Official Review: Prison Blade by Niki Hebert McQuilling

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 01 Oct 2016, 10:43

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Prison Blade" by Niki Hebert McQuilling.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Prison Blade is Niki Hebert McQuilling’s first novel. This book falls into the Romance genre but has many dark scenes and lots of dark humor. A friendly warning, it is not for the faint of heart. Rape and domestic violence are the themes of this book, and they are, in my opinion, brutal.

Abigail Averies is on the run from her past. A past that leaves her constantly looking over her shoulder waiting. Waiting for the time when her past will mix with her future. Running from an abusive husband who refuses to let her go, she fakes her death after her daughter is killed in a car accident. Leaving her husband and a family to mourn the loss of her, Abigail starts her life over. Working as a police officer in Louisiana, Abigail builds a new life for herself. Complete with a dog, a best friend, and a love interest. But when her husband finds her and forces his way back into her life, she knows it’s only a matter of time before things come crashing down around her.

Erik, her husband, worms his way into her life when he learns that she is alive and well. Vowing that he would remove her from her current life just because he could. Spending months planning, Erik finally lives up to his promise, stealing her away from her life to live secluded in the woods. Every day, Abigail prays for death or some relief. I honestly kept waiting for a knight in shining armor to swoop in and save the day. Just when she is ready to give up completely, her best friend somehow arrives with a team of other police officers removing her from out of her husband’s clutches.

From beginning to end, the story line itself was good. The many explicit rape scenes made me uncomfortable, and there were a few times I debated on whether to keep reading. I pushed through it though, and as the end came into view, I was glad that I did. The characters were believable, and there was growth, something I always enjoy seeing in a book. I saw growth especially in Abigail, going from the defeated, broken woman to the strong fighter she was at the end. It made her character more believable and to someone who has gone through a similar situation, relate-able. That is all I can say I liked about this story, though.

From the very beginning, I noticed a severe lack of proofreading. Missing punctuation, homophone-related errors, repeated words, etc. Unfortunately, it was a major distraction when there were several errors on a page at once, especially when it made the sentences confusing. Then, the plot had flaws that left me asking questions. She was given a means to escape, except for a new identity. Her first name remained the same before fake death and after. And that is just the start.

I wanted to like this story. The story has a lot of potential. The author took a big risk writing about such a touchy subject the way she did. I could have done without all of the rape scenes (there were many). I have to give Prison Blade by Niki Hebert McQuilling a 2 out of 4 stars. At first, I struggled with wanting to give it a 3 star because the story line, as I said is a good one, but with everything I found wrong with this book, it just brought it down greatly. As for recommending it, I don’t think I can. As stated in the first paragraph, this book is not for the faint of heart. The book is based around explicit scenes of rape and domestic violence, so if you can handle it and feel it’s worth checking out then, by all means, go for it!

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Prison Blade
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gali · Post by **gali** » 06 Oct 2016, 23:20

Sounds like a book with a potential. Too bad it fell flat. Thank you for the well written and insightful review.

Heidi M Simone · Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 07 Oct 2016, 01:38

This a very descriptive review, TrishaAnn92. I believe I fall into the faint of heart category, as I can only deal with a limited amount of rape/abusive scenes. It's too bad that the book falls short in some areas. Hopefully, your next book will be better!

AA1495 · Post by **AA1495** » 07 Oct 2016, 07:37

Dont think i'll read this one. Thanks for the great review!

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 07 Oct 2016, 09:15

gali wrote:Sounds like a book with a potential. Too bad it fell flat. Thank you for the well written and insightful review.

Thank you, gali!

hsimone wrote:This a very descriptive review, TrishaAnn92. I believe I fall into the faint of heart category, as I can only deal with a limited amount of rape/abusive scenes. It's too bad that the book falls short in some areas. Hopefully, your next book will be better!

Thank you, hsimone! I think if I had read the reviews and everything else on amazon I wouldn't have read it.

AA1495 wrote:Dont think i'll read this one. Thanks for the great review!

Thank you, AA1495!

Post by **bookowlie** » 07 Oct 2016, 17:43

Great, honest review. The book doesn't seem like my cup of tea, between the many explicit rape scenes and the grammatical issues. I applaud you for taking the time to give a thoughtful, objective review and also highlight the positive points.

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 07 Oct 2016, 17:45

bookowlie wrote:Great, honest review. The book doesn't seem like my cup of tea, between the many explicit rape scenes and the grammatical issues. I applaud you for taking the time to give a thoughtful, objective review and also highlight the positive points.

Thank you, bookowlie!

Moizajani · Post by **Moizajani** » 09 Oct 2016, 11:12

Thank you for your well written and honest review!

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 09 Oct 2016, 11:50

Thank you and welcome to the forums!

Molly the reader · Post by **Molly the reader** » 13 Oct 2016, 03:36

Thank you for this descriptive and ample review. I don´t Think this book suits my taste though.

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Reading is a way of living!

L.M. Möller

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 13 Oct 2016, 09:57

Thank you! Understandable, the topic is not one particularly suited to being an explicit romance novel.

Bajpai shikha · Post by **Bajpai shikha** » 17 Oct 2016, 18:23

A good review. True. It was an honest review. Thanks. I like to read every kind of book. And I would read it. Adding it to my shelf. Thanks for the review again! It has not got the best star ratings. But sounds a good read

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 17 Oct 2016, 18:39

Hope you enjoy it.

Camogirl217 · Post by **Camogirl217** » 25 Oct 2016, 15:17

Doesn't sound like my cup of tea. I prefer more happy stories. Reading should be enjoyable, not painful or sad. But that's just my opinion. It seems like an important, real-life topic that needs to be told, though. Well done!