Driven – A Review

“Mitchell Morgan is a quiet young man with dangerous secrets. One of those secrets is a psychic power over metal that makes him far more than just the handsome, blue-eyed owner of Advanced Auto Repairs. The other traps him in a world of organized crime and intense violence.

Trevor Lewis is a graphic designer with a passion for drawing, drumming, and his incredibly hot auto mechanic. He meets Mitchell over a broken tail light, and despite — or perhaps because of — Trevor’s awkwardness, Mitchell is charmed. Trevor’s curly hair and brilliant smile bring light into Mitchell’s complicated world. Mitchell would do anything to save Trevor from the dangers of his criminal life — but first Trevor has to save Mitchell from his own darkness.”

Driven by Nicholas Kinsley, via goodreads.

I started reading Driven a few months ago. Honestly, I intended to finish reading it and write a review for the blog much sooner than this…but things didn’t work out as I’d planned. That happens more often than I’d like. Not going to lie: I tend to get distracted and wrapped up in other things from time to time.

But I digress.

Back to the matter at hand: I’d read and reviewed a book (Behind Locked Doors) from the same author previously, and I’d loved it immensely, and I’d been eager to read the other books he’d written.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like Driven as much as I’d liked Behind Locked Doors. The blurb sounded interesting, though I feel it provided too much detail. The blurb is supposed to capture interest and encourage readers to open the cover. Sadly, I don’t see how mentioning blue irises and curling hair could do that. Such details add nothing to the overall appeal.

Setting

Unlike the book I’d read previously, Driven is set in modern London instead of the Victorian era. It doesn’t explore the flashy, elite parts of London that we see showcased on television from time to time — the parts that make us want to book a flight and visit as soon as possible.

The novel explores the underbelly, where shining buildings are absent and criminals run rampant. That is one of the things that drew me toward Driven in the first place. I love reading gritty, intriguing plots.

Character

Naturally, there were two characters that stood out throughout this novel: the protagonist and his love interest.

Mitchell Morgan

Mitchell is the main character of the novel. I’m not going to lie: it took me a while to warm up to him. I’m still not certain that I love him as a character…but I like him well enough. I liked him enough to root for him when he wanted to distance himself from a life of crime and wanting to root for a character is something that matters to me as a reader.

Mitchell is a strange man with a painful and disturbing history, which still impacts his life to date. It leaves him quiet and moody, though he is devoted to the people he cares about. But he also holds himself back from others. He is reluctant to let them grow close to him — and for good reason.

Eventually, Mitchell does let people in…but he tries his best to keep the shadier parts of himself a secret for their protection. I find that admirable.

The shadier parts of him are rather unflattering, however.

While Mitchell does want to break away, he doesn’t hesitate to torture and kill when he has to. He doesn’t think about it. There doesn’t seem to be a negative impact on him after he walks away, and distances himself from those who press him into these situations. Mitchell doesn’t want to do it…but that doesn’t seem to stem from an emotional or compassionate place in his head.

And I find that an interesting, but disturbing aspect of his character.

Trevor Lewis

Naturally, Trevor Lewis is the love interest. His character is a different beast altogether.

Trevor doesn’t have a painful or disturbing history, but he does have a morbid fascination with gore and violence despite his moral code. He shares this trait with a lot of people that exist outside the world of books — that morbid fascination is what attracts people to horror films and thrillers. It attracts them to shows like Criminal Minds and Hannibal. When it comes to Trevor, it attracts him to graphic images on reddit and to drawing graphic art.

Trevor is charming in his awkwardness — so much so that I doubt butter would melt in his mouth. Unfortunately, he is also a terrible friend. He makes contact and spends time with his “friends” when he needs something, but vanishes from existence otherwise. He even admits to himself that he doesn’t care about them — aside from Kay, who is his one true friend.

Even worse: Trevor breaks consent boundaries without even thinking about it. Mitchell has to school him on how hard to squeeze his neck during their sexual relations and to tell him to be conscious of what he does during that time. He can’t just do it on an impulse.

His character is interesting, but not one I’d want to be around.

Plot

This is where things start going downhill. The novel had a great premise…but the execution let me down.

Initially, I thought the paranormal subplot was interesting, but it didn’t add much to the novel in the end. It could have been left out easily, without making much of a dent in the scheme of things.

Mitchell could have been just a skilled mechanic. A prodigy, if it were.  

However, it was the main plot that disappointed me the most. It had a solid beginning, but the climax was unsatisfactory, and that frustrates me because I can see all the places where the novel could have been improved before publication.

The first issue I had with the execution of the plot was the graphic rape scene (without prior warning, I might add) that occurred later in the novel. I don’t open romance novels with the hope of finding rape scenes waiting for me. I can understand wanting to include darker topics in a story, but it could have had the same impact if the scene had faded to black before the rape and the traumatised aftermath had been explored in more detail instead.

The second issue I had was the involvement of criminal investigations. When the operative was introduced to the story, I felt excited at first. I was looking forward to seeing Kane and his cronies taken down legally, to seeing his criminal organisation crumble like the tower in Mordor.

I was looking forward to seeing them all rot in prison.

But that isn’t what happened.

The operative might as well have been left out. His presence added nothing. The potential his introduction had brought to the table was squandered before the climax of the plot even took place.

That saddens and frustrates me to no end.

The Writing

Mostly, the writing itself was fine.

The one quibble I had arose from personal difficulties with reading accents. I had a lot of trouble with reading the Liverpool accent that cropped up in the text. It took me a lot longer to get through those sections than I’d have liked.

But at the end of the day, that isn’t much to complain about.

Rating

While the plot was disappointing, and though I had a small quibble with the writing, the setting of the novel and the characters weren’t an issue for me at all.

I would rate this book with 3 out of 5 stars.