much in any of them. No one was very fleshed out. You got a basic sense of the character, and that was it. Even the victim, Lily, was not enough to engage me fully. I felt bad for her plight, but she almost seemed surreal. Like she could just as easily been a figment of Leon's imagination, perhaps the better part, the last of his humanity.

This was a heavy duty terminator type of story. A man on a mission, that made anyone in his way meet their maker. Lots of action in a relatively short amount of time. Fans of high adrenaline, shoot 'em up, blood and guts , and vigilante justice will most likely really enjoy this book. I mostly enjoyed it, the writing was quite beautiful, in a dark way, at certain parts. But I need a little more connection with characters to rate a book any higher than this.

I received a copy of this book from Velocity Imprints via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I love the cover of this book. it literally screams for your attention. It is an action packed, dark novel. It stands out in the mystery/thriller genre because it is different. The characters are well developed and the plot makes some interesting and unexpected turns. It is definitely a page turner and once you start reading, it is hard to put down.

Noise is a very well written mystery and suspense novel that centers around a character by the name of Leon. Leon is the adopted child of a family who forms a very close bond with his new sister, Lily. The book opens with the apparent suicide letter that Lily wrote Leon when she was 17 and he was 15. In the opening chapter, Leon has just arrived at the city of New York, having received a couple of postcards that provide him with evidence that his sister is very much alive and well. His investigation begins at the diner that is pictured on one of the postcards. Questioning the staff that work there immediately leads him to an establishment known as Ten House, which is basically a strip club. What happens next ...
Well, you will just have to read the book to find out. I'm not going to spoil the experience for you, but I will tell you that you won't be disappointed. I enjoyed this book.

This is a fast-paced, action filled novel that will leave you breathless. The main character draws you in to the story from the very beginning, and you're right there with him through all the passion and the fury that follows. Is it society that corrupts us or do we corrupt society - do we become the very thing we fight against? This is an explosive, and at times terrifying, look at what one man is willing to do for someone he loves. It displays the power of love to bring about change in a person's life, and how sometimes that power can become uncontrollable. This story definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.

Many thanks to The Editorial Department for the ARC via NetGalley.

Powerful, relentless, and thoroughly unique, precisely like its protagonist, Noise surprises with its brutality and honesty. It takes you for a wild ride on the waves of a dark, sinister rage that escalates as quickly as the storm in the very heart of New York.
Enter the silent world of Leon, and admire the way he can feel the noise, the way he knows it's there. The first-person and present tense grab you by the throat and scream in your ear.
All along the way I struggled to shake off the thought of the possibility that at any point, Leon might read people's lips incorrectly - after all, we only have his word for it, so we could never really know. For me personally, this feeling added to the heaviness and immensity of the novel.
This is everything but a light read, but its rewards are plentiful.
A very special bonus is the author's afterword that reflects on the process of writing a novel with the authority of experience.
Read it, please, please, read it.