So you think you like flawed characters, huh?

Well, do ya? Punk?

That there is the challenge Karina Halle lays down for you with this, the first of her new Artists Trilogy, Sins & Needles. And you will be challenged by it, make no mistake. I myself am a card-carrying member of the I Heart Flawed Characters Fan Club*, and yet still I was challenged. Almost to my limit. If you're familiar with Karina's other works, specifically her Experiment in Terror series, you'll know that unusual and quirky characters are something she excels at. They're layered, flawed and not always good, but they are always effective, engaging and real. I think she took that skill to a new level here with Ellie and Camden. There are times you may find yourself unsure if you like either of them, or at least, you probably won't like their actions. Some of which are extremely hard to reconcile. Halle pulls no punches, nor does she baby her readers with characters whose flaws are only puddle-deep and eclipsed by them being otherwise perfect in every conceivable way. Nope, with this book, you either take her characters as they are, or walk away now and we'll say no more about it.

Still here? Well alrighty then.

So, let's break it down a bit. Your main character is Ellie Watt, but that's only one identity of several she's lived under as part of her drifting, grifting, con artist lifestyle. But what's in a name, anyway? Well, when you're starting to lose sight of who you actually are because you've been playing someone else—or several someone else's—for so long, then quite a bit, actually. Reconnecting with her past, including reverting back to her real name and moving back to the town she considers home, the place where she spent her formative highschool years, may have seemed like the first step on the straight and narrow road to going legit for Ellie. Instead, what she finds is a one-way ticket to Oh Crapsville, and, a rather interesting fellow by the name of Camden McQueen.

What to say about Camden... without spoilers, this will be difficult. Let's start with the basics. He's hot. He wears nerd glasses (*dies*). He's charming. He's confusing. He's a musician. He's a tattoo artist and is covered in them practically from head to toe (and all the yummy, muscular places in between). But really that's just scratching the surface. There's a ginormic plot twist in the first quarter of the book, and it's not until that point that you can really, truly get to know Camden. And when you do, I defy anyone not to be sympathetic to his character.

As well as being told in 1st Person from Ellie's POV, there are regular flashbacks in third person featuring "the girl." It's obvious straight away that "the girl" is our Ellie. I don't think she's called "the girl" to try and hide her identity from readers. I think it was done to show Ellie's disassociation of herself from the girl in the memories; as though she's just another one of her fake identities. When in truth, only through gradually reading "the girl's" flashback passages and combining those with the Ellie of today, can we finally start to understand and appreciate her character. And don't worry if you really don't like Ellie at first. It's supposed to be that way, I think. I mean, she's a con artist, which means she's deceitful, sneaky, dishonest, untrustworthy and an opportunist of the highest order. But the flashbacks will help explain why she is what she is, and the reasons for her behaviour. As well as her complicated and emotionally fraught relationship with Camden.

At several points during the read, I wasn't sure if Ellie was ever going fully win me over, but I can safely say that by the end, she definitely did. I'm also rooting hard for Ellie and Camden's romance, as intense and complex as it is. But be warned, as book one in a trilogy, the ending is left wide open and you'll be gasping and desperate for book two the second you're done. We do know book two is set to be called Shooting Scars, and that it's scheduled for Summer 2013. And before that, to stave off the withdrawals, there's a prequel novella called On Every Street coming in April. It may not be enough to completely dull the ache, but surely it will help.

To sum up, this book gets a full house from me. I stayed up til 2am both evenings I read it, and if that's not an indication of a good read, I don't know what is.

Now, someone pass me the matchsticks to help prop my eyes open....

5 Stars! ★★★★★
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
* I make things up.

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Edge of Your Seat Brilliant.

I always start a review of a book with 5 stars, and then knock off stars for justified moans or irritations. With this book I would give it more stars if that was a thing because I had no complaints. I picked this up because Scribed suggested I try this author and I have to tell you I am so glad.
The story is told from Ellie's Point of view, she is the daughter of a grifting team, basically they are a family of con artists and she is their protege. The story flicks nicely between then and now. Then, tells the story of 'the girl', this is how Ellie thinks of herself in childhood, it seems she has some PTSD regarding events that happened and needs to distance herself from her past. Ellie is still conning people, but it's obvious she's weary of it and finds everyday punishment in her guilt. Ellie is shrewd, manipulative, intuitive and intelligent and through the stories of her past you being to understand her unbearable selfishness, it's survival pure and simple. Ellie became heavily involved with a major player in a Mexican drug cartel and developed a love for this kindred spirit, however she found out that he betrayed her so she left him, taking a lot of his money and his car. Javier is now after Ellie; he is not a man to cross and he will stop at nothing to get her back........

Ellie is returning to her hometown older and wiser; she can go back to her original identity as it's the only one of her fake aliases that is clean. On arrival she runs into a boy that she was best friends with in school, he was the weirdo, the one who dressed and wore make-up and black clothes like a goth. Cameron was always good to Ellie but she turned on him to ingratiate herself with the popular kids back in school and still feels terrible for what she did. Cameron has grown up, he is now a big, bad talented tattoo artist with a thriving business. Ellie's nature can't resist making him her next target although she is fighting an irresistible attraction and a genuine caring for him. Cameron has lived, he also has responsibilities and also has a reason to run.............

This is an absolute roller-coaster ride of a story, it will be part of a series and whilst leaving you on an absolute cliff edge it does conclude a chunk of Ellie's life whilst introducing you to these fascinating characters......it cost less than a cup of coffee for this fast paced entertainment. Brilliant!!!!