Pieces

by Julia Dudek

Angelique isn't a killer, not truly-but witnessing the cold-blooded murder of her best friend, and discovering that the killer's identity is mysteriously missing from her memory, sends the beautiful medical student's moral compass spinning wildly out of control. To bring the murderer to justice, Angelique needs to remember, and she uncovers a dangerous way to do it-piece by piece. Now, her biggest challenge is completing her precarious mission before the benevolent detective, Ben Marsden, learns that the person behind the city's string of bizarre killings, and the woman he has fallen helplessly in love with, are one and the same.

348 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2009

About the author

"A quickly rising literary star...Be on the lookout for more exciting works from this promising new talent." - Josee Morgan, Apex Reviews

"If this is just the beginning, the future can only be of star magnitude." - Joe Perrone Jr., author of As the Twig is Bent and Opening Day

Julia Dudek lives with her two wonderful children in New Jersey. She has been a freelance news writer for almost ten years, graduated from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey with a degree in Historical Studies, and from Monmouth University with a Master of Arts in Teaching.

Julia has received numerous awards for her writing while in college, most notably The Ignie LaFluer Endowed Scholarship Award for her short story, “The Color of Homage.” Pieces is her first novel.

Julia is currently writing the sequel to Pieces, called Falling in Two, as well as working on other projects. You can visit her website at www.juliadudek.com.

Reviews

[Mackenzie RM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Julia Dudek's debut novel. Pieces is the story of Angelique. She witnesses the murder of her best friend and Angelique's world is turned upside down when she realizes that she can't remember what the killer looked like, so she finds a way to uncover the killer's identity in a dangerous way. She slowly begins pulling her memory back together, piece by piece. Angelique has to put the pieces together quickly, before Detective Ben Marsden realizes that the mysterious murders all over Harlem lead back to the woman he's fallen in love with.

I don't really have much to say about Pieces. I really liked it, it was really well-written and held my interest right to the end. I liked Angelique and the things that she did were quite daring, but all worked out in the end. I do recommend reading this book as it's really good. :)

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dudek's novel is a powerful look at the aftermath of a brutal murder and the impact it has on a survivor. Not only did the main character survive, she is left with the guilt and struggle of losing her best friend during the attack. This novel shows how one person dealt with such a traumatic loss and as the plot twists and turns, the reader is left questioning what is right and wrong. Dedek is a strong writer and the characters she creates are believable. However, as I finished the novel I felt very conflicted about the decisions the main characters made and whether they were appropriate. Quite an interesting read, I'm grateful for winning this book!

[Mikie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was won in the Goodreads give-away.
Angelique’s best and only friend has been murdered and only Angelique can find the killer-if she can only remember what she saw. In an effort to pull together the pieces of what happened, she must push her sanity to the limit. Interesting story line and twists to the plot.

[Allison Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia Dudek's first book Pieces was an interesting, intriguing, edge of your seat suspensful thriller.

Angelique "Angie" wasn't very likable in the beginning due to how perfect she was and her flawless memory as well as her flipant attitude. At least not to her roommate Bernadette, but Bernadette "Bernie" broke down Angie's walls and showed her that she can let someone in.

But when Angie witnessed something tragic you can see that she unraveled showing her vulnerability and that she was not perfect. She became endearing. You started to see that she was afraid to have people get close to her because she felt she was a fraud and she wished she didn't have this special ability of hers, until it failed her.

Her metomorphosis from a reclusive loner to a calculating vengeful woman was one of mezmorizing details and talented writing.

I enjoyed the twist at the end very much and maybe the fight scene wasn't completely believeable but it's possible, she was fighting for revenge and fighting for her life Angelique had strength in her she didn't know she possessed and that is empowering for all women.

I loved the detective I loved his character, I loved his caring for her and I loved what he did for her.

All in all it was a riviting story and an amazing first book for Julia Dudek.

[Michael Kenneth · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Pieces", by fledgling author Julia Dudek introduces us to an insanely beautiful female college student with an eidetic memory who witnesses her best friend getting raped and killed. Unfortunately, her memory of the killer's identity is erased from her mind, and she embarks on a rampage of vengeance to try to find the man who did this. The story, while somewhat clever, fails to engage and quickly descends into a mishmash of cliches and absurd plot elements. The main character is utterly unlikeable, the villain is disappointing, and the plot is completely predictable. An example of one of the absurdities is in a scene in which the main character engages in unarmed physical combat with a muscular 200 pound man twice her size, and almost effortlessly gets the better of him to the point of almost killing him. Then, her trained police officer boyfriend joins the fight, and the same man who just got beaten up throws the cop around like a rag doll. If I wanted to see attractive women beating up men, I would have rented Charlie's Angels. One star.

[Dwayne Kavanagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts slowly stringing the reader along and then gallops into a fast paced and twisted plot. The characters start to pull together as the story progresses. We learn more as we move deeper into the protagonists psyche. A thriller worth dipping into!

[Adam Leask · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a first novel and considering the book is self-published it was absolutely fantastic! Totally gripping from beginning to ending. Would highly recommend to others.