Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

Growing up with an abusive father, Peter Bauer was constantly taught he was worthless. His father, Erik, kept him at close range, though, and Peter is now a successful car thief working for his father’s illegitimate business. His twin sister, Olivia, is Erik’s right-hand in business and always seemed to escape the worst of their father’s rages and Peter feels like he is constantly apologizing, although he’s not even sure for what at times. When Peter steps out of bounds and steals a ’65 Shelby Cobra convertible, he sets off a chain of events that may ultimately be his undoing.

Nikos Petrakis is a mechanic who found himself indebted to Erik due to a secret his wife kept from him that cost his family everything. Nikos is the first man to actually pay attention to Peter and not want something from him, but nothing in Peter’s life is easy and Erik likes to remind Peter exactly where his place is. Neither Peter nor Nikos are ready to trust the other and it will take a whole lot of maneuvering for these two to have even a small chance at a future.

Night Moves is a fast paced, edgy drama that kept me engaged throughout the entire book. It was captivating enough to read during the course of one day and the pages effortlessly flew by. It’s primarily Peter’s story as we get caught up on the abuse he has suffered his entire life at the hands of his father and how being a criminal is all he knows. While Peter excels at stealing cars, the criminal life has never been the best fit for him, but he has had no choice. The writing hits harder and goes a little darker and makes for compelling reading the entire way through.

Nikos was happily married, but a betrayal cost his family everything and he’s obligated to pay back a debt that was never his to begin with. The circumstances of his marriage are explained and not everything is what it seems. Nikos takes an interest in Peter, but since we don’t get his POV directly, his motives were harder to fully grasp all the time.

The author includes “interludes” between some of the chapters and we are given vital pieces of information from the point of view of secondary characters that work to pull the story together and this was exceptionally well done. The relationship between Peter and Nikos ran parallel to the drama around them for most of the book. It was a constant thread throughout, but Peter’s story is focused on where he is in life and how he came to be there.

The pacing of the book worked in its favor and it was easy to get caught up in the rush. It wasn’t until the end and looking back that there were places where I needed more. Erik was one area. He was the focal point in Peter’s life, yet his ending was glossed over and given barely a full sentence and there was too much not said or explained, especially regarding the story of Peter’s mother. Olivia, as well, was shown to be a complex character and by the end it was still unclear if her loyalties truly lied with Peter. The interludes, as mentioned, were a vital part of the story and there were parallels drawn between the past and present, but then it was not taken further. Also, during these interludes, we the reader are given important pieces of information, but it is then never disclosed if the characters ever became aware of the same information. And, on a completely detail-related note, peanut butter cups play a role in a scene in the book and it would have been easy for the author to look up that it’s Reese’s and not Reece’s. Sometimes it’s the smallest of details that can work to pull you out of a scene.

The ending moves fast like the rest of the book and I would have liked to see more of Peter and Nikos in a relationship, as opposed to the overview we are given. Night Moves was a book that kept me captivated as I was reading, but then needed more in some areas by the end. However, this is the first book in the Hot Wire series and book two will continue Peter and Nikos’ story and I will most certainly look forward to following along.