A Book A Week

Sometimes a book jumps onto your radar and completely surprises you. I've been busy keeping up with some ARC's that publish soon, so I've done my best to avoid distractions. But last week I stumbled upon Just One Bite by Jack Heath. The cover grabbed my attention first, and the summary really intrigued me. Add to it that the book takes place in Houston, Texas (the city I currently call home) and let's just say my reading schedule was now completely derailed. Thankfully, the book hooked me from the beginning. One sleepless night and several cups of coffee later, I'm a huge fan of Jack Heath's Just One Bite.

Timothy Blake is a man of contradictions. He used to be a consultant with the FBI, helping them solve particularly perplexing missing person cases. Now, he works for a local crime lord making bodies disappear. Blake is a genius with a photographic memory, but he also has a dark secret that he has to protect at all costs. He likes to eat people. Yep, good ole fashioned cannibalism. Like Jeff Lindsay's Dexter, Timothy Blake isn't just some cold-hearted killer. He follows a code of conduct, if you will, that sees him only eat the bodies he's disposing of. If you're going to eat people, it might as well be the worst kind of people in the world.

Blake is living large, freezer full of half-eaten remains when the FBI comes calling. Men are starting to disappear in Houston, and the FBI is at its wit's end. They task him with teaming with his former partner at the agency Reese Thistle to solve the case. The two awkwardly pick up where they left off. Thistle and Blake share a similar past. Thistle used her trauma to work her way through the ranks of law enforcement while Blake, well, you already know. Blake is brought to a halt when Thistle reveals the identity of the lastest man to go missing. He knows that face. The man's head is currently sitting in his freezer!

I can't even begin to adequately convey my love for this book. In Just One Bite author Jack Heath shocks and thrills while making you root for a morally conflicted hero. He avoids the obvious comparisons to Thomas Harris's famed Hannibal Lecter by grounding Blake with a quick wit and self-awareness that had me chuckling to myself several times. Heath takes readers on a twisted investigation through unique settings and well-rounded characters that made for one of the most fun reads I've had in a while. I was about 2/3rds through the book before I realized that it was the second in a series, so don't worry if you haven't read the first one. The main character is a cannibal, so be forewarned that Heath doesn't shy away from the grisly details of his hero's violence. Still, don't let that deter you from this clever and stellar read. Go ahead and take a bite.

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2019, 20)