The One You First Expect by Adam Cesare

In The One You First Expect, Tony Anastos makes micro budget splatter horror movies with very little recognition or ability to make money. Things change when he meets Anna, his coworker at the grocery store he works at when not making these movies. Anna has far greater aspirations as an actress and works with Tony on a kickstarter for his new movie—something that becomes a smashing success when Anna actually kills someone in the kickstarter video. That’s only the start of what Anna is willing to do. Her bloodthirstiness seems to know no bounds.

The writing in this novel is probably the strongest aspect of it. The books moves at a fast clip and is an easy read. There is nothing heavy duty in this novel. The concept is interesting and the execution is done well. The character that really stands out for me is Anna. She’s basically a sociopath hiding under a pretty veneer. But she’s a well developed character who knows what she wants and will do what it takes to achieve her goals. Tony is not nearly as strong as a character. He just goes along for the ride and doesn’t drive any of the action. He’s a character who has things happen to him rather than making things happen. Perhaps this is done by design to make his character contrast with Anna.