Book Review: Brightwing by Sullivan Lee

Summary: Edgar and Mallory Battle are on the run after a spectacularly violent escape. Now, with a trail of bodies behind them, they need a hostage against the inevitable standoff with the police. Their first doesn't last long, thanks to sociopathic Mallory. Edgar has been hiding his brother's crimes since they were kids. Now he's torn between family loyalty and self-preservation.

They carjack Lucy Brightwing, a criminal fresh from her own heist, with a fortune of uncut gems hidden in her vehicle. She could escape - but she won't abandon her millions. She could kill the Battle brothers, but she has to be careful. For one thing, if the law investigates, they'll find her ill-gotten loot. For another, her own life is sacred. She's the last member of a Florida paleoindian tribe thought to be extinct - the Tequesta. With her share of the money she plans to buy, bribe and blackmail her way into her own ancestral tribal lands in the heart of the Everglades: a Tequesta nation. 

Lucy leads the brothers into her beloved swamp, determined to kill them. But when she falls for Edgar she must decide whether to risk her heritage and the future of her tribe to save the doomed brothers.

Review: I have to say that this was not at all what I was expecting, but I still ended up really enjoying this book. The beginning confused me a bit, but after the first five pages, I got into the story. I though it was really funny when Edgar and Mallory were looking for a hostage, they ended up picking up a criminal instead of a scared, helpless girl. I liked how Lucy was really strong, independent, and didn't take crap from anyone. It was cool to see how Edgar and Lucy's relationship developed through their trip running from the cops. Edgar and Mallory's relationship reminded a lot of George and Lenny's relationship in Of Mice and Men, how Mallory didn't think like normal people and Edgar had to look out for him. Because of this and the awful things he did, Mallory creeped me out a bit, but I really enjoyed the rest of the characters. The added Native American Reservation aspect was really interesting in Lucy's character and how she wanted to build a reservation of her own. I felt like some parts of the story got a little too swept up in the descriptions that lasted a couple of pages so those parts got a little boring, but other than that there was a lot of action, murder, and even romance to make the book enjoyable. I don't think I've read a criminal love story before, so Brightwing was a nice surprise and proved to me that even criminals are capable of love. Check out my interview with Sullivan Lee and enter my giveaway for Brightwing right here!