ASIN: B006T80SPY Publisher: Innovation Haven List Price: $3.99 Genre: Crime Thriller Format: eBook

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for a review.

No matter what genre Adam Pepper writes in, he always manages to write an intriguing story with characters that are credible. In his newest release, Skin Games, Pepper proves this statement as true.

Pepper's stories are always intriguing, but it is truly his characters that make his stories. A great plot is a fantastic thing, but any plot with flat characters just won't hold up. Pepper's characters are a study in human nature. What makes us the way we are? What drives us? What causes us to respond the way we do?

Skin is the perfect example of how we are all a product of our genetics, our upbringing, and our environment. He is a combination of the part of us that works so hard to not be like our parents and the part of us that inevitably is. In some cases those traits are flaws, and in other cases those traits actually turn out to be attributes. 

In this crime thriller, Skin Games, Skin is approached by Maria when she asks him to carry out an act of revenge for the death of her father and brother. The only hesitation Maria has is that she needs to know that she can trust Skin when he gives his word. From here, we delve into the past history of Skin. We learn of his worthless and abusive father, Skin's own foray into the criminal world, and ultimately the consequences of his actions.

It is through this telling that we, and Maria, learn of Skin's history and how it will determine the outcome of her request, along with how she will know that Skin will never go back on his word.

No matter if it's a crime thriller such as Skin Games or a science fiction thriller such as Symphony of Blood (reviewed on November 26, 2011) Adam Pepper's stories are thrilling, intriguing, insightful, and entertaining.