A Perfect Canvas by Kevin Adkisson

★★★☆☆

Animal lovers' warning (because I am one): there is a very small amount of animal violence in the book

I must confess that I'm unsure how to review this book. The premise was pretty good, and the writing style moved me along, although there are several grammatical errors and some odd word choices (sharks of pain comes to mind). The e-book formatting needs work, for example many paragraphs are mysteriously indented.

However, the biggest problem with this book is that we're introduced to the main characters through the eyes of the villain. First impressions are hard to ignore, so rather than see Paige and Eddie as they really are, we are stuck with the villain's twisted perceptions. I would like to have met them first as they really were, and then seen how the villain viewed them.

Generally speaking, the author's overall style is pretty good and I would consider reading more of his work.

Possible Spoilers

I did find some of the characters/scenes in the book to be more filler than to have a real purpose. For example, after he is attacked, Paige's husband seeks help from a detective. A little time is spent on the detective's background and finding out what steps he can take, but he never factors into the story at all. While it was refreshing that a character in a book actually went for help (too often, the writers try unsuccessfully to present a scenario in which the victim doesn't feel that they can go for help - something I usually find unbelievable and frustrating), it would have been sufficient to know that he'd contacted the detective, not to delve into what the man might be able to do when it had no effect on the outcome.

Chris is also very confusing. I had a hard time figuring out her motivation, even after reading the prologue, but it felt more like the author either changed his mind or included her to put the reader off-balance, but her changing attitude seemed a bit forced and unnatural.

All in all, though, this is a decent, quick read.