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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Aug 2014, 320 pages
Paperback:
May 2015, 384 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Donna Chavez
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A heart-stopping, entertaining thrill ride, One Kick announces the arrival of a blistering new series by a stunning talent in the thriller realm.
Famously kidnapped at age six, Kick captured America's hearts when she was rescued five years later. Now, twenty-one, she finds herself unexpectedly entangled in a missing child case that will put her talents to the test.
Trained as a marksman, lock picker, escape artist and bomb maker by her abductor, Kick could not return to the life of the average young girl after her release. So, in lieu of therapy, she mastered martial arts, boxing, and knife throwing; learned how to escape from the trunk of a car, jimmy a pair of handcuffs, and walk without making a sound - all before she was thirteen.
Kick has trained herself to be safe. But then two children go missing in three weeks, and an enigmatic and wealthy former weapons dealer approaches her with a proposition. John Bishop uses his fortune and contacts to track down missing children. Not only is he convinced Kick can help recover the two children—he won't take no for an answer.
With lives hanging in the balance, Kick is set to be the crusader she has always imagined herself. Little does she know that the answers she and Bishop seek are hidden in one of the few places she doesn't want to navigate - the dark corners of her own mind.
A heart-stopping, entertaining thrill ride, One Kick announces the arrival of a blistering new series by a stunning talent in the thriller realm.
PROLOGUE
THEY HAD TOLD HER what to do if the police ever came. They had run drills—first thing in the morning; in the middle of the night; halfway through a meal—until she could get to the trapdoor in the closet from anywhere in the house in under a minute. She was an agile kid, and fast, and she practiced. When her father clicked the stopwatch and gave her a proud nod, she felt a heat of happiness burn in her chest.
She knew that he did it all for her. She saw the toll the stress took, the creases at the corners of his eyes, the gray strands in his gold hair; the pink of his scalp showed through where his hair was thinning on top. He was still strong. She could still count on him to protect her. Their property was in a rural county, miles from the nearest house, and he said he could hear a car coming as soon as it turned onto the gravel lane. This is where he had taught her to shoot. How to plant her feet so the .22 would feel steadier in her hands. He told her that if the ...
If you like complex protagonists you absolutely must meet Kick. But be forewarned, she is given to fits of out-of-the-blue behavior that can inflict cognitive whiplash. The young woman is very deep and very threatening – threatening to become my favorite fictional character, that is...continued
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(Reviewed by Donna Chavez).
Chuck Palahniuk, New York Times bestselling author of Fight Club
In her Heartsick series Cain might cut your heart out. With One Kick she breaks it. If you're not crying by page 188 and terrified by page 290, you're not reading the right book. Jeffery Deaver, author of The Skin Collector
"Author Cain has done it again. One Kick is superb! From its breathtaking opening sequence, through scenes of wrenching evil and heart-clutching emotion to its roller coaster finale, this novel will stay with you for a long time. Sue Grafton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of W is for Wasted
Chelsea Cain has staked her claim to new territory with One Kick which heralds an exciting new series. Fresh, original, engaging and tension-filled, this is a perfect introduction to Kick Lannigan, whose quest for justice you'll champion.During a bank holdup in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973, two men held four people hostage for six days. Over that time period the hostages bonded with the captors and vice versa. The hostages eventually even believed that their captors were actually their protectors, keeping the police from hurting them. It is rumored that one of the hostages later became engaged to one of the captors.
Although this behavior, called Stockholm Syndrome, seems self-defeating, strange, and even inexplicable, it is quite the contrary. Research has shown that time and again many "hostages" eventually develop fond feelings for their captors. Here the word hostage refers to any one of a number of situations wherein individuals feel trapped by others. From true ...
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