Pieces by Rebecca Rowland and Michael Aloisi

 Thirty boxes. Thirty body parts. Eighteen turned in to authorities.A forensic technician from a quiet Massachusetts suburb does the unthinkable: stalks a local woman, abducts her, divides her body into thirty pieces, and mails the sections to random Americans across the country. Each white postal box that Dennis Sweeney prepares contains an ambiguous note and a piece of Julie Piedmont. Most of Sweeney’s intended recipients contact the authorities about their gruesome packages, but twelve of the parcels go unreported. Pieces, the genre-bending hybrid of crime thriller infused with a short-story vibe, takes a closer look at the body parts that were never recovered and the possible reasons why their recipients never told anyone about their grotesque discoveries. Weaving the accounts together is Dennis’ story as well as Jackson Matthews’, the reporter to whom Dennis chooses to document his sick game.

 

I just finished this book and I am not even sure how to adequately review it. I am imagining someone else describing it to me and had they told me that there were so many characters my first thought would be this may not work for me. Just as too many cooks spoil the soup, too many characters can make a plot hard to follow. Yet that is not at all the case with Pieces, even though there are so many characters with their own story lines they are all brilliant offshoots of the main plot.

Jax is reporter who is unhappy in his job and dreams of giving it up to pursue his art full time. Just as this dream comes closer to fruition he receives a body part of a murder victim from someone claiming to be his number one fan. Included is a demand that he write the story of a lifetime to propel himself back to award winning journalism. Dennis Sweeny is a twisted individual. I don't think there has been a boy with such an odd relationship with his mom since Psycho. Though he gives a reason for sending a body part to his favorite journalist, his reasons for choosing the other recipients of human remains are less clear. Most people report their deliveries to the authorities, but my favorite parts of the book revolve around the remarkable characters who don't report their packages. I would recommend this book for any fan of horror or psychological thrillers.

5 out of 5 stars

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

 

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About the authors

Rebecca Rowland grew up in Western Massachusetts but spent much of her early adult life in the Boston area. She has taught high school English, worked as a librarian, and freelanced as a copy-editor for graduate students, publishing houses, a celebrity's blog, and a large city union. Her first published work of length was a ghostwritten memoir of a former victims' rights advocate.

She is a proud member of both the American Library Association and the Horror Writers Association, sincerely appreciates sharp satire, quick wit, and well-written psychological horror, and lists her literary influences as Flannery O'Connor, A.M. Homes, and Chuck Palahniuk. Despite her infatuation with the ocean and unwavering distaste for icy weather, she has made a home with her family in a land-locked city of New England.
Visit RowlandBooks.com for more information.

 

Michael Aloisi, known to his fans as AuthorMike, is the author of seven books, including a number one bestseller. He has done book tours in over five countries and twenty states, sold movie/television rights, starred in his own web series, been featured in documentaries and had his books featured in over one hundred media outlets around the world. Mike has an MFA in Writing and currently he lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two children.

Visit: AuthorMike.com to learn more about his books and other projects