The Odds – Jeff Strand

4 stars

Man, what a ride! I don’t know if I should be relieved by that ending or long-suffering, but The Odds had me on the edge of my seat for most of the book. I had to stop myself from skimming down pages to see how the challenges ended quicker.

Now….as a chronically unlucky person, if someone ever offered me the chance at winning a ridiculous sum of money but, oh wait, in the “slim” chance that I lost, I’d suffer from a horrific arm break; I’m gone. Nope, no way no how. I’ll take my chances with my debt and try not to get my kneecaps smashed. There are certain pains I can handle, cat scratches, tattoos, paper cuts at the bends of my fingers, but horrific arm breaks? Nope, I’m a wimp, and I’m drawing my line!

Ethan’s need to keep going reminded me of something named the Call of the Void. It’s these little instances where you have the sudden urge to do something you know will turn out horrifically. Ever been driving and get the sudden inexplicable urge to turn your car into traffic? That’s the Call of the Void and Ethan’s urge to keep going even though he knew he absolutely shouldn’t, and it would end up badly reminded me a lot of that. And I think Jeff did a really good job of exploring how an addiction of any kind takes hold of a person.

Ethan and Rick’s interactions were pretty entertaining and a definite highlight of the book! I love dark humour and sarcasm, so several of Ethan’s responses to Rick and his situation overall had me snorting!

I 100% need a sequel, though! Jeff set it up so we’ll for one, and I’m extremely curious to know how things progress after that twisty ending.