Guilty Photographs Review

Guilty Photographs is a suspense crime thriller by S.I. Taylor will pull you into a story full of danger, violence, and one woman’s desire and journey to break free from the situation that she has found herself in. Please be forewarned, this book is not for everyone. There is some content in this book that some readers will find upsetting, disturbing, or triggering – sexual situations (including rape), violence, and language. So if these things bother you please do not continue reading.

Guilty Photographs is the first book that I have read by S.I. Taylor and I have to say that the author does an excellent job snaring me in from the beginning. The story opens with one of the main characters, Barbara Wolfe, waking up in pain, bloody and wounded, and seemingly alone in an abandoned warehouse. She has no idea how she got there, but she manages to gather her few things and make her way home without incident. Now, my first thought when I read this was that Barbara was a “working girl.” The author soon dissuades me from that thought by giving me Barbara’s “true” profession. She’s a thief, but the incident from last night that found her in the state that she is in from the beginning had nothing to do with a stealing gig.

The author piece by piece reveals that Barbara has been through a lot in her life, but she’s managed to survive it but after last night…she’s determined that enough is enough and it’s time for a change and soon. While Barbara is the primary focus of this book, she is just one of the characters that the author focuses on. There is also Agent McKinley. He makes his appearance with his partner Agent Coolidge when they are called in on a Senator’s murder at his house. Part of me was curious how and when this particular murder was going to tie into Barbara’s situation, but all I needed to be was patient. It happens soon enough and then things begin to come together with a piece at a time.

Barbara, in my opinion, is one of those truly gritty characters. She’s been through so much in her life, but she hasn’t let it break her down to the point where she’s going around feeling sorry for herself. Life has dealt her some hard blows left and right, but instead of letting them destroy her, she chose to adapt as best she could. She doesn’t choose the right path, but she does what she believes at the moment is best. The author transitions back and forth between Barbara and McKinley throughout the book writing in the third person. S.I. Taylor does an excellent job masking the darkness in this book’s characters, but also allowing it to peek through in places to see if the reader will register that small red flag that pops up in certain scenes. As stated above, this book DOES have adult content in it, but the author is considerate of her readers to give us just enough to know what is going on but refrains from going into graphic detail.

While I truly did enjoy this book I have to point out that there are a few editorial errors that apparently were determined to make their way into the final cut of this book. For example, in Chapter 8, when McKinley and Coolidge are investigating the warehouse crime scene there are quotation marks where there should not be any – “Wait, “Who discovered the bodies?” McKinley asked. The next one might just be a personal issue with me, but I felt the scene was a bit confusing. When McKinley and Coolidge go to meet the one informant who would speak with them; the author says that they approached and sat down across from the man. But then a couple paragraphs later the author has them confirm he’s “Mr. Doe” and then ask if they can sit down and doing so after he nods. I guess my question would be…did they change tables? If not, why have them sit once, and then come back and repeat the scene but with more detail? I just felt the whole scene was strange since I felt that the second scene that plays out felt more natural and true to cop behavior in comparison to them going in, seeing their presumed informant, and sitting down immediately. The last error I noticed was in Chapter 13 with a scene between Nixon and Barbara on the road. “Nixon didn’t particularly sounded scared but rather cautious as if warning…” My knee-jerk response was maybe I read it wrong, but after rereading the sentence I was reassured that “sounded” didn’t need that extra “ed” on the end.

My only other complaint about this book is how the title doesn’t tie into the book until almost the end. I’m a bit of a stickler for this, because the way the blurb is written it makes it sound like photos were taken of that night in the warehouse Barbara woke up in and that she finds them and banks on revenge, but that’s not the case. The tie in comes much later in the story and I just wish that it had come sooner.

There is absolutely a lot going on with this book, and the author’s attention to detail makes this book an immersive story. You can picture each scene playing out in your head, feel the strain that the characters experience as they deal with certain situations, and then tension builds as you wonder what will happen next. The twists are absolutely the best part of this book. As I said before, if you’re paying attention, the author gives you little hints here and there.

I am rating this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m simply taking off half a star for the editorial issues and the odd scene. The editorial errors didn’t distract me too much from the storyline itself, but they did manage to catch my eye. The odd scene threw me off a bit, and so because of that I went back and reread it again. I do say this; if you enjoy gripping suspenseful novels then this is a good book to consider picking up. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

All opinions expressed in this review are solely my own and have not been influenced in any way, shape, or form.