Reap the Whirlwind (Killian Kendall, #2)

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Reap the Whirlwind (Killian Kendall #2)

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 45 ratings · 9 reviews

"Nothing can stay the same forever. We get in trouble in life when we think it can and will. Everything changes, or as King Solomon said in the Bible and The Byrds sang in the 60's, to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. It's not a particularly easy lesson to learn, or a fun one for that matter. I learned it the summer between high schoo...more

Paperback, 2, 216 pages

Published December 1st 2007 by P.D. Publishing, Inc. (first published 2003)

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Best Gay Mystery

177th out of 282 books — 335 voters

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Apr 17, 2011 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gay-reads, books-read-in-2011

I liked this book more than I thought I would at the outset but was a bit disappointed by the ending.

The novel is a hybrid. It bills itself as a mystery but 10 chapters into the 22 chapter book there was no dead body yet, nor any real forshadowing that there would be. That was fine by me as I'm not that much of a mystery buff. The characters that I did meet and the stories that were begun were more than enough to keep me interested.

However after the mystery starts to be be revealed, I was torn...more

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Mar 25, 2010 Kassa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read Reap the Whirlwind soon after finishing the great start Bleeding Hearts. Unfortunately, all of the greatness of the first book seems left out of the second as a new narrator is introduced along with a complete new set of characters and issues. Here Killian’s distant cousin, Aidan, gets a new roommate in Will. Although Aidan is newly identified as gay, Will is struggling with his sexuality. Will’s best friend Laura helps Will to recognize that his adoration of another good friend is actual...more I read Reap the Whirlwind soon after finishing the great start Bleeding Hearts. Unfortunately, all of the greatness of the first book seems left out of the second as a new narrator is introduced along with a complete new set of characters and issues. Here Killian’s distant cousin, Aidan, gets a new roommate in Will. Although Aidan is newly identified as gay, Will is struggling with his sexuality. Will’s best friend Laura helps Will to recognize that his adoration of another good friend is actually love and Will is gay. Will doesn’t handle this realization well and spirals into a deep depression and actually attempts suicide twice. Complicating matters, Joey is soon found dead and Will is convinced it wasn’t an accident.

The same formula as the first book is applied again here but without such a positive result. There is an important murder, a lot of coming of age angst and drama, and a group of friends trying to find the answer to the murder. Unfortunately the first person narrator here, Will, doesn’t have the same charm that infuses Killian. Will is by turns obtuse, selfish, immature, and all of his problems are solved for him with incredibly easy solutions. Will doesn’t actually take control and make decisions for himself, instead letting everyone direct his life for him. He also has numerous too stupid to live moments that aren’t as easily forgivable as Killian’s. Will spends the book crying and immersed in his personal drama and angst, to the point that he neglects his friends and takes his mostly easy life for granted. He becomes a difficult narrator to like and ultimately his actions are a large part in the story’s failure.

Aidan is Will’s roommate and love interest but he falls pretty flat. He is rather one dimensional with his constant love and support for Will in the face of Will’s oblivious, slavish love for a dead man and his selfish actions. The relationship that eventually builds between Will and Aidan feels false. Will seems to accept Aidan’s love because it’s always been there and why not, instead of a deep reciprocal emotion. The events surrounding their relationship from the start to marriage (a few weeks), including the ending is over the top, ridiculous, and ruins a lot of the positive qualities the story introduces. The short time frame, lack of connection, and final ending resolution just highlights what Will lacks as a character. Coupled with Aidan’s weak personality, the story produces a main couple that fails to engage or keep interest.

Furthermore there is a large cast of new characters and a few mentions and cameo’s from Killian and Asher. Here I really question bringing in a couple of young high school students to help solve a murder and Killian’s obsession steps the character back from his recent maturity of the first book. Killian’s involvement feels artificial and thrown in to connect the first book but offers very little progression for any of the previous characters. Instead they all seem to buy into the ridiculous antics of the story and ignore the obvious signs to solve the mystery. There are other elements that are used to tie up problems very easily such as the resolution to Will’s family, Will’s new art career, and his part time job. Each of these offers an easy solution to problems presented which makes the actual problems seem weak and included only for the sake of more drama and hysterics.

The actual murder mystery could have been decent but is ruined by the inclusion of a psychopath that is easy to identify as soon as they are introduced. Will’s ridiculous actions surrounding this character highlight the improbability of the situation and never let up, so the actions of the group as a whole while trying to solve the murder make Scooby-Doo’s crew look brilliant. This is really surprising given the much more subtle and deft touch employed in the previous book and part of that clumsy execution is do to the poorly executed narrator. The ending is a shock and one I wasn’t expecting, though Will is a character I hope doesn’t appear again in the series. The attempt to make him sympathetic and brutally honest ultimately fails even as the mystery is more involved as a main part of the plot.

Where this particular story shines is in the detail orientated setting. The vivid descriptive prose shows a real strength while keeping the book easy to read and quick. Some of the characters are interesting and leap off the page while the intensity of the drama has some real poignant moments. Will’s suicide attempts are brutal and intense and the scenes are well drawn and executed. The mystery could have been really well done – just take out the obvious psycho in my opinion – so parts of it held my interest. Although this particular offering is unsuccessful, I’m looking forward to continuing with the series. Returning to the more successful narrator of Killian I think will go a long way to correcting the problems presented here. But again, this is just one person’s opinion and Reap the Whirlwind won more than one award, so take what I say with a grain of salt.(less)

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Jun 22, 2011 Leontine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, young-adult

!!Warning!! If you haven't read the previous books this review can contain spoilers.

I had my complete review in my head on all the things I wanted to say. I was again in awe of the likeable and personable characters Josh Aterovis brought to this tale. How the suspense was a subtle tension throughout the novel, keeping me on edge at all times. I wanted to tell you the great odds Will Keegan had to overcome, how he tugged at my emotions and what a fantastic opposite Aidan was to Will. Will was a t...more !!Warning!! If you haven't read the previous books this review can contain spoilers.

I had my complete review in my head on all the things I wanted to say. I was again in awe of the likeable and personable characters Josh Aterovis brought to this tale. How the suspense was a subtle tension throughout the novel, keeping me on edge at all times. I wanted to tell you the great odds Will Keegan had to overcome, how he tugged at my emotions and what a fantastic opposite Aidan was to Will. Will was a troubled young man going through a life changing period and Aidan was the quiet center. He was strength, he was joy, he was love and laughter even though he also knew pain and doubts. The balance Will and Aidan created, the internal conflicts they had to meet head on, forged a bond between them that swept me in to all their separate and shared emotions.

Next to the blooming relationship I wanted to tell you I couldn't get enough of the whodunit plot. Josh Aterovis managed to gradually set the stage for a cruel murder which struck at the heart of a group of friends. Will, Laura and Joey have been the three musketeers all their life but events rip them apart and emotions where all over the place. Characters from Bleeding Heart also came into play, furthering overall character progress of people I already cared about. Will and Aidan where at the heart of this story where art, religion, friendship, suicide and more subjects where incorporated that captivated me. The author never stood on a pedestal when it came to the religion aspect, instead he allowed it to become a part of various characters in a natural way. The art was a tool for Will to express himself as he was struggling to deal with his suicide attempt. The support of, and help in the investigation from friends, tightened but also challenged friendship among various characters. I wanted to rave about the knack this author has for creating an absorbing storyline. There wasn't a moment where I was not engaged in how someone would react or how a situation would develop. But then, as romance and plot got to a pique...I was delivered a 180 degree twist which plummeted my enjoyment of this story so far!

At first I got this beautiful, romance rife scene unfolding in front of my eyes where I was crying my ever romantic heart out, rejoicing in the love. But only a chapter or so after that my romance brimming heart was ripped out, thrown on the floor and stomped upon! I was screaming in my head, flipping the final page back and forth. This was it, THE END! No more continuance in a next story. I felt so betrayed by the author! How could he have let me go through all those emotional struggles with the characters? Made me feel a powerful connection alive with love and then give me a moment where various actions set a chain of events in to motion that is such a let-down. Reap The Whirlwind will never be remembered by me as a beautifully told romantic mystery tale it was 96% of the story, but for the excruciating ending that made me scream; Nooooooo!

Josh Aterovis left me with a bleeding heart after I read the ending of Reap The Whirlwind. His writing style is grabbing! The dose of realism almost too much to bear. His characters are engaging, his plotting tight and it all blends into a story that is addictive. He is pushing the envelope and searching my boundaries to casually step over them and give me something I never saw coming!

3.5 stars

The quote for you to sample:

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boast-ful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecy, it will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

(less)

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Jan 17, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa by: michelenjeff-reviews.blogspot.com

Shelves: m-m-romance, mystery, ya

3.5/5 stars

Reap the Whirlwind is a book that delivers a meaningful and vitally significant message within a plot that, although is adequately entertaining, doesn’t quite measure up to the bar set by its predecessor, Bleeding Hearts.

This installment in the Killian Kendall series is driven by a new voice, Will Keegan. Will was not introduced in the previous book, so his narrative initially came as a bit of a shock and disappointment to me, as I was looking forward to hearing Killian’s voice again...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Tammy K. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mm-romance, lgbt-teen-friendly, angsty, coming-of-age, coming-out, crime-fiction, dealing-with-homophobia, drama, emotionally-moving-tear-jerkers, in-the-closet-newly-out-of, lgbt-families, murder-mystery, overly-dramatic, suspense-thriller

I give this story 3.75 out of 5 stars. Yes its not an option but that's what I feel its really worth, as its better then an average read (3 stars) but not a full 4 stars, and here is why..
I felt this story was too complex, too dramatic, too somber, & too layered.
This is in fact a rather depressing story. What few bright spots there were in this story were destroyed by the direction the author took this plot.
(view spoiler) Yeah, its that kind of ‘love’...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Damian Serbu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Aterovis writes good stuff. Just want you want from a mystery/suspense book to take you away for a while. I especially like getting pulled into his characters' worlds; they are so real.

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Feb 26, 2010 Elisa Ramblings is currently reading it

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Jun 03, 2011 Paul Wilson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am really enjoying this series!!!

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Oct 09, 2011 Merith rated it 3 of 5 stars

More a 3.5, I think. It could have been a 4 easily, but I hated the ending. Other than spoilers, I don't think I'll say anything about this story. It will haunt me, and I'll wish that maybe I had given this one a skip.

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May 15, 2013 Elena rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gay, ya

May 13, 2013 Frank Claudy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 06, 2013 Jeremy Keele rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 27, 2013 Brett Cary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 23, 2013 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 18, 2013 Notta Chance marked it as to-read

Shelves: unread

Jan 08, 2013 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dec 28, 2012 Shannon marked it as maybe

Dec 21, 2012 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dec 21, 2012 True Colorz added it

Shelves: gay

Dec 18, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, m-m

Dec 18, 2012 Aniko marked it as to-read

Shelves: owned-tbr, kindle

Dec 15, 2012 Angel marked it as to-read

Dec 08, 2012 Ionut Costica marked it as to-read

Dec 05, 2012 Thomas Passwater rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-a-break, never-left-my-desk

Nov 18, 2012 Tj marked it as to-read

Nov 11, 2012 BookGeek marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebook, ya

Oct 15, 2012 Stephanie marked it as to-read

Shelves: mm, mm-series, mm-mystery-crime-suspense

Oct 13, 2012 Jerilin marked it as m-m-to-be-read-owned

Shelves: young-adult-high-school-college-etc, mystery

Oct 08, 2012 Richard Keogh added it · review of another edition

Sep 17, 2012 Tina A marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it

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About Josh Aterovis

Josh Aterovis has published four books in the Killian Kendall mystery series. His first book, Bleeding Hearts, introduced gay teen sleuth Killian Kendall, and won several awards, including the Whodunit Award from the StoneWall Society. He followed up by winning the Whodunit Award again the following year for Reap the Whirlwind. The third book in the series, All Lost Things, was a finalist for the...more

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Books by Josh Aterovis

The Truth of Yesterday (Killian Kendall, #4)

A Change of Worlds (Killian Kendall, #5)

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Quotes from Reap the Whirlwind

“For you have sown the wind, and you shall reap the whirlwind” — 0 people liked it

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Reap the Whirlwind (Killian Kendall #2)

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