I am his obsession. His property. His Jasmine.And he will never let me go.Trapped in the middle of nowhere, taken by a madman, I’m forced to be his wife. Obedient, meek, righteous in the eyes of God.But I am none of these things, and I can’t give in. No matter what he does to me, no matter how much he hurts me, I have to get out of here.I have to escape… before I forget who I was before him.
A collaboration between Jennifer Bene and Shane Starrett. As one can expect from Jennifer Bene this is quite a dark book, so it is not for everyone. If you love dark then you will find this a wonderful read.
The story is written from several pov’s. That is something I enjoy because you get to experience the story from different points of view and it this cause from Her, Him and the FBI/police.
Her story is filled with horror, pain and strength and not giving up. Not giving in to Him. It is a very intense read and I couldn’t stop reading these parts.
Seeing the story from His eyes give you an insight into the mind of a Monster, but that is not what he is in his eyes. Everything he does makes sense.
I didn’t care to much about the FBI/Police parts and that was mostly because I felt they dragged on and took away from the flow of the story. I found myself scanning them. before getting back to the story.
Sitting here after reading this book and I’m shocked. This book is so dark, twisted, gritty but most of all real. Whole time I was reading it I kept thinking to myself that someone is probably going through this right at this moment. The authors bring you into a world where you just hope that in the end there is some kind of light. I’m torn here cause how can I feel bad for a evil person? It’s so intense that you can’t stop reading and I kept saying in my head why omg why! If you love dark reads seriously a must read! 5/5 stars deserves a 10
A beautiful picture, a sweet, beautiful name.
And underneath all that, hides a story of complete and utter insanity, of perverted beliefs, and cruelty elevated to a confused value system.
A moaning, disillusioned agent tasked to find out what happened, trying to do as little as possible to disprove his view of the world in general, his job, and this case in particular.
There are really only three people in this story that show an inherent positivity in spite of being confronted with jaundiced truisms and life threatening situations.
Ms Bene and Mr Starrett wove a frighteningly fascinating horror tale, that tells about an almost unbelievable will to survive when confronted with the depths of insanity.
And still, there is friendship, and there is love, the real kind. The one that lifts you up, and cherishes you, instead of beating you to a bloody pulp, and leaving you to rot.
How do you feel sympathy for a Monster? This was my dilemma after reading this book.
I peeked inside, just to get a feel for the story and boom! I look up and I’m done, emotionally wrung out and with the uncomfortable feeling of sympathy for someone who I feel I should hate.
I didn’t want to feel this way, after the things he did, I just wanted Sloane to be happy and have a future to look forward to. The part that scares me the most is how very real this felt…..just thinking it could happen terrifies me. Sigh, glad it’s just fiction!
Ugh, this one will be with me for a while I think.
I’m not sure if I’m happy these two got together and wrote this, it was like an uncontrolled dive, once I started, I couldn’t stop. Definitely having a case of book hangover here. And a case of Clint envy as well. Hope they work together again, highly recommend this one if you like dark, emotional reads.
Wow. What an incredible action pack book. To me it is hard to put into words all the feeling you will have when reading this book. My emotions have been up, down and sideways. I am not telling about the story because I want you to feel all the emotions as you read it. The ending was better than I thought it would be. Enjoy.
Well, I will say that this isn’t the first story I’ve read by Jennifer Bene where I felt as though I should put my therapist on speed dial, but after reading “Jasmine” by both Ms. Bene and Shane Starrett, I now fully realize that it may well be a necessity. Where to begin…it’s wrong. And creepy. And horrific. It gave me goosebumps and I felt the need to comfort eat and go outside into the sunshine to warm my shivering soul. Dammit-all, it was good. Seriously, so. The authors managed to blur the lines of good and bad (wrong! Evil!) leaving me desperate for a happily ever after or I knew I wouldn’t sleep. Not ever again. Because, well, “Jasmine” will strike a chord in you and it may not be one that you’ll like. But you should read it anyway.
First of all, I love this cover. I love the sense of mystery, darkness, and the richness of the colours. It symbolises the story so well. The writing by the authors was seamless. It’s a darkly compelling, suspenseful story with zealous religious overtones. I had to brush up on a few references to get the most of this story. Biblically, Jasmine means “gift from God”, and Daniel is not one to turn a gift from Him away. How Sloane & Daniel meet is unknown, but my own imagination has taken care of that! Daniel is a complicated mess-to Sloane, he is a monster, and yet the authors have managed to portray him as a man trying to do The Right Thing in a monstrous way. He is human, makes mistakes in his anger, and punishes himself-he is not exempt. At the same time, the police & FBI are going through the motions of searching for Sloane. It will only take one person to change everything. A brutal story, brilliantly written.
Run! Run! Hide! Captured! Punished! Pain! Fear!
This is a terror filled, emotionally addictive, DARK story of an unstable, overly religious zealot, who abducts a young woman he erroneously believes to be his wife, Jasmine. His methods to force her to conform to his beliefs are extremely punitive and coercive.
OMG! This was written with enough unbelievable knowledge and passion to immerse my emotions into sick and cruel misguided fervor. Once I began reading, it was almost impossible to stop. For me, this is a thriller filled with EVIL, “well-intentioned” control, punishments and marital rights.
What will happen to this girl? Will she survive? Will she be able to escape? If not, who will save her? Thank goodness these authors were able to give me a HEA, or I might not have survived!
Dark, psychological read. This collaboration was written so seamlessly that I never would have known there was more than one author involved. They threw me a dark pit at the beginning and I found myself trying to infuse strength and hold out a glimmer of hope to Jasmine even though I was not sure it would end well. Even the monster in the story drew me into the psychological mess that was his distorted and disturbed view of the world. Reading the story from various POVs added to the depth, suspense, and intensity; and I couldn’t put it down once started as my imagination was caught in the twisted world these authors created. Fabulous read.
4.4 stars
One thing that is always a guarantee when reading a book by Jennifer Bene is that it is going to be one that keeps you on the edge of my seat. She will make me feel uncomfortable and push the boundary of what is comfortable. In a way, it is like dipping my toe in shark-infested waters. Will the shark bite it off and pull me under or will she just make me fearful that it COULD happen? When I heard about this surprise collaboration I worried about the other author because his other book was vastly different than this one. I need not have worried, other than he might come up a smidge (and by smidge I mean a lot) darker in the future.
This book starts with a bang. There is no easing one’s way into this story. It is apparent from the beginning that this is going to be a bumpy, and painful, ride. I felt for the heroine in this story. She was caught in a literal hell. It made me posit what would it take for my mind to break. There was so much more that I wanted to understand about this story. There were gaps here for me. I wanted to know the backstory of the how and whys. What made the hero this way, how did it come to be, what led up to this? Jasmine? just so many questions. Even though the story ends with a happy ending I wanted to see more. How did they get to that point, what was the explanation behind it all? Maybe, this is just me being greedy but it felt incomplete to me.
That being said, this was still very good. I can never recommend this author enough for those readers out there that like to toe the line with dark and twisted. And now, I can also add another author to this mix of why I need to seek intervention and additional therapy.
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This is a book full of suspense and created mixed feelings. There is no doubt Daniel is a monster, but at the same time I felt I couldn’t blame him, he is a product of his upbringing and has suffered as much as he has made others suffer. There is no question I wanted him to let Sloane go but for good or for bad I understood why he didn’t and the outcome was the best for everyone including him.
The characters are diverse and each of them is compelling and integral to the story. Thankfully, there is a happy ending or I would now be having nightmares. A brilliant story!
Speechless…this book left me in an emotional whirlwind. By the 2nd chapter I was ready to throw my device at the wall. It is dark, captivating and not your typical HEA albeit one does happen. Numerous times I was consumed by the same Wrath the characters experienced. A dark twisted plot that left me with heart palpitations. Freaking loved every minute of it!