Perfect Victim by Jay Bonansinga (‘Ulysses Grove’ series Book #4)

Paperback: 352 pages - Publisher: Pinnacle (December 1, 2008 ) - Language: English - ISBN-10: 078601878X - ISBN-13: 978-0786018789

 

Perfect Victim

by Jay Bonansinga

‘Ulysses Grove’ series Book #4

A slashed female corpse … a footprint, a tire track … a trail of blood in a crowded shopping mall. Even the most jaded cops are horrified by the carnage. But to seasoned FBI profiler Ulysses Grove, the evidence spells out a much more personal message – a threat that speaks to Grove alone…

METICULOUS KILLER…

He chooses his victims with care. He plans their murders with painstaking precision; he studies the most notorious slayers. He’s gone to extremes to achieve his goals – committed to fulfilling his destiny as history’s greatest serial killer…

With precious lives at stake, at his very soul on the line, Grove throws himself into the chase – and into a trap from which there’s no escape…

Review: Synopsis promises excitement – author failed to deliver.

Anyone who’s read my more recent reviews usually get a brief rundown of what I read, what I liked and disliked. With this one, I’m sorry, but I’m not wasting my time.

The synopsis had my attention, I figured this one was right down my alley. How misleading! The prologue and first couple of chapters had my attention. From then on, I had to force myself to read this book. For me, that’s not good – not good at all. I felt absolutely nothing for the characters: not for Ulysses, or his wife Maura, nor anyone else. One dimensional, no depth, no personality. The only one I actually liked was their toddler! The plot was ridiculous, unlikely and far-fetched.

One Amazon.com reviewer wrote: “Bonansinga’s protagonist is a ludicrous cross between Jesus Christ (think immaculate conception — no, really,) Sherlock Holmes and an African-American Batman. Sort of like an Anne Rice character, without the benefit of imagination, plot device and literary skill. And I use those terms loosely.” – Thank you, Anonyme from Oregon, I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

I had to wonder if perhaps I’d have liked the book more if I’d read the others in the series. All their synopsis’ sound good, but seeing as I really didn’t like the characters, nor the plot, in this one, I highly doubt I’ll go out of my way to get a copy. If it’s passed to me, that’s still a huge maybe.

And the ending… good grief! How anyone, let alone the main character, could have survived that is anyone’s guess – it was that far-fetched. Understandable how his mind wasn’t intact after that – but for his wife and kid to walk into the room and suddenly remember who he is…  honestly, Mr. Bonansinga, did you really think we’d be able to swallow it?

If his characters had been more believable, if there’s been more mystery to the plot, and if he’d left out the spiritual/paranormal mumbo jumbo (didn’t believe any of it for a second, not even a nano-second,) maybe, just maybe, I’d be more inclined to read some of his other work. As it stand: No.

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Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

Format: Trade Paperback - Published: October 2, 2001 - 352 Pages - ISBN: 0743431014 - Published By: Simon & Schuster

 

Songs of the Humpback Whale

by Jodi Picoult

Sometimes finding your own voice is a matter of listening to the heart…

Jodi Picoult’s powerful novel portrays an emotionally charged marriage that changes course in one explosive moment… For years, Jane Jones has lived in the shadow of her husband, renowned San Diego oceanographer Oliver Jones. But during an escalating argument, Jane turns on him with an alarming volatility. In anger and fear, Jane leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country odyssey charted by letters from her brother Joley, guiding them to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await. Now Oliver, and expert at tracking humpback whales across vast oceans, will search for his wife across a continent – and find a new way to see the world, his family, and himself: through her eyes.

Review: Finished Saturday morning, February 24th, 2007. I tried to remain optimistic while reading this book. It wasn’t one I voted for (Book of the Month), but I read it anyway. It’s been read, and I’m glad it’s over and done with. It wasn’t the type of book that I like, and while I usually don’t give a book a bad opinion, this one, as much as I hate to say this, stank. OMG! All of it was in the first person; there were no dividing chapters, just the characters themselves. Everything was written in the first person. While you don’t pay that much attention when reading the actual chapter headings (like Chapter 1, etc…), with this one, you had no choice to pay attention, or you didn’t know who was talking! Not only did it jump from character to character, it also skipped around in the same timeline – nothing followed. While I don’t find jumping timelines confusing in any way, add jumping with characters as much as timelines and I hated it. But that wasn’t the part I hated most. It was finding out the ending before reaching the ending of the book, and hating the decision made that just made me feel like I wasted my time reading it! I’m sorry, but if you’re that unhappy, would you really go back? If you were really unhappy, and your daughter was old enough to undersand… would you go back? This character did – for her daughter. Come on – she’s fifteen! Nope, I didn’t like this book. There are so many more points that I could attach to this review, but I don’t have a half hour to write it all down. Suffice to say, I was disappointed. I thought there was way more to the story than there actually was.

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