ARC Review: The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

The Devil You Know by Trish Doller
Amazon / Goodreads / ARC via AndyeReadingTeen (THANK YOU!)
Published June 2, 2015

Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions. 

A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” (ARC).

Confession: I want to love thrillers. Or at least find them thrilling. This novel is set up as a heart-pounding, blood- racing, keep-you-guessing kind of book. As are most thrilled preached as such. Cadie wants to live the life of a teenage instead of a mother to her younger brother (who is seriously adorable) because her father can’t deal, or even try to deal after the sudden death of her mother. When Cadie goes to a party she runs into two cousins. A spur of a moment idea (the need to do something kind of idea) leads her on a road trip with the two of them, and one of the local girls. One of the cousins is not at all what he seems.

Okay. This right here is my main complaint: The first half of the books was very much story- building focused and I feel I would have liked it more if we got more to the creeptastic, there is a psycho killer in our midst aspect of the story. Honestly- when the story did get to the psycho killer aspect, I seriously dug it. Other than that, the story was pretty eh. The whole trip was focused around the Devil’s Chair, but when they actually got there, it seemed to be seriously played down, and I didn’t quite know what to make of that.

Also, I totally guessed the psycho. I guessed he was the killer when he first appeared. And no, no I won’t tell you who it was. Where’s the fun in that? *evil chuckle*

Let’s talk about the characters a bit shall we? I’ve already described Cadie a bit, so we’ll just talk about the cousins. Matt and Noah. She meets Matt first when she invites him to the party, but meets Noah soon after when he’s working on Miss Kitty, the car a dead relative left him. Matt and Noah are pretty much opposites, granted they get along through the majority of the trip like they were best friends. And I really enjoyed the interaction. They’re both kind of irredeemable. But that was what makes them so much fun to read.

Sadly, I didn’t really particularly like, or connect with, either of the two boys. Who both are apparently drop dead gorgeous. (hehe, drop dead-get it?)

So I suppose it all comes down to do I recommend this. I really can’t. It was a little too short, to unexpressive, to guessable and too rushed for me. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but it’s apparently a lot of people’s ideal thriller. My wish? I wish there was less build up and more creepy aspects to the novel. I think that would have added a lot to the premise. The ending was too wrapped in a bow. Where’s the trauma when it’s needed? 

I really want to like thrillers. So, do y'all have any thrilling thriller recommendations? They would be much appreciated!