Posts Tagged ‘serial killer’
Monday, August 20th, 2012
Pros: Trademark snappy dialogue; fascinating mystery; continuing character development
Cons: …
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Eve’s latest case is a terrifying one. A toxic brew of chemicals was released into a bar, and everyone went mad. The death toll was horrific, and the deaths themselves more so. The chemicals are fast-acting and deadly, allowing the killer to strike quickly and decisively—anywhere, anytime. It’s an act of terrorism by its very definition, but when the killer strikes a second time, targeting people who overlap strongly in their occupations, employers, and area of residence with the first victims, Eve becomes convinced that the killer is going after personal enemies, despite the wide swath of destruction.
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Tags: crime, Eve Dallas, futuristic, in death, J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts, Roarke, romance, science fantasy, serial killer, suspense
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Pros: Delicious romantic pairing; tense story; author does a great job of sounding like her characters
Cons: Definitely read the series in order; even characters with depth have moments of seeming like raging stereotypes; some of the “voices” of her characters were too over-the-top for me; a little too much misunderstanding
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted on Epinions.com
Thomas “Veck” DelVecchio, Jr., is the son of a famous serial killer. Dating isn’t exactly easy for him—between the girls who think he’s a curiosity or just want to bed a quasi-celebrity, and his father’s “groupies”, he’s learned to keep any relationships quick and uncomplicated. Of course everyone watches him, wondering if there’s anything of his father in him. As a homicide detective, he’s doing his damndest to prove there isn’t—while fighting some serious inner demons that constantly push and prod him in that direction. Demons that won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
After Veck punches a reporter for trying to sneak a picture, he has Internal Affairs watching his every move, in the person of one Sophia Reilly—the first woman to make him think past the end of the night. Unfortunately, he now thinks he tried to kill someone, and she’s his only hope since she seems to believe he’s innocent. And to tell the truth, he can’t really remember—he blacked out when it happened, and gets a splitting headache any time he tries to remember.
But that’s hardly the toughest thing going on in Veck and Reilly’s lives. The forces trying to push Veck into following in his father’s footsteps are real. So are the forces trying to save his soul—he’s just become the latest game piece in a particularly high-stakes game between Heaven and Hell.
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Tags: Fallen Angels, J.R. Ward, paranormal, romance, serial killer, suspense
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Pros: Great mystery and characters, wonderful relationship, fascinating subplots
Cons: So many people and names that I got a bit confused!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Special Agent Jaid Marlowe of the FBI has a long and storied history with Adam Raiker of Raiker Forensics. It was all a long time ago, and they’ve tried to forget each other, but somehow neither of them has ever been able to quite let go. Now, a case has thrown them back together again. A killer is stalking DC, leaving slips of paper at each scene pointing to one of the seven deadly sins. At first none of the victims seem to have anything in common—a judge, a financier, a religious leader. The far-flung list of suspects is even flimsier—a US senator, a priest, an Iranian professor, and perhaps even someone within the FBI itself.
As Jaid and Adam dive into the case, they start to fear that the only link between the victims might be Adam himself. And when he becomes a suspect, Jaid has to risk everything to prove him innocent. No one is safe—not Jaid, not Adam, and not even Jaid’s son, Royce. To make things just that much harder, Adam, who always preached the philosophy that love and sex complicate and cloud a person’s judgement, may be forced to realize that giving up Jaid was the worst mistake he ever made.
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Tags: forensics, Kylie Brant, Mindhunters, mystery, police procedural, romance, serial killer
Posted in Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
To recap: when I put up a “non-review,” it means I couldn’t finish a book. I’m not going to review it on Epinions or Amazon, and this isn’t going to be a full-on review, but I don’t mind telling you folks here why I decided not to finish it in case that information is useful to you. Just keep in mind that my judgment isn’t based on the entire book. In this case I made it through a little over a hundred pages before I decided it wasn’t worth finishing.
Saylor Oz is a Brooklyn sex therapist who somehow manages to get mixed up in mysteries. Most recently, her roommate’s brother has gone to jail for three murders he didn’t commit—models who were killed and had locks of their hair removed. Saylor is convinced the murders have something to do with an old adult movie called Bad, Bad Babydoll, but no one believes her. So it’s time for her to strike out on her own and solve the case.
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Tags: Allyson Roy, Chick-lit, Humor, mystery, Saylor Oz, serial killer, sex therapist
Posted in Chick-lit, Non-Reviews, Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
Pros: Nice slow buildup of both the murder plot and the romance
Cons: Odd sudden appearance of psychic abilities in the series; somewhat predictable bad guy; too many haunted/”damaged” women in this series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Risa Chandler was one of Adam Raiker’s brilliant forensic criminologists before the incident that shattered her faith in herself. Since then, she’s been hiding out at her mother’s home in Philadelphia. Now that her physical wounds have healed, Adam has oh-so-helpfully suggested to the police that they enlist her aid in finding a serial killer. She doesn’t want to help, but her dreams have returned: prescient dreams that show her the deaths whether she wants to be involved or not.
Detective Nate McGuire doesn’t understand why he’s been told to take Chandler along with him on this case, but she quickly impresses him with her usefulness, so he reins in his skepticism. Ever so slowly the two of them find themselves drawn to each other, but Risa knows Nate would never believe her if she told him about her dreams. And she might never get the chance, since the killer has her in his sights.
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Tags: forensic psychology, Kylie Brant, Mindhunters, mystery, psychics, serial killer
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Pros: Dialogue and narrative are in snarky rare form! Great characters & fun plot
Cons: Could use a little less of the now-repetitive introspection
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted at Epinions.com.
Top New York murder cop Eve Dallas is taking a vacation. That’s right, an actual vacation. It’s the anniversary of her marriage to beyond-wealthy businessman Roarke, and they’re off to spend some time with the family he’s recently rediscovered in Ireland. Of course while she’s there she stumbles across a dead body—murdered, naturally—with her usual knack for trouble. The only strange part is that this becomes a mere footnote to her vacation as she helps the locals wrap up the case and heads back home—-where, naturally, a particularly bizarre case almost immediately comes to her attention. In the era of 2060, who the Hell would shoot a limo driver through the back of the neck with a crossbow? And why?
Unfortunately, the limo driver is hardly the last body to crop up. Each kill is odder than the last, each victim extremely successful and remarkably free of known enemies. Each one emerged from humble beginnings to reach the top of his or her field. Each one is killed with consummate skill and a highly unusual weapon. It almost seems worse when Eve figures out who must be doing it—because they clearly believe they can get away with it, they’re doing it almost entirely for the thrills, and they’ve neatly pulled her into their game before she’s even realized it. Now she has to race to figure out how to pin things down before another body is found—possibly her own.
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Tags: detective, erotica, Humor, J.D. Robb, mystery, Nora Roberts, romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, scifi, serial killer, SF, thriller
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Pros: Wonderful new setting and characters; plenty of plot twists
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted on Epinions.com.
I’m becoming addicted to Nora Roberts’s standalone novels even more than her series books. Black Hills was fantastic, and now she’s written The Search
. Once again the setting becomes a character unto itself, and she takes the chance to explore not just a romantic relationship, not just a suspenseful crime plot, but also a community, a way of life, and a career. This time we follow along with Fee, Fiona Bristow, a dog trainer who owns and trains search and rescue dogs. Fee has settled into an idyllic life on an island in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by family, friends, and her loyal dogs. Years ago, however, she survived a nightmare—she was the sole woman to escape a serial killer, and before he was caught he killed her fiancee as revenge.
Things start to get complicated for Fee the moment Simon, a reclusive artist, shows up on her doorstep with Jaws, an energetic and disobedient pup in need of training. Of course to really train Jaws, Fee will need to train Simon, too—and that’s a whole different ballgame! Simon is cranky at best, rude and obnoxious at worst, and he does not like to do what he’s told. Oddly, however, his bluntness and candor, however hurtful, are refreshing to Fee, and she can’t help but feel intrigued. That’s when fate throws them a curve ball, however—although the serial killer who stalked her is still in jail, he seems to have a copycat. And that copycat has made it clear he, too, has his eye on Fee.
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Tags: crime, dog training, mystery, Nora Roberts, romance, search and rescue, search dogs, serial killer, thriller
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 9 Comments »
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Pros: Wonderful mystery; intense romance; fantastic characters
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book (uncorrected proof) courtesy of Penguin Group.
Expected publication date: 9/1/2009.
Visit Leslie Parrish on the web.
The best-laid plans of mice and reviewers… That is to say, I fully intended to write a review yesterday. However, the arrival of a copy of Leslie Parrish’s Black at Heart, the final novel in her Black CATs trilogy, triggered a full day of reading from which I couldn’t emerge until I reached the end. I loved the first two books in the series, Fade to Black and Pitch Black, and couldn’t wait to find out where things went next. Now I just hope we get to see more books about this team of FBI agents!
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Tags: black CAT, Leslie Kelly, Leslie Parrish, mystery, romance, serial killer, thriller
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Pros: Very strong plot and characters; tense; suspenseful; intelligent
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
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Tags: black CAT, Leslie Parrish, mystery, romance, serial killer, suspense
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 8 Comments »
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
Pros: Excellent story about fascinating people, a tense life-and-death situation, and a beautiful animal sanctuary
Cons: None
Rating: 5 out of 5
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Tags: murder, Nora Roberts, romance, serial killer, suspense
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
