Review: Slammer by Tabatha Vargo

*****5 Stars*****

 

 

I loved this book, it is dark, twisted and suspenseful, it is brilliantly written and you really do feel the tension of some of the scenes in their maximum security prison setting that make for tough reading. And it also has some heart-breaking moments along with some very hot scenes. This was a one sitting read for me that I was up till 5am reading, only to be left throwing my Kindle and messaging the author with a WTH rant.

The author doesn't hold back in pulling you straight into the gore with the epilogue as we first encounter a young Christopher Jacobs waking to a very real nightmare that is about to cost him his freedom. The next time we meet Christopher it is ten years on and he has become the prison hardened 'X' with a reputation for violence. There was something endearing about Christopher from the start and I think the author was clever in ensuring that was the case to draw you in to loving an hardened criminal that X has become. I was seriously sat pondering after finishing as to why I thought X was hot but then I am a sucker for a dirty talker and X most definitely is.

Lyla Evans is a nurse struggling to make ends meet and has taken the only job out there, at the prison infirmary and as we meet her on her first tough day you can feel how difficult her job is going to be. I really felt for Lyla but loved that she managed to put on a front and push on in her job. She did have a gullible side to her and though X didn't try to manipulate that fact, it certainly was Lyla's flaw.

Lyla is drawn to X and soon sees a side no one else gets to see and once she hears his story she is convinced he is innocent and sets out to prove his innocence. However her prying soon upsets other people, putting her in danger and X does all he can to protect her, even risking ever seeing freedom again. But is all as it seems, is Lyla so taken with X that she doesn't want to think he could be guilty or has X been set up?

I have to mention the character Scoop, I loved Scoop and his part in this story was pretty crucial so I think its only fair to acknowledge him. And that I bug ugly cried for him too.

Oh the end to this story is a complete rug pull for the reader, I was so thrown out by the twist that I will leave for you to discover for yourself. The last chapter and epilogue were complete head spinners and I was in tears as well as shock as I really didn't see it coming. Yes there were a few scenes where you question would that really happen in prison but I always read my books with the words artistic license in mind so bravo to Tabatha for a great story and a killer ending.

 

Reviewed by Vikki Ryan

 

Synopsis

 

The last place Christopher Jacobs, aka X, thought he’d find himself was behind bars. Ten years later, the boy he used to be is gone. In his place is the shell of a man with murder under his belt. Any emotion he once had was left under the gavel when he was given life in prison. That is until the new nurse in the infirmary joins the block.

Putting your hands on a prison employee will get you the hole, but some things are worth their punishment, and something tells him Lyla will be worth more than he bargained for.

Lyla Evans isn’t sure about her new job at a maximum security prison, but showing uncertainty and weakness isn’t an option. Taking care of murderers and rapists isn’t ideal, but survival is key. She’s warned ahead of time about a prisoner named X, but when she’s attacked, it’s the dangerous X that saves her. Fraternizing with the prisoners is forbidden, but sometimes the most forbidden things are the sweetest.

 

Buy Links:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

 

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