Sins & Needles (The Artists Trilogy #1)
by Karina Halle
Published January 2013
Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents’ latest scam. Now she’s much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for – Camden McQueen. Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie’s counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she’s not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie’s plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn’t dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it’s one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road.
***The Artists Trilogy is a dark and sexy contemporary ride about three flawed individuals caught in a world where it’s so easy to justify the bad things we do. This is a pure adult read (Not YA or NA).
This is the 1st book in the trilogy. It is followed by the novella On Every Street (released in March 2013) and the sequel Shooting Scars (released in May 2013). The third and final book in the series will also be released in 2013.***
My Thoughts:
I’ve really enjoyed Karina Halle’s Experiment in Terror Series, so when she published book one of a new book, Sins & Needles, I decided to buy it and give it a try. This book was very different from her other new adult paranormal series since its an adult contemporary trilogy featuring non-stop danger, lies, lust, and intrigue.
Ellie Watt doesn’t really know who she is anymore. When her latest con goes bad and she has to go on the run again, she eventually runs out of money and finds herself back in one of the few places that she felt a little bit of peace. She swears that she’s done with the grifting life–even though it’s the only life she’s really ever known–and she’s going to try a life on the straight and narrow. Back in the town where she finished up high school and her uncle lives on an orchard, Ellie runs into an old acquaintance from school while she’s out job hunting, and it’s someone that she’s never forgotten but doesn’t recognize right away.
Camden McQueen was the Goth kid in high school that everyone teased and ostracized. He’d thought he had found a friend in Ellie Watt until she turned on him when she saw a way out from being made fun of for her own tortured existence because of her physical limitations and her parents’ illegal lifestyle. He never forgot that betrayal, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her slip through his fingers again without giving her a little payback. Now a successful tattoo artist with his own shop, Camden is set on impressing Ellie and showing her what she could have had back in high school–until she tries to rob him blind and he enacts the rest of his plan for revenge.
Both Ellie and Camden have made some huge mistakes in their not so distant past, and the past always has a way to catch up with them. What starts off as  more of a grinding psychological story turns into a fast-paced action thriller as they go on the run for their lives. But when someone’s trying to kill you as you make your way across the country, who can you trust when your former best friend is now your partner in crime and has held a gun on you recently? It makes for some tricky business, picking the lesser of two evils…
Told in alternating chapters of the past and the present in Ellie’s point of view, Sins & Needles is a gritty, sometimes disturbing, darkly comic, and twisted look at two very damaged people and how they carry their physical and emotional scars around. The writing is fast and evenly paced with the great execution that I’ve come to expect from author Karina Halle. And after the ending of this book, I cannot wait to read the sequel, Shooting Scars. I just need to see what happens next!
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I’ve read some great reviews on this one and really need to check it out. I’m not sure gritty is what I’m looking for at the moment but this NEEDS to be on my TBR pile (I can read it during the summer, on a boat with a frosty adult beverage by my side…that sound like the perfect time for gritty. Not when I’m cranky and need light or kick-ass!).
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By summer, book two will be out and you can at least read them one right after the other so you won’t have to wait to see what happens to Ellie like the rest of us do.
I’ve been adding a lot of books to your TBR pile, haven’t I? 😉
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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Great review! I have been waiting to read more reviews on this one. I am glad that it is something different and like that it is a bit dark.
I definitely want to read this one!
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I’m glad that my review gave you a bit of extra information! It’s a great book, and I really enjoyed it. Karina Halle is definitely one of the authors that I recommend to everyone.
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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Loved this book too and I cannot wait for the next one! Great review!!
My Review
Eva @ All Books Considered
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I can’t wait for book two either! I really want to know what’s happening with Ellie! Thanks for stopping by, Eva!
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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I have been reading this on my smartphone, in car lines, doc office etc, so it has been slow going but so far I find it fascinating and action packed. Lovely review! you are riding the Halle train!
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LOL, I know, Kimba! I went through a tear where I read all of the Experiment in Terror books, then I read Sins and Needles. I tried to spread all of the reviews out!
At least tomorrow I’m reviewing Beautiful Bastard instead 😉
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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I have heard some good things about this one so I added it to my WL. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read it!
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It’s pretty action packed and dark–just as good as Karina Halle’s Experiment in Terror series but it’s contemporary with almost non-stop danger. I hope you like it!
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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I don’t read adult fiction too much. I usually stick with YA or NA, but this sounds really interesting. Enough that I’ll have to check it out. I like gritty and dark stories and since you enjoyed it so much, it must be worth a read.
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It’s a great book and I definitely recommend checking it out!
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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I really like the sounds of having to pick between the lesser of two evils! And a psychological story that becomes a fast-paced thriller? Yes please!
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This book is really great as it morphs from one thing into the other. Definitely check it out, Kelly!
Heather recently posted..Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
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I am so intrigued by this one, even more so since you said it’s told in alternating POVs 🙂
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I thought this was the next book in that other series. You must really like this author! Sounds like a good solid adult novel, no pnr or uf. Might read it when I need an adult contemporary. Hmm when I get some time….
Heather
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I have yet to read anything by this author but I have high hopes for this book. SO many people are raving about it lately that it seems like one of those books that you just must try.
Thanks for the great review, glad you enjoyed it!
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