Severed Ties

Severed Ties Volume One by Kevin Krohn and published by Spiral Bound Publishing is 178 pages of suspense.

Kevin Krohn lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and two children; an on and off writer over the years Severed Ties Volume One is his first work to be published. A Chuck Palahniuk reader and revenge movie fan, this was a book which Mr Krohn wanted to read himself and had in his mind for some time. "I have always loved the fact that writing allows you to tell any story you want, to control the outcome of a world you have created". Severed Ties Volume Two is currently in the works and Mr Krohn hopes to have it finished quickly so not to leave anyone in suspense for too long for the next instalment.

The cover art of Severed Ties by Jonathan Gullery leaves just about everything to the imagination. The cover is glossy and shows a young woman crouched climbing down from what appears to be the doorway of a derelict house. Why is she there? Why is she leaving? And what is she heading into?

The title and author name is bold and clearly stand out with the combination of darkness and light. If I saw this book on a shelf I'd be intrigued to learn more if only to find the answers to the above questions.

Since the death of her mother in a fire when she was two years old Nyne Harper has spent 18 years moving between small towns with her father. With the tragedy of her past haunting her memories she has grown to live a secluded life. With her father's over protective attitude and training she has spent the last eight months seeking revenge against those responsible for her mother’s death. Finally, moving back home to Portland, Oregon the thought of living a normal life appears on the horizon but there are a few more jobs to be done. Unsure if she's getting too cold to the kill or missing normality Nyne soon makes a friend at school. Rebellion starts and before she even realises the truth her entire world is turned upside down when she makes one mistake and defying her own father’s rules leading her realise everything she has ever known could in fact be a lie.

Severed Ties Volume One is a well written easy paced book which pulls you straight in from the very first chapter to the last. The book is entirely unpredictable that you'll be thinking the book is about to head in one direction but find yourself heading the opposite way.
Kevin Krohn has done a marvellous job with this book creating believable characters and situations his words flow simply from the pages. The character Nyne and the world around her has been so well created you can’t help but from early stages want to know more about her and how her life came to be so complicated.
This is a book clearly about family, trust, betrayal and revenge concentrating on the impact revenge can have on a persons personal life but also how it changes them as a human being but I think this story shows something more, at how strong every individual can become when what they face is an enemy bent on hurting them and those they love. I’d recommend this book to anyone aged 18 years and over, this is a great book that I enjoyed reading and I can not wait for Volume Two.
Since I was so impressed by how Mr Krohn managed to keep this book unpredictable to the end and still cant believe this is his first published piece, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

By R.N. Hadley