By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.
Spoilers: ‘Tis might be the season for receiving catalogs, but if you are a character in Ty Mitchell’s Suspense Thriller VENOM Novel The Catalogue, this eponymous document is the last catalog that you will want to receive. Instead of orders about charcuteries and winter apparel, this is a list of the world's most available organized criminals, assassins, terrorists, blackmailers, and all around worst people ever.
The Catalogue is the property of VENOM, a global super network of organized crime. Many members know of the Catalogue’s existence but not all of them have access to it and some would kill to receive it. One of them is Jun Li who is literally killing the competition. His actions reach the attention of Detective Jake Penny, investigative reporter Zasha Avery, and NSA Special Agent Ethan Parker who try to get to the root of these murders that will hopefully lead them to VENOM and The Catalogue.
This is a high octane and energy thriller that relies on suspense, plot twists, and fast paced writing to tell its story and it does that well. The action chapters are very tight building on different layers of character and suspense to add to the overall tension.
From the first moment that we, the Readers, observe the characters, they are thrown into violent situations that require us to evaluate their personalities. Jake's introductory chapter takes place in a pharmacy where he is desperately trying to get opioids that he is addicted to. He stops an armed robbery and uses his observation skills to reveal that it was an inside job.
This opening shows him as an effective detective but a very troubled individual with deep personal conflict. Those actions questions his allegiance with the law and our thoughts towards him. He doesn't live in a world of black and white, but gray.
Jun Li is another character who acknowledges that gray world. He is ruthless and efficient in his murders, treating his targets like nothing more than items on a checklist. Even though he is a loyal VENOM member, he seems more interested in becoming the actual leader and grabbing power for himself.
However, there is another side to him and it is shown in the opening chapter when he reads to a group of orphaned children before he returns to and taunts his bound adult hostages. He develops a genuine bond with one of the young orphans so that a later chapter concerning the two of them is one of the most emotionally gripping.
Like Jake, the purpose is to show different sides and the gray world that he and the other characters inhabit. Sometimes the hero has a dark violent side and sometimes the villain shows vulnerability that is hidden from everyone else.
The gray world leads to some of the more intriguing plot twists and revelations. Some make sense but one arbitrary twist stretches credibility especially since the book is third person omniscient and we would have had some hints in the characters' mindset.
I suppose that is the point. In a world where good characters aren't always good and bad ones aren't always bad and everyone operates according to their own code, that is to be expected. Characters act in ways that even the Readers find questionable.
The Catalogue is the type of novel that provides suspense, thrills, plot twists, and understanding of the complexities of the law and the lawless. It is perfectly made to order.
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