Colossus (Run Rabbit Run: Book 1) by Jette Harris

4 Stars

Publisher: 

Date of publication: November 19th, 2015

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Horror

Series: Run Rabbit Run

Colossus – Book 1

Two Guns – Book 2

Where you can find Colossus: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Lured away from safety by their own goodwill, four high-school seniors from the affluent suburbs of Atlanta are kidnapped, tortured, and forced to entertain the malicious appetites of an unpredictable predator. He calls himself Rhodes. They call him COLOSSUS—looming, omnipresent, and threatening to collapse into insanity.

Heather Stokes, clever, resourceful, and no stranger to tragedy is willing to risk her life and sanity to protect her friends. They are focused on survival. But as the month hurtles the four toward their likely deaths, their worst nightmares become increasingly real—even for Rhodes: All of their efforts could be in vain, and it is likely none of them will survive.

COLOSSUS is an uncompromising, white-knuckled serial killer thriller, featuring unforgettable characters and an unsettling, nightmare-inducing antagonist. A must-read for fans of Karin Slaughter and Thomas Harris.

My Review:

I haven’t had a book that has affected me the way that Colossus affected me in a long while. I wanted to put the book down and stop reading it but at the same time, I had to finish reading the chapter. I needed to find out what happened to Heather and her friends. I wanted to know the mystery behind Rhodes. I do not like it when books end with no resolution to the storylines. But in this book, it fits. It also left the book wide open for book 2.

This book is brutal. Not going to lie and tell you all that this book has a couple of scenes that will make you wince. It doesn’t have a couple. The whole book from the time Heather is kidnapped to the end is scene after scene of brutality. I like to think that I have a pretty thick skin when it comes to books with graphic violence. But I reached my limit with Colossus. I praise the author for that. I was kept breathless from chapter to chapter. Rhodes was such a wild card that I couldn’t predict what he was going to do next.

What was interesting to me was how the author was able to make all 4 kids have different reactions to their situation. Witt thought that if he could get on Rhodes good side, and stay there than he wouldn’t be tortured. He was also very submissive. Monica, while submissive, became withdrawn and quiet. She would curl up into a ball to make herself smaller. Like she wanted to disappear. Z did try to fight Rhodes but he was always overpowered. He learned to do what Rhodes wanted without making a sound. Heather fought Rhodes tooth and nail. She got the worse of the beatings. But there was something about her that Rhodes liked and that was the only reason she was alive.

There were times in the book where I wanted to tell Heather to stop fighting Rhodes and do what he wanted. Especially when he told her that they all had a time limit hanging over their heads. If anything, that made her fight harder.

What also got under my skin was the rape scenes. They were pretty graphic. What affected me was that it wasn’t just the girls getting raped. The boys did too. Then Rhodes videod them raping each other. It did get pretty intense during that part of the book.

Rhodes was a complete mystery. There was more to him than being a psychopathic serial killer. There were hints about someone who he had in his life that wasn’t there. Hints about his childhood and the abuse he endured. Hints about Spain and a job that waited for him there. Just the barest of facts and I wanted more. So I was a little disappointed when the book ended and there was no mention of it. I am hoping that book 2 gets more into his background.

The end of Colossus was a not what I thought it was going to be. It played with my mind. I stayed up after I was done with the book and thought about the ending. It affected me that bad. Let’s say that what I thought was going to happen didn’t happen. There was a twist that made me go “W.T.H.“.

What I liked about Colossus:

A) Kept me on the edge of my seat

B) Fleshed out characters

C) Excellent storyline

What I disliked about Colossus:

A) The violence

B) The rape scenes

C) Rhodes is a complete mystery. Drove me nuts.

I would give Colossus an Adult rating. I would not let anyone under the age of 21 read this book. There is explicit violence. There are explicit rape scenes. There is explicit language.

This book definitely has trigger warnings. They would be rape, kidnapping, and assault. If you are triggered by any of these, I would suggest that you not read the book.

I would recommend this book to family and friends. But I would make sure that they knew how intense and graphic the book can get. I would also let them know about the triggers. This is a book that I could see myself rereading.

I would like to thank Jette Harris for allowing me to read and review Colossus.

All opinions stated in this review of Colossus are mine.

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**