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Review Date: 3/26/2023
The title and cover are misleading. The plot is one of those back-from-the-grave culprits who wants to have fun intimidating/psyching out the main character, and I found it hard to swallow. There are pages of description of classes in a ar martial art called krav maga, with an instructor who is virtually a caricature - 6 feet tall with shoulders that seemed 6 feet wide?!
Review Date: 11/23/2013
The book starts when the body of a Boer police officer is discovered floating face down in a river. The author weaves a story in which Detective Emmanuel Cooper, with the help of Zulu police officer Samuel Shambalala, interview the officer's family, a rich English settler, Colored and Black townspeople, as well as Zulus, none of whom like or trust each other. Their work is hampered by political police with an agenda of their own. The mystery kept me engaged, as did the descriptions of the South African countryside, with unexpected plot twists and an ending I didn't see coming. I had read the third book in the series before I read this first. I have the second in the series on my wish list, and am eagerly awaiting the fourth, which will be published in 2014.
Review Date: 10/8/2023
I was rather disappointed in this book. First, there was very little forensics because Tempe was locked out of the case by her new boss in NC. Lots of talk about conspiracy theories, some which are totally outlandish and others that may actually be true. A conspiracy theory is only that until it's proven to be fact. The book ended rather abruptly without all the ends tied up. I had expected it to go on for at least 40-50 more pages, but what followed were author notes, acknowledgements and what I guess could be called a novella about how Tempe went from archaeology to forensic anthropology. Actually, that was had a lot more forensics and was more interesting that the prior 440+ pages. Sadly, Reichs like some other of my favorite authors is starting to let her politics interfere with her fiction, and Tempe is starting to come off as a snooty liberal. People who are open to "conspiracy theories" wear "off the rack" suits and "Walmart Womens Plus" dresses. "America is armed to the teeth and no one is safe" is a bit over the top. And then there's the little dig about Republicans. Do authors not care that they're alienating their conservative fans?
Review Date: 12/5/2013
A fire is called in. The fire department arrives to find a prostitute hanging by a rope from a chandelier in her apartment, her hair chopped off and stuffed in her mouth. Some of the details seem to recall a similar murder twenty years ago. More murders will follow. Are they the work of a serial killer, one who started killing twenty years ago? Or is it a copycat? Are the cases even connected? The police are working around the clock to solve the cases and prevent further murders, but they're hiding secrets of their own. The complex plot and flawed human characters grabbed me and didn't let go until the final page.
Review Date: 10/6/2023
I enjoyed her book The Breathtaker and read Darkness Peering immediately after. However, there's the same physically and emotionally abusive, alcohol related father-son generational relationship and dysfunctional family dynamic among main characters. Daughters, however, are cherished princesses in both books. The minor police characters are not well drawn. They jump to conclusions without having evidence. And I didn't find the book "terrifying" as the cover suggested.
Review Date: 10/27/2015
A Death in Vienna involves a locked room murder by means of a "non-existent" bullet. On the way to solving the mystery the author provides an interesting look at the social, cultural, intellectual and political life of the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the turn of the 20th century. While the duo of police detective Oskar Rheinhardt and Max Liebermann find clues along the way, the resolution of the case comes from an unexpected source. The author, a psychiatrist, includes Freudian slips and dream theory, as well as a look at love and lust from a psychological viewpoint. I'm looking forward to the next book in the Liebermann Papers.
Review Date: 4/9/2024
I gave this 5 stars because it deals with a group of suspects that include several autistic adults. They occupy various degrees on the spectrum from Asperger down to virtually non-verbal. The book really gets into how frustrated it is for these people, for their families, and for detectives trying to interview them. (Not sure why this is listed as part of Figueroa and Bennis series. No one by those names is part of the story.)
Review Date: 12/18/2013
True crime writer Jackson Kinley returns to his boyhood home in rural Georgia for the funeral of his friend, Sheriff Ray Tindall. Ray had been re-investigating the 1954 murder case of a 16-year-old girl whose body was never found. Her dress, covered in her blood, was virtually the only evidence presented at trial. Nevertheless, a jury found a man guilty, and he was executed. Kinley begins his own investigation, reading the trial transcript and interviewing surviving witnesses. His investigation uncovers numerous secrets before he discovers what really happened forty years ago. Cook's storytelling is for the most part rather unemotional, almost matter a fact. Yet the story is so compelling that I could not put it down until the last surprising secret was revealed.
Review Date: 10/5/2023
Sandford writes the absolute best chase scenes of any author.
Review Date: 9/29/2023
This series features a female cop who goes by the single name of Mallory. She never knew her father, and he mother died when she was 6. She was out on the streets on her own until age 10 when she was captured by a NYC cop. He and his wife fostered Mallory until both eventually died. Mallory became a cop, a detective, and a very good detective. However, what makes her so interesting as a character is that she's broken - she's a sociopath on the right side of the law. In this book she's following Route 66 because she received some letters written by her father, who was in love with cars and the road. On her journey, she's sucked into following clues about a serial killer who has killed a lot of little girls - all along Route 66.
Review Date: 8/29/2016
Helpful Score: 1
Not one of the Thora Gudmundsdottir series. Two boys go missing decades apart. Their stories unfold in alternating chapters. One boy was the son of an alcoholic father; his mother and brother had drowned when the ice gave way over a fjord. The other boy had disappeared while playing hide and seek with his friends. His psychiatrist father has is drawn into both their stories. The first chapter grabbed me right away, and each succeeding chapter ended with just kept me turning pages. The ending gave me the shivers!
Review Date: 12/20/2013
Dr Bill Brockton is dropping off the body of a murdered DEA agent at the Body Farm when he is summoned to Avignon, France by a message that his graduate assistant has been hospitalized with a ruptured appendix. He becomes involved in examining a skeleton of a man who was crucified. I found the science and the history portrayed in the book interesting. A couple of the minor characters were almost caricatures, and I found the interspersed English and French to be somewhat annoying, e.g., "Non, non, okay, oui." The real flaw, however, was the over-the-top melodramatic ending. It's a good mystery that simply falls apart at the end.
Review Date: 2/14/2018
This is a fast and easy to read book. There is lots of action. But there's also a lot that that stretches credulity. The rest of this review may contain some spoilers, so read at your own risk. The villain in the book is a 67-year-old retired FBI employee named Teddy Fay. He has been offing politicians he doesn't approve of and now the president has both the FBI and the CIA on his trail. Law enforcement of all kinds generally refer to perps by their last name. But in this book they call him Teddy Fay or sometimes just Teddy. Doesn't sound really professional. Our heroine Holly Barker has been recruited by the CIA. Partway through training, the CIA cancels classes for all the recruits and sends them into the field against Fay. Why? Because they don't have enough trained agents? Then there's the real estate agent who is questioned about Fay. She's afraid of being arrested for something she did that led to someone's death back in the 60s. Does she help the FBI so they'll go away and leave her alone? No, she lies to them. Then she warns Fay they're after him, and asks him not to let the FBI know she lied. Why? She doesn't know Fay from Adam, and has absolutely nothing to gain. Several times our heroine actually comes in contact with the Teddy but doesn't recognize him because of his great disguises. Maybe because she didn't finish training? Do the partially trained agents go back to training? No, they're promised great assignments. Unbelievable.
Review Date: 2/26/2014
Several women who apparently committed suicide are linked by a strange fiber in their lungs. As Dr Anya Crichton pursues the investigation, she finds more links between the women. What began as an attempt to identify a substance potentially hazardous to public health turns into a hunt for a diabolical killer. I enjoyed the strong female characters - Anya, detective Kate Farrer, Anya's assistant Elaine and the ambitious student Zara. There's plenty of forensic detail and taut psychological suspense. Every time I tried to put the book down, I was drawn back to it, and finished it in one day. I'm looking forward to more in this series.
Review Date: 10/10/2023
This is a 40+ year old police procedural. Action focuses on multiple detectives in the Robbery-Homicide Department of L.A. Interesting - strange - case scenarios, including a serial killer, murder-suicide, burglary gone bad, etc. From a procedural standpoint, there should have been some mirandizing going on. But the action things really move along without a lot of fluff that's found in more modern police procedurals.
Review Date: 12/3/2013
Lara leaves Washington DC after her significant other dies in an auto crash. She drives until her car breaks down in a small Georgia town. On impulse, she purchases a Victorian house that needs a lot of TLC and hires a 17-year-old Dairy Queen cashier as a handyman. A few months later she's shot dead while asleep. The story alternates between the investigation into her death and the unfolding relationships between her, her deceased partner, the teenager, his mentor, and the townspeople. The characters are complex and well drawn, and the mystery kept me guessing to the very end.
Review Date: 1/22/2018
This book has plots set in centuries 600 years apart. Janie Crewe is a former surgeon who, in 2005, travels to England to finish up degree work to be a forensic archaeologist. Alejandro Chanches, a Jewish physician in 14th century Spain, is caught with the body of a Christian he had dug up to autopsy. Each of them will become involved with bubonic plague. It's a great premise, but doesn't quite fulfill on the promise. I would have given the book 4 stars instead of 3 based solely on the historic portion of the book. But the modern story detracted from the book's overall appeal. Benson should have set it in 2050 instead of 2005 because there are futuristic elements that really strain credulity for early 21st century. Each of the plots also has a love story. I felt the historic romance worked. Usually, when one talks about chemistry it's in regard to characters in a movie. This was the first time I felt characters in a book lacked chemistry. At 670 pages the book was way too long. Banson's editor should have suggested she jettison the modern story; since the stories are told in alternating chapters, this would have been easy, and it would have had a much better book. I had previously read Benson's book Thief of Souls, again with two plots in medieval and modern times, about young boys at the mercy of sexual predators. It's a much better book.
Review Date: 7/31/2023
SPOILER ALERT: This book was published 2 years before the remains of the last 2 Romanovs were located. Nevertheless, the book held my interest until the end.
Review Date: 7/23/2013
This book combines the traits of 3 of my favorite authors: the non-stop action of a John Sandford thriller, the humor of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, and the seriously twisted serial killer of Jeffery Deaver. This book is truly a wild ride! I give it 5 stars.
Review Date: 10/21/2023
L.A. Times reporter Jack McEvoy who's being laid off wants to go out with a big story. He stumbles on to a serial killer who uses computer technology to stalk his victims ... and Jack. Scary stuff on how someone can hack all your information.
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