Title: The Stuttering Tattoo
Author: Greg Logsted
Published: December, 2011 by TKA Distribution
Thanks: Greg Logsted via NetGalley
Pages: 202
Rating:
Purchase: Amazon
Steven Bishop is extraordinarily ordinary. He goes to school. He rides his motorcycle. He stutters. His best friend is a former Colombian cartel hit man turned cook/construction worker. You know, ordinary. All that changes the day Becky Moore walks into his classroom. Becky is dazzling, enigmatic.
One day Steven gives Becky a ride home on his motorcycle. There, they discover a severed arm, one of the fingers of which still has an unusual ring attached: a circle, in the middle of which is a heart, at the center of which is a bold number 37. While comforting Becky, Steven discovers a tattoo at the base of her neck: it is the same symbol. And so begins a thrilling descent into a world of crime and murder, a ride wilder than any Steven has taken before.
Final Thoughts:
This managed to go off in a direction I wasn’t expecting, but I found it surprisingly enjoyable. The romantic pairing wasn’t as prominent as I’d originally thought it would be, but the whole mob-family aspect took things on a fun ride. Bodies dropping, split personalities, motorbike chases—there was never really a lull. The stuttering, while apparent in Steven’s dialogue, blended into the narrative and was used effectively throughout. He was picked on very minimally, which was nice to see, with the majority of his speech issues overlooked by those around him. I’m enjoying seeing more of these conspiracy-filled books popping up in the upper YA market. I’ve read plenty that were middle grade focussed, so I was thankful to find this one.