Tag: serial killer

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Unsub – Meg Gardiner

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34069835| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A riveting psychological thriller inspired by the never-caught Zodiac Killer, about a young detective determined to apprehend the serial murderer who destroyed her family and terrorized a city twenty years earlier.

Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.

The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once promising career.

Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin Hendrix has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.

Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the depths of the abyss?

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My thoughts:

An entertaining serial-killer thriller by an author that is new to me. And when I say entertaining, it was just that, for me. Initially I was going with 4 stars. It is an highly complex story with a lot going on. The depth is surprising and oh so well done. When I say deep, I mean Deep! I read a lot of crime thrillers, specially from a cop’s point of view and the level of plot building is what Gardiner really succeeded with. I can’t say so much more due to spoilers, but when I say that you will probably be surprised, I mean it. I especially liked that the serial-killer doesn’t kill due to sexual fantasies or such. It is a lot more deeper and quite refreshing to say it myself.

So why my “low” rating you may ask? Well it is because the rest didn’t fall right with me. The character building is quite shallow and the writing is choppy. Maybe I’m overreacting because English is not my native language, but it was not smooth to read. It didn’t help me with connecting with the characters either. And that ending! After several pages with high intense suspense and a literal countdown to the end pages, it ends on a note I feel could have been skipped. But it is a series and at least two more books is published so I just hope this “thing” will not be a thing that hunts you throughout the series.

I’m excited to read more and see where Gardiner will go with the story and if she will let us readers go deeper into those characters and not just scratch the surface.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

Ragdoll – Daniel Cole

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30259893| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet–a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.”

Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them.

The final name on the list is Fawkes.

Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again. But for Fawkes, seeing his name on the list sparks a dark memory, and he fears that the catalyst for these killings has more to do with him–and his past–than anyone realizes.

With a breakneck pace, a twisty plot, and a wicked sense of humor, Ragdoll announces the arrival of the hottest new brand in crime fiction.

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My thoughts: I’m so freaking tired of the same crap over and over again when reading crime/thriller books. Is that genre so used up and impossible to create something new with? Why do you always have to go in the same track over and over again? This one was so hyped up and I saw so much good about it that I’m actually surprised that people have not reacted over how bland and badly written it is.

Here we have all the clichés, crammed onto 380 pages, which may I say, trees gave there life for. We have the unjust system of the government, politically large characters you hate, that dead beat cop who is an alcoholic and breaks every rule in the book. The falsely accused, the skeptical colleges, the ex-wife, the career driven people and off course in the middle, there is that one serial killer with a “personal” vendetta.

I’m so frustrated. All I wanted was a good crime book, that was not predictable and used up. I wanted something exciting with deep and interesting characters without all those stupid clichés you have literally read a couple of hundred times by now.

The story, plot and characters are just unpleasant and unlikable. There is nothing there for a crime lover like me. It is messy with too many POV and a cold, unimaginative setting. There was nothing warm. Nothing that I liked, could connect to or feel that it will get better. It is certainly not worth the hype.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Apprentice – Tess Gerritsen

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715834| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: It is a boiling hot Boston summer. Adding to the city’s woes is a series of shocking crimes, in which wealthy men are made to watch while their wives are brutalized. A sadistic demand that ends in abduction and death.

The pattern suggests one man: serial killer Warren Hoyt, recently removed from the city’s streets. Police can only assume an acolyte is at large, a maniac basing his attacks on the twisted medical techniques of the madman he so admires. At least that’s what Detective Jane Rizzoli thinks. Forced again to confront the killer who scarred her – literally and figuratively – she is determined to finally end Hoyt’s awful influence . . . even if it means receiving more resistance from her all-male homicide squad.

But Rizzoli isn’t counting on the U.S. government’s sudden interest. Or on meeting Special Agent Gabriel Dean, who knows more than he will tell. Most of all, she isn’t counting on becoming a target herself, once Hoyt is suddenly free, joining his mysterious blood brother in a vicious vendetta. . . .

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My thoughts: I enjoy Tess Gerritsens writing and find her a terrific storyteller. That Jane Rizzoli gets on my nerves all the time and that I sometimes just want to scream, is a testimony for how great her writing really is. I had no trouble with keeping the speed up and there were few slow parts. It is action packed and suspense filled all the way from the first page to the last. Such a great ride. We did pick it up more or less from the end of the first book and we are following the same track with Hoyt and all that, just several months later. I thought it would be excessive and underwhelming, maybe even a little boring to go with the same story plot once again but it was never anything like that and I loved it.

Another thing I love is how great Gerritsen are with the medical explanations. They are never tedious or hard to understand for someone like me who is not that knowledgeable in those subjects. And even though I have seen the TV series several times over and there is not that many differences between the book and the series, I was never bored. I did know the ending before starting the book and I thought that was going to be hard for me but it never was. It was nice to meet some of the other characters that has a big part in the TV series and I was a little surprised because they are a little different. But I do think it will be some changes further on in the book series that I’m exciting to follow.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The surgeon – Tess Gerritsen

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32263.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: IN BOSTON, THERE’S A KILLER ON THE LOOSE…

A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on them before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician – a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them.

But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful doctor with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and shot her attacker dead.

Now the man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her…

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My thoughts:This is a reread and I read this book for the first time back in 2002 (somewhere) and remembered it as one of my favourites back then. So of course I had to read it again when I got the chance. Now as an adult I did actually find it as good as I remembered. I did not however remembered it to be as disgusting and graphic as it was, especially when they were talking about the rapes. Or maybe I’m more sensitive to those things now as an adult woman than  I was as a young teenager.

Anyhow, it was really good. I liked the suspense and the story’s development, the characters and the writing. I did however missed Isles. I have of course seen the TV-series based on the book series and I actually thought Maura Isles was in the book series from the start. But she is not in this one. And according to my survey, she doesn’t  appear until book three (except for a small sneak peek in book two). And then it seems like she doesn’t have a roll in every book. How can you then call this A Rizzoli and Isles series when Isles not even makes an appearance in every book. Maybe I’m overreacting but she is my favourite character and I would like to know if she is as funny and lovable as she is in the TV series. Did get an awakening when it comes to Rizzoli to be honest. Did not like her as much but I do think there is more to the character that will be revealed later on in the series. I have not read more than this first book. But I certainly plan to.

Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Boat man – Dustin Stevens

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26495964| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Detective Reed Mattox, just three months removed from the death of his partner, has turned invisibility into an art form. Switching to the K-9, taking over the graveyard shift, moving to a farmhouse miles outside of Columbus, his every move has become predicated on putting as much distance between himself and the outside world as possible.

That distance is shattered though when bodies begin turning up in The Bottoms, the poverty-stricken section of town he is assigned to patrol. Grisly, horrific scenes start to pop up in the middle of the night and the overburdened precinct has no choice but to put Reed on it.

Now operating far outside of his comfort zone with a Belgian Malinois for a partner that attracts attention wherever they go, Reed is forced to unravel the murders, taking him clear across the city and back years in time, to an event that some very influential people will do anything to keep buried…

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My thoughts: Flat revenge story in a mediocre beginning on a new series, more suitable for TV. That is how I would, in few words, describe The Boat man by Dustin Stevens. It is in no way a bad book really. But I cant say that it is overly good either. It is in between good and bad. An okay story with some issues when it comes to the writing but still okay. I did like it. But I have to many issues to love it or to feel the desire to continue.

First of I did feel that the beginning was pretty strong. Reed is more or less a depressed character, working with a dog because he cant stomach to have a human partner again. You do not get to know exactly what happened but you get enough clues to pretty much piece it together yourself. Mistake number one. I don’t like that kind of mystery and secrecy where you have to figure it out on your own kind of way, when it is such a huge part of the history and the future of the characters. And then in the end you do not know more than you did in the beginning. But perhaps Stevens has a ulterior motive with it, what do I know. I’m just a reader. Mistake number two I feel is how flat the book is. I’m not kidding when I say that I actually fell asleep 8 o’clock one evening (usually fall asleep around 11 – 12) because of the writing. It is quite flat and boring. And he keep repeating the names. Reed did that, then Reed went there so Reed could do that while Reed felt that and knew Reed had to get home so Reed could do that later. Then there was the boat man went there, the boat man did that, the boat man felt that, the boat man run away. Goddammit it drove me nuts.

But other than that, it is a good book. The plot is interesting, believable and has a little suspense and depth. It is probably me who is to sensitive and keep finding stuff to complain about. He has a lot of books and most of them has really high ratings, so apparently there are people who like it more than I do. Unfortunately, I just don’t feel Stevens is the author for me. A three star rating yes, but not strong enough to make me want to continue the series.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

Postmortem – Patricia Cornwell

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9780751544398.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a human monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it’s being sabotaged from within—and someone wants her dead.

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My thoughts: This is one of those slow cooking, crime novels that are famous for a great story, strong characters and an explosive ending. And it is pretty much what I expected but was not entirely what i got.

The characters are great. You notice that this is an older book where the world was more of a mans world and as an woman you had to fight with teethes and nails. At first I did not like Kay that much. Didn’t like Marino either but Lucy, my god I hated her. Until I started to get to know all the characters and see more besides the shell them put out. In the end I still didn’t like Lucy but that is for other reasons. Really started to like Marino and Kay seams more human to me now. So in the next book I probably will not dislike them as much. And I feel it is a good thing. The author has succeeded to write characters that makes my nerves frassel and this time I liked it.

The story is slow cooking but it is exciting. You as an reader do not get much clues to who the killer might be so when that is revealed, there is no gasps or wonders about how me as an reader could miss it. The clues are just not there. The ending is pretty much predictable and as I had expected and that is quite sad. And it went by way to fast. 98% of the book was slow and interesting but the last 2% was like a blur of moments and story. To bad really. I think the book could be a 5 star if the ending had been a little more. Not faster but at least feel like it belonged to the rest of the book. Hard to explain with out giving out spoilers.

Really liked it though so will definitely look in to the other books in the series.

Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

You Belong To Me – Karen Rose

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8697191.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: A killer is branding his victims with numbers. How many will he kill before he’s stopped? YOU BELONG TO ME is a fantastic thriller from bestselling author Karen Rose, and the first novel in her Baltimore series.

When forensic pathologist Lucy Trask stumbles across a mutilated body by the chess tables in her local Baltimore park, its face so badly damaged it is unrecognizable, her sole concern is that it might be her old school teacher Mr Pugh.

When the corpse is identified, Lucy is shocked to discover that the victim is actually another man from her past. Who killed him and why his skin is burnt with the number ‘1’ is unclear but it’s evident that someone is demanding Lucy’s attention.

The discovery of a second branded body raises worrying questions: how many more lives may be at risk before the killer’s final message is revealed? And can Lucy solve the killer’s gruesome puzzle before their thirst for revenge is complete?

My thoughts:Great book. Great characters, great story, great suspense and great, hot romance. Just a great book. Karen Rose has done a great job with the mystery and suspense so it is not until the end you really get to know whats going on. I love to sit through a book and guess how it all hangs together and when an author proves me wrong in the end, i have won big. And Karen Rose really did it in this book.

The book is part of an series. It is nr 12 in Romantic suspense but number 1 in the Baltimore series. I definitely want to read more by Rose. Her writing is great and I cant believe that i never stumble over her books earlier. It was actually one of my Goodreads friends who read it and thats how I discovered her books.

There is one negative thing with the book tho and that is that it are a little to many people and it’s sometimes hard to keep track on who is who and from where. But other than that it’s an great book. And you get the best from two worlds. Super romantic exciting and murder, crime suspense. Just up my alley.