Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller by Demelza Carlton

Nightmares Trilogy 

This is the second book in Demelza Carlton's Nightmares Trilogy, as dark, disturbing and downright scary as the first, Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer.

Synopsis

Evil should never be necessary. Except when it is.  

"And now in breaking news, Caitlin Lockyer has been found. In the early hours of this morning, a man discovered her body dumped on a south-west beach. A police spokesperson would not confirm whether the girl known as the Absent Angel is alive or dead..."  

They called her an angel. No one thought to ask what kind. 

Burning for retribution, now she'll stop at nothing.  

Can it truly be evil when it feels so good? 

A tiny taste of what's in store:

Don't get into cars with strangers.

So stupid to think I was strong enough to resist.

But I never dreamed it would happen to me.

I tried to back away, but the b**** behind me didn't let me. She hit my diaphragm with the heel of her hand, forcing my breath out in a huff. Unable to breathe, the street stood still in my mind as I stared around, desperately hoping for someone to see - someone who'd help me. Did eyes meet mine? Did I imagine understanding? If it was, it came too late. The burning flare that was my need to breathe exploded and she shoved me into the car. I fell on flesh encased in fabric as I gasped for breath, a flailing fish in the pervert's lap as I lay across the back seat. I dimly heard the doors and windows shut. The motor hummed as the car accelerated away - before I had enough air to scream.

Kota's Review

This is book 2 in the Nightmare series.  Book 1, the Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer is told from Nathan’s point of view.  I have reviewed that here.  It is suggested you read that review before this one, that way i avoid sounding repetitive, but don't worry - there are no spoilers in it!

Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller is told from Caitlin’s point of view.  Considering that, I had hoped that many of the questions that book 1 left me with would be answered in this story.  Some were, but many were not, at least not to the depth that I needed to understand.

Again as with book 1, this story is violent, confronting, and compelling – maybe even more so than book 1, because you gain such a clearer understanding for the trauma Caitlin experienced.  This story also takes you a little further along than Book 1 – so you see some more closure.

I will continue to say that Ms Carlton is a talented writer, she enables the reader to visualise her story, which is somewhat a disturbing ability in this case.  This story having been told a second time was still intense. Unfortunately, though I still struggled a little with the non-conventional style of story telling – it almost feels to me like there are frenetic thoughts that need to be put on a page, and that’s how it read.  This made it a little disjointed, and while i love the respect that is given to the readers ability to piece together the gaps - it just seems a bit too much like hard work for me.

There are no real hearts and flowers moments in this book – it's quite frankly disturbing, in a really creative and engaging way.

I am rating The Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller 3 ½ hearts – this series is a good series, but one that i feel requires some more clarity and detail in the telling in order to take it the next level.

3 1/2 hearts for the Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller

About the Author

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish. 

She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

Sensationalist spin? No - Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all.

Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy.

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