Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath – “Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Daniels” series Book #1

Mass Market Paperback: 292 pages - Publisher: Hyperion (May 31, 2005) - Language: English - ISBN-10: 078689072X - ISBN-13: 978-0786890729

 

Whiskey Sour

by J.A. Konrath

“Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Daniels” series Book #1

Lieutenant Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels is an insomniac Chicago cop with a train wreck of a personal life and a stalker bent on adding her to his murder list. Join Jack, her binge-eating partner, a sleazy PI, and two very stupid FBI agents on a wild hunt for the Gingerbread Man – a killer who makes Hannibal Lector look like Huck Fin.

Whiskey Sour, the first in the Jack Daniels series, cleverly combines laugh-out-loud humor with edge-of-your-seat suspense. This is serial murder – with a twist.

Review: A laugh-out-loud, in-your-face mystery.

Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels, yes that’s her real name, you can check her ID, is a divorced, 40 something insomniac, who is good at her job. And that’s it, as far as she believes. At one point, she had it all: marriage to a great guy, a budding career… only, her ambitions took over. She became a great lieutenant detective in the Violent Crimes unit, and believes her marriage failed because of it. In her words, “it was all her fault.” Married to her career, she doesn’t have a personal life. Her latest boyfriend left a “Dear Jack” letter on her fridge, then left a message on her answering machine asking her to put his things in storage. Instead, she left them in the hall.

A new case pops up; a woman found dumped in a garbage can, um, rear-end facing upwards. Stapled to the victim, a note: “you cant catch ME IM THE GINGERBREAD MAN.” And it doesn’t end there. More bodies are found, and other than finding twine imbedded in the victims’ wrists and ankles, there are very little clues to go on. With pressure from the mayor, Jack her her partner Herb, are now stuck with two FBI agents who are sent to profile their madman, using the ViCAP computer. Only, their profile is off – way off. And nothing they get from the computer is worth a dime.

Meanwhile, tampered candy is left in her car, causing havoc and ending up with eleven stitches in Herb’s mouth. Clues have her questioning her ex-partner, and Herb convinces Jack to try Lunch Mates, a dating service. And her lucky first date ended up with a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.

**Laugh-out-loud funny is right. The deadpan jokes had me cracking up. I liked Jack. I liked her in-your-face personality, and you really get the feel for her. No buttered up and overdone descriptions, the entire story is to the point. You get her background quick and easy, and you kind of feel bad for her. Being married to her job, she believes she can’t have a personal life, yet we see her make a friend out of a criminal she’d arrested when she was still in uniform, and the new guy, who got more than he bargained for, has kept in touch, even from the hospital. I think there’s hope for her yet.

I liked her partner, pushing without being pushy. I see him as her polar opposite, yet they’re both just as determined to get the job done and see justice is served.

I liked the mystery. Even though you know who the murderer is, it was watching the good guys going after him that was really well done. Warning: at one point, it does get a little gory. But I’m a Stephen King fan, so that didn’t bother me in the least. And getting inside the killer’s mind – enough to give me a couple of shivers.

While the story is a little less than three hundred pages, you get all of what a good book is made of. I liked the fact that there wasn’t any filler – nothing that draws you away from the plot, even when hitting Jack’s personal life. Straight, to the point, and still, it involves the story. Terrific novel, and I plan on continuing the series.

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Silent Prey by John Sanford (‘Lucas Davenport’ series Book #4)

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: January 11, 2002 - 384 Pages - ISBN: 0425137562 - Published By: Berkley Mass

 

Silent Prey

by John Sandford

‘Lucas Davenport’ series Book #4

Bekker’s ruined face twisted. “You should have…”

“What?” Lucas demanded.

“… killed me,” Bekker said. “Fool.”

He was right. His guards slain, the brilliant insane pathologist of Eyes of Prey flees to New York, there to continue his research into aspects of death. Carefully, he conducts his experiments, searching the eyes of his dying victims for what they can reveal, the mounting body count causing an uproar in the city.

In desperation, the police reach out for the  man who knew Bekker best, but when Lucas arrives, he finds unexpected danger as well. For Lily Rothenburg, the policewoman whose intense affair with Lucas has never completely faded, is there too. Now, consumed with her own investigation of a group of rogue killer within the police department, she draws Lucas into her orbit again, until their hunts merge, their twin obsessions driving them ever closer to the edge … and then over.

Review: I finished this novel on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007. Awesome 4th book in the series!

I loved it! Lucas was as he always is. I really liked his character – I don’t think I’ve read another like him. He takes things as they come, and I love how he processes information.

I felt bad for Lily. When you reait it, you’ll understand why. She’s her usual self, but with what happens in the novel, it just wasn’t fair for Lily. 

I was completely flabbergasted by the events in the novel. Sure, they figure out and catch Bekker – that was a given. But with what else was going on in the novel, I’d never have guessed – not in a million years, and the ‘evidence’ was staring me right in the face. It was awesome how Lucas figured it out, how he came around to it, and the people involved, I never guessed that either.

I definitely recommend this series for anyone who likes detective novels.

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Rules of Prey by John Sandford (‘Lucas Davenport’ series Book #1)

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: August 2005 - 368 Pages - ISBN: 0425205819 - Published By: Berkley Mass Market

 

Rules of Prey

by John Sandford

‘Lucas Davenport’ series Book #1

The murderer was intelligent. He was a member of the bar. He derived ruled based on professional examination of actual cases: Never kill anyone you know. Never have a motive. Never follow a discernible pattern. Never carry a weapon after it has been used. Beware of leaving physical evidence. There were more. He built them into a challenge. He was mad, of course…

The killer’s name is Louis Vullion, a low-key young attorney who, under the camouflage of normalcy, researches his next female victim until the pressure within him forces him to reach out and “collect” her. Plying his secret craft with the tactics of a games master, he has gripped the Twin Cities in a storm of terror more fierce than any Minnesota winter.

It is after the third murder that Lucas Davenport is called in. It is the opinion of his colleagues that everything about the lieutenant is a little different, and they are right – in the computer games he invents and sells, in the Porsche he drives to work, in the quality of the women he attracts, in his single-minded pursuit of justice. The only memeber of the department’s Office of Special Intelligence, Davenport prefers to work alone, parallel with Homicide, and there is something about this serial killer that he quickly understands. The man who signs himself “maddog” in taunting notes to the police is no textbook sociopath; he has a perverse playfulness that makes him kill for the sheer contest of it. He is a player.

Which means that Davenport will have to put all his mental strength – and physical courage – on the line to learn to think like the killer. For the only way to beat the maddoge is at his own hellish game…

Review: Finished August 21st, 2006. Wow! Okay, I can say that Davenport is not like any other cop characters I’ve ever read before. He’s definitely an original, and I don’t know how much I should say for fear of blowing it for those who haven’t read it and wish to. Lucas is intelligent and handsome in his own way, has a lot going on, but I found him to be … well, the only word I can think of is insecure when it comes to his personal life (women.) He has the ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ attitude when it comes to his informants, and although some wouls say not entirely legal, it gets the job done. And the book has a really good pace, catches you from the start right to the finish. I mentioned, email me if you want to discuss the book cause there’s something that happens in the book that I wasn’t happy with (but it in no way changes my view or rating) but I don’t want to blow it for those who are going to read it. I found a few of the female characters a little on the ditzy side, but overall, I liked it.

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Innocent In Death by J.D. Robb (‘In Death’ series Book #24)

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: August 9, 2007 - 400 Pages - ISBN: 042521754X - Published By: Berkley Mass Market

 

Innocent In Death

by J.D. Robb (pseudonym of Nora Roberts)

‘In Death’ series Book #24

Once again, Lt. Eve Dallas shows why she’s “New York City’s top murder cop” in Roberts’s 24th thriller under her Robb pseudonym set half a century into the future (after 2006′s Born in Death). Dallas tries to close a case at the exclusive Sarah Child Academy, where two bright 10-year-old girls discover the body of Craig Foster, a popular history teacher who proves to have been poisoned by ricin-laced cocoa.

Dallas wonders if another staff member or a parent might be involved, but after the prime suspect, a promiscuous teacher who’s been harassing another employee, turns up dead, the investigation takes a shocking turn. Besides a provocative puzzler, Robb provides an intense relationship update on Dallas and Roarke, her Irish power broker hubby, whose dark past – in the form of a crooked ex-girlfriend – returns to cause trouble. This prolific author, a recent Quills romance winner, is still at the top of her game.

Review: Another excellent book in the series!

The plot was well written, and I found it just as difficult to swallow as the characters in the book. I really liked that.

The side plot was excellent as well. A couple needs a fight every now and again, and I’m glad it turned out the way it did, I think, for both, Eve and Roarke.

Peabody and McNabb are their usual selves, and the, um, “struggles” I guess you could say, between Even and Summerset – in this book, Fantastic!

This is definitely a series you need to read from the beginning, or you’ll never understand why Eve and Roarke are the way they are. Trust me – I made that mistake. I started with Book #17, Immitation In Death, not knowing that it was part of a series. You best believe I corrected that right quick and in a hurry. It took 2 months, but I caught up with the entire series and am constantly on pins and needles waiting for the next book.

Yes, this series is set in the future, but the way Robb writes it, you’re not overwhelmed, and everything is believable. The mysteries/cases are intriguing, this novel as well, and the everyday interaction is no different than if it were in the present time.

Another excellent book! Stupid me, I did what I swore I won’t do – I read the excerpt of the next novel at the back of the book. Darnit! The Hardcover is out in November ’07, which means I gotta wait another six months on top of that for the paperback. Aargh, this is gonna drive me crazy, LOL!

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The Dead Room by Robert Ellis

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: August 1, 2002 - 416 Pages - ISBN: 0786014547 - Published By: Pinnacle Books

 

The Dead Room

by Robert Ellis

A young woman has been found, brutally murdered and left on gruesome display … in the “safety” of her own home. The atrocity kicks off an investigation into a bizarre string of increasingly disturbing murders, all believed to be perpetrated by someone of unprecedented savagery – and cunning. As the city’s panic rises, civil attorney Teddy Mack is thrown headlong into the grisly homicide case – and into a world of dirty politics and corrupt justice, where deceptions are as deadly as a killer’s twisted secrets. Now, another woman is about to meet the same horrific fate as the others. To end a madman’s reign, Teddy must enter his maze – a place of unimaginable terror … and shocking revelations.

Review: I finished this novel early this morning, Monday, July 30, 2007. Excellent book!

I thought the characters genuine, devious, the killer’s twisted/warped mind, and I loved every twist and turn in this novel. There was enough action to keep the novel entertaining, enough time in the killer’s head to really feel how truly paranoid and ‘insane’ he was.

And the twist in the last chapter leaves much for speculation. I think Robert Ellis did that last twist on purpose; either to make the reader speculate or if he might come up with a second book featuring Teddy Mack. I hope so!

Excellent!

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Plum Island by Nelson DeMille (‘John Corey’ series Book #1)

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: May 1, 1998 - 574 Pages - ISBN: 0446605409 - Published By: Warner Books

 

Plum Island

by Nelson DeMille

‘John Corey’ series Book #1

The hair-raising suspense of The General’s Daughter … the wry wit of The Gold Coast … this is vintage Nelson DeMille at the peak of his originality and the height of his powers…

Wounded in the line of duty, NYPD homicide cop John Corey is convalescing in rural eastern Long Island when an attractive young couple he knows if found shot to death on the family patio. The victims were biologists at Plum Island, a research site rumored to be an incubator for germ warfare.

Suddenly, a local double murder takes on a shattering global implications – and thrusts Corey and two extraordinary women into a dangerous search for the secret of PLUM ISLAND…

Review: I finished this book very late Sunday night, June 17th, 2007. First book in the series, and I really liked it!

When I found out that DeMille wrote The General’s Daughter, I did a little more research on his ’John Corey’ series. It seems that he hadn’t wanted to write a series, but there were too many of his readers who wanted another John Corey book. He’d been afraid of his female readers; what they’d think of John as a character. He’s cocky, tactless, crude, and a real ass, but I adored him. I loved how his mind worked, how he processed what he saw, what he heard, what he read. As much of a jerk he can be, it made him who he is, and I don’t think I could have asked for a better character.

I thought Beth as a good equal for him. She gave back as good as she got, and I think John needed that.

I was glad that John met Emma. He needed her in more ways than the obvious. I think it made him a better person.

There was a twist in this plot, one that I didn’t see coming, and at first, I had the ‘yeah, right’ thought about it. But the more the direction of the story went that way, the more I believed and the more I liked the plot.

Wasn’t all that surprised by who the killer was, but I liked how John dealt with him and the situation. The action was great. I’m definitely getting the rest of the series.

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The Concrete Blond by Michael Connelly (‘Harry Bosch’ series Book #3)

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: February 1, 2007 - 512 pages - ISBN: 044661758X - Published By: Warner Books

 

The Concrete Blond

by Michael Connelly

‘Harry Bosch’ series Book #3

In this fiendishly plotted combination of courtroom drama and police procedural, Connelly’s LAPD detective Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch, introduced in the Edgar-winning The Black Echo, is up against the law as well as his superiors. The widow of Norman Church, a serial killer identified as the Dollmaker, whom Bosch shot to death four years earlier, is suing Bosch on the grounds that he violated her husband’s civil rights. Strong but not conclusive evidence linked Church to the serial murders and the case was closed, although Bosch was demoted for not following proper procedures. Here, just before the trial targeting Bosch as a reckless cowboy who shot the wrong man gets underway, the body of perhaps another Dollmaker victim is unearthed from the concrete floor of a burnt-out pool hall. Is the real Dollmaker still alive, or is a copycat killer on the loose? Connelly deftly parcels out clues and possibilities while juggling subtle and detailed courtroom scenes with no-nonsense police investigations that turn up new evidence about the original case. A Pulitzer Prize-winning crime reporter from the Los Angeles Times, he adroitly laces the plot with twists and turns based on details drawn from Bosch’s previous adventures. The results of this care show on every page, all to the reader’s benefit.

Review: I finished this book on Friday, May 4th, 2007. I liked the first two books in the series, so I snagged this one. It wasn’t bad. I really liked the plot, and even though I thought I knew who it was, I was way off. I like the ‘comfortability’ between Harry and Sylvia, but I wish their relationship had a few more sparks. I felt a connection between the two was a ‘comfortable’ one, the kind of ‘at least I’m not alone’ type of relationship. I just wish there was more to it. Hmm… maybe in the next book? The plot wasn’t confusing, and I like the way Harry thinks and interprets the evidence, trying to find the suspect. Not overly complex. Let’s see what the next book brings…

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The Black Ice by Michael Connelly (‘Harry Bosch’ series Book #2)

Format: Mass Market Paperbound - Published: December 1, 2003 - 400 Pages - ISBN: 0446613444 - Published By: Warner Vision

 

The Black Ice

Michael Connelly

‘Harry Bosch’ series Book #2

The official report said suicide. But in a city where murder is sport, Bosch isn’t ready to blame the victim.

Narcotics officer Cal Moore’s orders were to look into the city’s lates drug killing. Instead, he ends up in a motel room with his head in several pieces and a suicide note stuffed in his back pocket.

Years ago, Harry leanred the first rule of the good cop: don’t look for the facts, but the glue that holds them together. Now, Harry’s making some very dangerous connections, starting with one dead cop and leading to a bloody string of murders that wind from Hollywood Boulevard’s drug bazaar to the dusty back alleys south of the border and into the center of a complex and lethal game – one in which Harry is the next and likeliest victim.

After his richly acclaimed debut, Michael Connelly brings Bosch back in an achievement even more stunning and suspenseful than its predecessor – a time-bomb of a novel supercharged with tension and non-stop action that doesn’t let up until the final, explosive ending.

Review: I liked this book as much as the first of the series. The action, the suspense, the way Bosch thinks, how he puts it all together… I couldn’t have asked for more. So many twists and turns near the ending had you wondering. At first, I couldn’t figure it out, but as it was explained, I caught on. Goes to show why I’m not a detective… I never would have thought of it. I am definitely going to continue with the series. If the rest of the novels are as good as the first two, I know I’m in good hands.

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