Empathy Paperback – August 27, 2014

This book surprised me... And believe me, it's not an easy thing to do!Can circumstances change us? Can the evil doings of others dim our light, making us cold, dark and evil...?“𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂.”Melody's life is perfect. She's a college student and has supportive and loving parents - but everything changes after a she meets the two brothers, Ryan and Blake. Their choices will affect her life forever...I won't give any spoilers, - I'll just say that despite the book's name, they both have NO empathy at all! "𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹, 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿, 𝗜 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗱; 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗱."As the story progressed, I couldn't imagine any romance in it and I was totally ready to be disappointed, but... WOAZA!Dark, mysterious and full of surprising twists... This book was a crazy ride. And the end? I never saw it coming!However, this book was short (less than 200 pages) so accordingly, there were some developments that happened too quickly to make them reliable... Still, I enjoyed every twisted minute.“𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂.”“𝗡𝗼, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗲.” 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.So if you want to read a dark and twisted story that will make you feel shocked to the core, I totally recommend this book!

Publication Date ~ August 27, 2014 / / / / / Series Years ~ 2014-2015Narration ~ 1st POV Melody 20 yrs, then shifts to Ryan 19 yrs old, Then to Blake 25 /26 yrs old who is Ryan's older brotherTotal Chapters ~ 40 + Epilogue + 10 Years LaterEnding ~ [ Standalone but you'll be left guessing what happens in the end ]Publication Date ~ September 27, 2014Triggers / Warnings? ~Ryan is a masochist & a sadist. There is rough sex, description of killing, explicit sex.25% Into the Book Chapters 1-8 ~ Melody comes from a rich father that works at a bank. He left his wife for her mother. She has a half brother named Markus that despises her, her mother, & his father for leaving his.While Melody attends her classes, she is paired with the guy she's intrigued by. He is a loner, & he verbally defends himself from a bully in class for the first time. It is known during these first chapters that he's a masochist & his brother Blake supports them both. His father abused them as kids, & their mother was a word ____we shouldn't use for ladies!!! When Ryan leaves class, Clive, his bully decides to fight him. He doesn't defend himself & at this point, Blake knocks the bully to the ground.After he is about to leave, he bumps with Melody & is obnoxiously rude to her. He even goes as far as to trip her & call her weak.Melody goes to visit her parents a few hours away from campus. When she goes inside, she notices that the lights are off, & the door is slightly open. There she struggles with a man that knocks her out. When she gains consciousness, she finds both of her parents murdered. She fights the man in the shadows & asks him to show his face if he's going to murder her.Once he leaves, we figure out that her half-brother paid him to kill his father to gain his inheritance. Markus demands from his half-sister Melody to find the financial papers. He wants to sell the house. They haven't even finished burying his father.During this time, Melody wants to forget after 2 weeks, & she bumps into Blake at a frat party after she is drunk. He walks her home, & she kisses him. I'm in shock by this point because unknown to her, she has it in for the murderer of her parents.He doesn't have empathy for anyone other than his brother, but he starts to feel things for her. He also doesn't have the need to kill her. I find this very interesting & wonder where will the story lead.I did not read the synopsis so I didn't know what the story was about. This is what went through my mind. First off, Ker Dukey Ker Dukey is not a fluffy writer. She doesn't do Cozy, she does the exact opposite making sure you are in shock throughout your reading. I kept thinking about how will Melody react once she finds out the truth. This story kept me at the edge of my seat. As always, there was not a dull moment, & I'm so glad I read it.

When it comes to the start of a new series, there are two ways you can play it – or at least I think there are, you can lure the reader in and slowly piece by piece reveal the fruits of your labour or if you’re Ker Dukey you can smack your readers right between the eyes with a story and characters that will knock them on their ass!!This is Ker Dukey at her indefinable best!So let’s get on to what the book is about, I’ll start with Melody.A well healed, beautiful young woman who although only being 19 years old, she has experience pain and heartache. Melody is in college but her life is destined to change and to shortly turn in a direction that she could never have though possible.Returning home should have been straight forward but then again, this is Ker Dukey we are talking about!The other main character is Blake and he blew my mind!He is all kinds of crazy, a product of a childhood that was completely screwed up. He is plagued by some gigantic demons and just beginning to understand the intensity of those demons was emotionally draining.I really felt for him from the age of 18 he has been irrevocably changed and while he has learnt to accept that, it doesn’t mean that now at the age of 25 living with it gets any easier.But his life changes completely when he meets Melody.I could say so much about this book but I think I would be doing you a disservice, this is the start of a series that is destined for greatness.Empathy, should be read with an open mind, so check any preconceptions in at the front cover and open the book and your heart and mind to the masterful deviancy that only Ker Dukey can guide you through… it is glorious – so enjoy the ride!!!!!

Empathy, Feelings, The ability to feel, To go through what another goes through.Lies and deceit and so much pain. In every corner, every turn someone is hurting. All as a result of one person, one person who can pull the strings of so many innocent people. Like a stage filled with marionettes and he controls Every. Single. Movement.Can the strings be broken? Can you recover when someone makes you feel? When you would rather live out your days in a bland existence, unfeeling and emotionless toward everyone and to everything surrounding you.Melody is a normal happy young woman attending college, when on a trip back home to visit her parents tragedy strikes leaving Mel in a living nightmare, lost and broken.Pain and suffering. They are the only words I can use to describe Melody. Surrounded by distress. With only her best and only friend to turn to, Ryan isn't the best person to lean on, he has his own f***ked up life and depravities to deal with.Or should she turn to Blake the detective given her case, assigned to look after her. To keep her safe, but the question is, keep Mel safe from Who? Does she really need another person in her life to lie and keep secrets from her?so completely packed full of emotion I didn't know which way to turn. I had to have a few breaks while reading to process everything that was happening and everything I was feeling.I was made to feel it all. Who to trust. Who to listen to. Who is lying. Who is safe. Sadness. Anger. Happiness. Hope.Pure brilliance. Another masterpiece from the wonderful mind of Ker Dukey.

what a bookwhat a storywhat an endingIn 2014 i got this book- put it on my book shelf.Yesterday i went on a long coach journey, grabbed the book and read it already,It was gripping, intense and hot as hell.It was sad and horrific and disturbing.It was unpredictable and addictive.It was just my sort of book.There sure was some mixed up characters in this book but it was a original story line and had me on the edge of my seat.It was dramatic with twists and turns and a bit edgey but i loved it.Blake and his brother were really screwed up but were strong characters and very unusual.Some of the book is beautiful and other parts are frigtening with drama and suspense.Really good book excelleny in fact.One i wont chuck out to the chariety shop and will read again and def recommend.

This is the first book I have read by Ker Dukey. No offence but the name put me off. Is the writer a man or a woman or a beast? I'm still not sure but, now I don't give a flying f**k.Sometimes, I think I could write a book, then I read something as magical as this and I go back in my box and stay being a Bank drone who reads a lot.Ker Dukey be you man, woman or beast, this book was absolutely off the scale you are a wizard.I am totally blindsided. I feel like I have been smacked around the head with a hammer, been shaken in a washing machine and had my brain fried by a bolt of lightening. I never, ever saw that plot happening and I always normally suss it. I feel defeated but in a good way.So guess what Ker Dukey has a new fan! Me!Fav bits:She's trouble, haunted and I want to delve into her darkness and swim in her hurt, but I'll wait.Lonely is more than a feeling, it's a manifestation weighing heavily on my heart, a burden crushing, suffocating me, consuming my thoughts. You're all alone, you have no one. You are no one's. It's on my skin, coating me in a cold, clammy mist, taking my warmth.I'm just dust on the wind, ash on a burned out flame.When your story is written on a piece of paper and that paper gets crumpled up and thrown into a shredder, you can piece the tatters back together although the damage remains. So does your story, you just have to continue to write even if the paper isn't perfect.There's more but do you know what - read it yourself and prepare to be wowed.

Where to start..... Blake maybe..... The intensity.... The darkness..... Did I mention Blake? I considered myself a fan of darker reads and Ker Dukey has been on my 'hit' list for a while and I didn't think I would ever reach her books in my kindle. To start off with my boundaries for darkness were tested and I thought this book was going to prove me wrong, but I got to the end and I am so glad I did. This has got to be the most intense, emotional, twisted book I think I have read recently and i ABSOLUTELY loved it!!! I love the path the story took and the ride it made me take right along with it. It kind of felt like I fell into the book and was living it right along with them. Every emotion Melody felt, I was right there with her. Every doubt Blake had, I had them with him. I was so involved in the story I couldn't put my kindle down until it was finished and even then I just wanted more. Ker has an amazing way with words and the way she writes blows my mind!! I am very much looking forward to continuing down this path and reading the many other books she has to offer and if you haven't read this book already, get yourself a copy and ignore the world til its over!!