Is the title too confusing? I think it is. Let me explain. Louise Collins wrote three books where the plot takes place in different prisons. Apart from that they are not connected in any way, there are no common characters, they don't know each other, it's not even the same prison, but I can't help thinking about these books as part of a series simply because they are so similar.
The novels are, in the order they were published, The Freshman, The Psychopath, and The Rat. I first came across The Psychopath and I read that, afterwards I saw there were two more books and decided to read those as well, so I am going to go ahead and mix them up a bit next.
First I'm going to say a little something about each novel and what I thought about them, then I'm going to compare them a bit.
The Psychopath
When I read The Psychopath I enjoyed it a lot, there was tension from the first chapter and obvious chemistry between the two main characters, Zane—who's behind bars for murder—and Quinn—who conducts a study at the prison Zane is incarcerated.
I liked Quinn a lot, he was both very smart and naïve, innocent even, and I found that to be adorable. I enjoyed his interviews with the inmates and everything involving him. He was just so likeable. About Zane I wasn't sure about, but I was still drawn to him. He was fun and interesting and I liked the little games he played with Quinn. I always like to read a fun, dangerous game.
The plot was interesting enough and although I was expecting something more dramatic from it, I still enjoyed it.
Since I liked the novel so much, I rushed to look up what else Louise Collins wrote and that's when I discovered the other two books. I liked the writing style so I thought why not, onto the next one. Here is where things started getting wonky for me.
The Freshman
In The Freshman we have Alfie, a new prison guard on the night shift, and Nate who is a dangerous criminal. What is his crime? Alfie doesn't know and although he has the option of reading his file, he doesn't want to because Nate caught his eye and he doesn't want to dislike him. Alfie is also around 18 years old.
The Freshman doesn't have as much tension. There was chemistry between the two main characters, but I wasn't swooned by them. The plot was okay, predictable, but it was still interesting enough. What I didn't like about The Freshman was the lack of character development and the fact that a lot of things were left unexplained.
I would have liked more background on both Alfie and Nate, to get to know them better, but I didn't get much. What I did like was Alfie. Although basically a new adult, he was pretty snarky and I liked his replies and remarks. He was also very brave and that really sold it for me. As for Nate, I don't have much to say about him.
Right about now I was pretty sure I would enjoy the next book, but that I should lower my expectations. While I still liked the writing, I didn't expect anything mind blowing plot-wise. With the next one,things plummeted.
The Rat
Rory is an undercover cop sent to investigate Sebastian. Sebastian seems to be planning something upon his release and the detective who put him behind bars wants to know exactly what, so he sends Roy to find out. Things get tough for Roy when he starts having feelings for Sebastian.
The plot is definitely interesting, but here I liked the characters even less. Roy is a terrible spy. Granted, he's a new cop, doesn't have training, but even so, he is so bad at it. I was surprised no one was onto him from day one. But then again, the inmates felt more like a bunch of college students than criminals so I guess no surprise there.
I liked this novel the least. Besides not liking the characters and already knowing what to expect from the plot, the last few chapters made me cringe. They were also rushed.
Next I'm going to compare the novels and there are some spoilers incoming, so read at your own risk. I am also going to colour-code the names of the characters according to the colour on the covers to make reading this clearer. I hope it won't be too distracting.
Comparison
I have this theory that you are more likely to really enjoy the first book you read in this non-series. I might be wrong and I would have enjoyed The Psychopath more regardless of the order I read them, but looking at the ratings and noticing that the first released novel has the higher rating and the last has the lowest I am going to stand by that theory.
I did like the novels, I liked the writing style, it was pretty good. My main issue with these books is that Louise Collins didn't take any risks. The bad guys Zane and Sebastian weren't exactly bad guys. Zane faked the murders because he was tired of other people telling him what to do and what to be. He just wanted some quiet and prison offered him that. Sebastian was more or less framed and had tried to save the victim in the end. When it comes to Nate, his story is really vague. I still don't know what he did and if he was actually guilty or not. Considering he escaped prison I'd say he was guilty, but of what, no one knows.
The good guys had more 'page time' in the novels. Quinn is the only one I actually liked, he was pretty great and didn't play as either helpless nor the helper and was basically a competent adult. The other two, though... Alfie was just a kid. He tried to do the right thing, but ended up getting burned and shut out by friends and acquaintances. He even gained himself an investigation and lost his job when Nate escaped prison, when it became obvious they had been in a relationship. The other one, Roy, was naïve but in a really bad way. He also didn't seem to have any self preservation skills which is really not good. He was also the 'helper' (also applies to Alfie, but it a more tame way), going around and trying to fix everything for everyone in the end, making people rekindle with their estranged nephew who is in prison and even helping the prison useless psychologist and another inmate. He had no training, he barely could take care of himself, and yet. That bit about him pissed me off, but not more than the psychologist's incompetence.
Another issue I have with these novels is that although the writing was okay, they lacked a lot of detail. Especially with The Freshman I had more questions than answers after I read it. They are also way too similar, the books follow the same pattern and the characters are similar in a lot of ways. The plots are basically the same, but a little to the left.
This is not all. I read these books and I have quite a few things to say about them.
Overall
Despite all this, I did enjoy reading them. Yes, my enjoyment went lower and lower with each book, so low that I went from rating fives stars to only one on the last book, but they are not bad. Some more detail could have gone into them, maybe some more research here and there, and more boldness from the author, but they are still readable.
Initially I was ready to go right into the next Louise Collins book, but after the last one I'm not sure I want to. I am willing to try another if something catches my interest, though, and hopefully it would go better. If not, well, at least I tried. Not all authors are for every reader, that's a given so while I still think Louise Collins is not a bad writer, it might just be that she's just not my type of writer.
Also, this is silly, but I thought about it as I read the last book and I have to mention it. One of the main characters in The Rat is named Roy and for a few seconds I thought that was a pretty neat thing to do, but then I remembered that in The Psychopath there is Quinn and not P-something, in The Freshman there is Alfie, not F-something and I thought that was a missed opportunity. That would have been a pattern I liked.
And this is what I have to say about this non-series series. I'm still going to think about it as a series, I just can't separate them.
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