Helpful Score: 3
Good read but a bit gruesome. Not for the faint of heart. Basically a story about a serial killer who gets his kicks from deboning humans.
Vicki S. (curledupwithabook) -
Helpful Score: 3
Such a great start to this book and a really scary predator, but midway through the author must have run out of time or ideas and began to cheapen the plot with silly coincidences and unrealistic occurrences. For example, a teenager, quickly introduced and supported by the thinnest of plot lines, ends up becoming involved in the search for the killer and actually solves the crimes. Really? Come on!
The second half of the book feels rushed as, in addition to the silly coincidences, actions take place that seem created just because they make catching the killer easier and faster (another example: the killer, previously pretty smart, gets himself arrested for an act more worthy of a 9th-grader).
It's a shame, really, because the first half of the book is so good and the author really is skilled. I wish he would have taken his time and delivered the powerful book that this one should have been.
The second half of the book feels rushed as, in addition to the silly coincidences, actions take place that seem created just because they make catching the killer easier and faster (another example: the killer, previously pretty smart, gets himself arrested for an act more worthy of a 9th-grader).
It's a shame, really, because the first half of the book is so good and the author really is skilled. I wish he would have taken his time and delivered the powerful book that this one should have been.
Helpful Score: 2
Great thriller! The crime scene descriptions were a little gruesome, but nothing out of the ordinary for stories like this one. If you like Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme novels or Patricia Cornwell, you'll like this one!
Helpful Score: 2
Bone chilling. Good story, well developed characters, fast paced. All good.
Helpful Score: 2
This was my first book by Thomas O'Callaghan, but won't be my last. I pan on reading more stories with NYPD detective John Driscoll.
Helpful Score: 2
Gruesome & chilling ~ I couldn't put it down
Helpful Score: 2
This thriller was fast paced and more than a little gruesome. With short chapters and a serial killer versus dedicated detective it was hard to put down and I read it in 2 short days.
Lt. John Driscoll is an emotionally bruised man. His wife and daughter were in a car accident six years earlier, his daughter died and his wife lays in a complete vegetative state. Driscoll pours all his emotion into his work.
A serial killer is using NYC as his hunting grounds, killing women and removing all their bones, leaving just their destroyed bodies behind. Driscoll and his partner Margaret Aligante head up the task force put together to catch the killer. It was a fun read as John and Margaret put the clues together as they track down the killer, who the author reveals to the reader very early in the book. We also come to care about John and Margaret as they are drawn closer together and grapple with the morality of their mutual attraction and John's obligations to his wife.
This book was especially fun for me to read since it was set in NYC, Brooklyn, Far Rockaway and Long Island all places near and dear to my heart as a native New Yorker. I looked up the author online and he lives not too far from me, so that was a neat touch to read about all these places I know quite well.
Lt. John Driscoll is an emotionally bruised man. His wife and daughter were in a car accident six years earlier, his daughter died and his wife lays in a complete vegetative state. Driscoll pours all his emotion into his work.
A serial killer is using NYC as his hunting grounds, killing women and removing all their bones, leaving just their destroyed bodies behind. Driscoll and his partner Margaret Aligante head up the task force put together to catch the killer. It was a fun read as John and Margaret put the clues together as they track down the killer, who the author reveals to the reader very early in the book. We also come to care about John and Margaret as they are drawn closer together and grapple with the morality of their mutual attraction and John's obligations to his wife.
This book was especially fun for me to read since it was set in NYC, Brooklyn, Far Rockaway and Long Island all places near and dear to my heart as a native New Yorker. I looked up the author online and he lives not too far from me, so that was a neat touch to read about all these places I know quite well.
Helpful Score: 2
This was a first for me by this author and I loved it. It was fantastic! I cant wait to read another one by him.
GREAT book! I had an hard time putting it down. What an page turner!
Helpful Score: 1
A good book with a gruesome storyline--then you hit the halfway mark and it drags, introducing a teenage girl that gets involved with the investigation? that would never happen so makes it unbelieveable and then it just kind of drags out from there, so if you can get through the middle of the book then the first half and the last quarter of it are pretty good.
Helpful Score: 1
Gruesome but extremely well written. O'Callaghan keeps you on the edge of your seats with the escalating suspense. Just reading the first chapter told me it was going to be a freaky story. Detectives Driscoll and Margaret are wonderful and real. Both face real life troubles while trying to investigate the serial killer from hell. He literally removes every bone in the victims body and then dumps the body. The story really heats up with 14 year old Moira enters the picture. The next book in the series is [book:The Screaming Room|602909] which I just added to my TBR.
Helpful Score: 1
A gruesome thriller with lots of gory details. If you like graphic novels you will like this one!!!
Helpful Score: 1
Ok, but characters are kind of shallow - has potential to improve as a series. A fairly quick read
Gruesome, but hard to put down!
This was a riveting story. I can see why it is one of the most traveled books. Give it a 5 star rating!!
good read. much like the bone collector but enough different that it's worth finishing.
New York City Police are after a serial killers that slays his victims takes their bones as a trophy.
great book,couldn't put it down.
The women seem to have no connection except one: they have all been victims of a twisted madman who slays his victims and steals their bones as gruesome trophies.
Typical book of the genre
Great read, couldn't put it down.
I found it to be a great story. My only complaint is that near the end of the book, it sort of feels like the author suddenly realized he was writing too much so he sped through the ending leaving out details. But really it was a great read and look forward to reading more from this author.
One of the best books I have read in a long time! A great read
Novel. Every serial killer is a collector...Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club & Mystery Guild selection. Housewife snatched in broad daylight and two bodies..
In his extraordinary debut novel of psychological suspense, Thomas OCallaghan proves himself a worthy successor to Thomas Harris as he introduces one of the most compelling and terrifying serial killers since Hannibal Lecter in a book where every harrowing page crackles with the white-knuckle feel of a race against time and the gritty authenticity of a real forensic investigation.
A housewife snatched in broad daylight. A tattooed drifter displayed under a boardwalk. A wealthy, high-society heiress left in a city dump. A busy, young mother on her last errand.
The women seem to have no connection except one: they have all been the victims of the Bone Thief, a twisted madman who slays his victims and steals their bones as gruesome trophies.
Since tragedy struck his own family, Lieutenant John W. Driscoll has been a man on the edge of both sanity and life. But now, with New York City in the grip of panic, Driscoll is needed more than ever. With time running out and the stakes rising every hour, hell have to guide a troubled team while battling his own demons in order to hunt and catch the most cunning predator hes ever faceda serial killer who is the very soul of evil and whose most shocking revelation is yet to come
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A housewife snatched in broad daylight. A tattooed drifter displayed under a boardwalk. A wealthy, high-society heiress left in a city dump. A busy, young mother on her last errand.
The women seem to have no connection except one: they have all been the victims of the Bone Thief, a twisted madman who slays his victims and steals their bones as gruesome trophies.
Since tragedy struck his own family, Lieutenant John W. Driscoll has been a man on the edge of both sanity and life. But now, with New York City in the grip of panic, Driscoll is needed more than ever. With time running out and the stakes rising every hour, hell have to guide a troubled team while battling his own demons in order to hunt and catch the most cunning predator hes ever faceda serial killer who is the very soul of evil and whose most shocking revelation is yet to come
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Excellent
Very good. Scary
GREAT author kept my attention from the opening page, intrigue and detailed crime scenarios and interesting character development makes you get sucked in and caught up. I am glad the weather was foul since I spent a full day devouring this fantastic read. I will be looking for more of this author's works straightaway :)
Excellent ... keeps you guessing til the end
very good mystery.
FANTASTIC BOOK,I JUST GOT IT AND I READ IT IN ONE DAY,COULD NOT PUT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE WOMEN SEEM TO HAVE NO CONNECTION EXCEPT ONE;THEY HAVE ALL BEEN THE VICTIMS OF A TWISTED MADMAN WHO SLAYS HIS VICTIMS AND STEALS THEIR BONES AS GRUESOME TROPHIES.
Competent thriller with lots of macabre details. Formulaic.
great book
