From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: Bait by J. Kent Messum

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Blog Tour: Bait by J. Kent Messum

by: J. Kent Messum
published by: Plume
publish date: August 27, 2013

Six strangers wake up on a remote island in the Florida Keys with no memory of their arrival. They soon discover their sole common bond: all are heroin addicts from the slums of Miami.

This book was explained as the movie Saw meets Survivor and that's really the best way to describe it. The six participants in the game are kidnapped from the streets of Miami. They are chosen because they are all addicts and nobody will miss them. They are dropped off on an island with little food, little water and no memory of how they got there. The only instructions they are given is that there is more food, more water and heroin on the next island if they are willing to swim there, and they are being watched.

While there are six "players", only 5 make it beyond the first day, so the story really revolves around those five. Felix the boxer, Ginger, Maria, Kenny, and Nash. I would have liked a little bit more characterization between Kenny and Nash. I kept confusing the two, combining them in my head. These 5 people, going through heroin withdrawals, are pushed to their limits by madmen seeking entertainment. The group realizes they are going to have to work together to swim through shark infested water to get their next fix, if only they're being told the truth about what awaits them on the next island.

I liked this book. It's not too terribly long. I read most of it in one sitting. It's definitely R rated on language and violence...and obviously drug use. Bait was a story I was really interested in reading and I wasn't let down. Great debut from J. Kent Messum.