Review: Tattooed by Pamela Callow

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Series: Stand-alone
Format: ARC (NetGalley)
Excerpt here
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

She is obsessed with tattoos.

He is obsessed with her.

When a body is found on the outskirts of Halifax, rumors run wild about the victim's identity. But tattoo artist Kenzie Sloane knows exactly who she is. They share a tattoo... and a decade-old secret.

Lawyer Kate Lange remembers Kenzie Sloane. The former wild child was part of the same crowd that attracted her little sister, Imogen, before her death. Now Kenzie needs her help. And Kate needs answers.

But there are others who know about the tattoo and its history. And one of them is watching Kenzie's every move, waiting for the perfect moment to fulfill a dark promise that had been inked in her skin.

I love the concept of the story and since I have a couple of tattoos myself I thought it would be fun to read a story about one. I love the imagery that PCallow made with regards to tattoo designs, that has got to be my favorite part of the story. Kenzie Sloane is a premier tattoo artist and her specialization are Japanese art inspired designs, the descriptions that were thrown in are vibrant that had me looking for Koi fish and Foo Dog tats. PCallow got the details of skin art perfectly even the makeshift ones they do in prison.

As for the characters, this was a little unconventional because the usual hero/villain roles aren't quite defined. When I finished the book I was left pondering who was what. The back stories were filled in but as far as the characters' respective current lives was concerned it felt a little incomplete to me. There were a lot of details that were missing that I didn't have enough material to fill in the blanks. 

The person whom I thought would be the main villain ex-con, John McNally, hardly made an appearance. He was mentioned as having an obsession with Kenzie and was on a mission to find her when he got out from the slammer and go total psycho on her. I was expecting stalking, attempted kidnap, blackmail and all that but it didn't happen. His character didn't feel as menacing as it's supposed to be. 

An evil teen who grew into an evil woman.

Kenzie Sloane's development was desultory as well. We first read about her through Kate's memories of a very messed up teen then fast forward to the present and it appears that Kenzie changed but knowing she made a big mess in the past we weren't made privy to her thoughts. Did she feel guilty? Is she making amends in her own way? Her character development lacked certain elements to tie her past and present together that the final confrontation between her, McNally and Kate felt a little out of left field. 

Kate Lange to me was the victim and what her exact real role is still eludes me, she was more like collateral damage in relation to Kenzie and McNally's destructive relationship than having a major hand in the flow of things. Then there's the business of Kenzie's mother which in total just felt more like a nuisance and not as essential in the story. I'd rather PCallow stuck with the mommy issues than inserting lobbying and everything else that Frances Sloane did. Overall the story is supposed to be about revenge, passion and closure between Kenzie and McNally based on the plot but that relationship was blurry til the end. McNally was a threat but there were no real actions to make his intent real threatening. Breaking and entering and stealing panties? Yeah, life threatening! 

I was really hoping that I'll like it because the story was so easy to read and I was thinking maybe the ending will be epic and everything will be tied up with a little bow. Unfortunately that didn't happen and instead of my questions being answered, I had more of it than when I started the book. The structure of the story is good but the way it was executed needs work especially the characters.

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