If I had to recommend one author that everyone should try, it would be Karina Halle. Shooting Scars cemented that for me. I was already a huge fan of her writing but Shooting Scars took it to a new level.Shooting Scars doesn't miss a beat from where we left off in Sins & Needles. Javier has tracked Ellie down and convinced her it is in everyone's best interest for her to go with him. Leaving Camden alone with an ex-wife and a son who doesn't know him.Ellie falls right back into the life she lead before meeting Camden. Not that she goes ahead without feelings of guilt or doubt, she does. Quite honestly, maybe for the first time ever. She struggles to come to grips with the choices she's being forced to make as well as the choices her heart makes. I really felt for Ellie, more so than I did in Sins & Needles where she came off more cold and hard. She's evolving as a woman and learning that the consequences of her actions won't only weigh on her alone. That is a new concept for Ellie, I think, and maybe an important thought to keep in mind through this read. Because she may not always do what you expect or want. She's walking the border between good and bad, bad is a lot easier to do.Camden also grows exponentially in Shooting Scars. He's a self proclaimed chump at the beginning but I wouldn't call him the same by the end. He toughens up. He has to, as he's really put through the meat grinder. More than once. He finds a stronger backbone, he realizes it will take more than a 'nice guy' to help Ellie, he finds his own inner psycho. I kind of really liked it. But I'm a little sick that way, which brings us to...Javier. Javier surprisingly, did not surprise me. Almost everything he did was exactly what I would expect from him. Maybe this means he is the only character to not have grown. He's changed, yes. Grown? Hmm, I don't think so. But maybe that is only because he's already determined who and what he is, he's accepted himself. Faults and all, and he has plenty of those. Even without growth, I'm no less a fan and had a few swoon worthy moments with my favorite psycho-murdering-drug-lord. Yes, I swooned. At some probably very creepy and inappropriate things. Like I said, I'm a little sick that way.I had no idea what Halle had in store for us going in to Shooting Scars, other than more amazingly well developed characters in crazy situations. Which she wholeheartedly delivered. Yet, it far outreached anything I could have imagined. Shooting scars is dark and disturbing, passionate and provocative, riveting and romantic. And the end...wow. Really, just wow. I could not have imagined a better way for this to end, my anticipation level for Bold Tricks, due in the fall, is very high. *copy provided by publisher for honest review*
