Take One with You by Oak Anderson (Review)

Take One with You

By: Oak Anderson

·  Print Length: 217 pages

·  Publisher: N/A

·  Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,255 Paid in Kindle Store, #57 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction > Vigilante Justice

·  Goodreads Rating: 4.38/5 stars out of 29 ratings and 18 reviews

Synopsis:

Charlie and Sarah, two disaffected teens dealing with depression, meet in an online chatroom and soon hatch a plan to bring meaning to their lives by encouraging other despondent individuals to help eradicate the "scum of society", such as pedophiles and rapists who have escaped justice. Anyone determined to commit suicide is urged to first kill someone who "got away with it" before taking their own life. Why not, they ask, "take one with you?"

The idea goes viral and things rapidly spiral out of control. As they develop feelings for each other, their worldwide followers begin to enact a very different version of their idea, perverting its original intent and threatening the thin line between civil society and criminal anarchy. Just as they find the hope of happiness together, Charlie and Sarah must deal with the monster they've created, a global epidemic of murder-suicide that threatens the very core of their humanity.

Take One With You is a unique crime thriller/millennial love story that poses the question: If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, would you kill someone tonight? Someone who had done something terrible. Someone who deserved to die. If so, who would it be? If you wouldn't go that far, what about your neighbor? Your friend? Your enemy? Who draws the line? Who decides who lives and who dies? And what if we all began to take justice into our own hands?

Reoccurring Statements between 12 Amazon Reviewers:

·         “Very well written, I couldn't put the book down.  ”

Silvia Stouffer| 4 reviewers made a similar statement

·         “It felt so real and had me wanting more and more!  ”

2 reviewers made a similar statement

·         “Was a great read...fantastic writing, looking forward to the next book!  ”

1 reviewer made a similar statement

(*All Amazon/Goodreads stats are accurate as of the date of this post)

My Raw Status Update Reactions:

·         10% - "Wow! Hellova start! Pretty sure Big Max is the second-cousin, once-removed of the Devil. Or a transplanted Stephen King character. Whichever makes him sound more despicable."

·         30% - “Gee - whoda thunk a book about murder-suicides would be a bummer? Def. not a power fantasy premise. The patchwork anecdotal quality is interesting instead of a straight narrative.”

·         47% - “Ya'll need to work on your anger management.”

·         66% - “Ok so this book is obviously focused more on what drives the characters into extreme action as opposed to depicting gritty murder scenes, like the opening. More a social commentary than splatter fest.”

My Unspoiled Review: Anyone reading TAKE ONE WITH YOU’s synopsis could assume they’re in for a resplendent splatterfest or adolescent revenge fantasy; however, for a book about murder-suicides its implementation is more cerebral than graphic.  Whether this might entice or turn off readers all depends on your expectations and sensibilities, TAKE ONE WITH YOU’s emphasis is on exploring the tragedy of desperate, shattered souls who use – often vindictive – homicide as a means to alleviate their depression and/or validate their soon-to-be ended existence.  For those reasons the characters have a deplorable tinge to them that readers may feel sympathy towards but are unlikely to find relatable in most instances. Instead of a straight narrative featuring a single protagonist TAKE ONE WITH YOU splices its storytelling between multiple POVs and snippets from news and social media outlets.  The combination creates a duality – microcosm and macrocosm – of events that compliments the premise of en mass vigilantism and the motivations for it.  Alternating from the psychology of perpetrators/victims (readers could debate who’s who) to the sociological ramifications of the TOWY movement frames the whole picture with intermeshing perspectives.  Ultimately this cultural impact adds a sense of authenticity that might have been neglected if the reader was limited to the personal journey of one or several characters. Oak Anderson’s decision to incorporate fictitious media/social reactions to support his narrative shows his dedication to telling an encompassing tale in an imaginative, multifaceted manner.  That level of diligence and versatility speaks well of his determination to engage his readers and – hopefully – Anderson will maintain that tenacity in works beyond TAKE ONE WITH YOU.

Give This Book a Chance If You Like:

• ·         Crime Thrillers
• ·         Books with despicable people that you hope will end up dead
• ·         Anecdotal narration
• ·         Books with creative formats, like pictures or transcripts

 Check it out for yourself or see what other reviewers have said at Amazon and Goodreads

Thank you for considering this obscure book as a future read and feel free to leave comments if you would like to discuss this novel or recommendation more!