Serial Killers Books

Unless I'm missing something major, I knew everything that was going to happen in this book by maybe 1/4 of the way through. There are no cliffhangers, no hair's-breadth escapes, no Sudden Realizations That The World Is A Far Blacker Place Than Anyone Previously Fathomed.

It starts so promisingly. Inspector Kurt Wallander is called to a farmer's field where a girl has been standing all day. The farmer has tried to get her off his field all day, and finally he's called the cops. Wallander chases her around the field until, unexpectedly, she douses herself with a can of gasoline and lights herself on fire.

The next day Wallander happens upon a murder victim whose head has been split in two and who's been scalped.

How could these two ghastly events be connected?

Isn't that a promising beginning? Yet without cliffhangers or much in the way of actual drama (the initial killing, and subsequent ones, are deployed with a minimum of fuss), what sustains the story? Mankell has left himself few choices: it can't rest on anything but Wallander's thought processes. We watch him try to reach the same conclusions that we had reached long ago. Perhaps Mankell hopes that'll be enough -- that we'll grow tense as Wallander comes closer to the truth. If so, Mankell hasn't set up enough architecture to make it so. There's a moment of tension toward the end, and Mankell executes that moment quite competently. But then it's over. Almost as soon as that climax happens, it's as though Mankell has grown bored of his own book.

Let's not even speak of the dialogue, which is dreary and flat. Characters say near-clichés like "...Unless he strikes again" as though reading them directly from a bus schedule.

Just a flat book. Enough energy to sustain you for 400 pages, but just barely. Having put it down, it's unlikely I'll remember anything from it a month from now. And I'm not tempted to read any more Mankell.

I found this book being given away and figured I'd read it based upon the glowing reader reviews on Amazon.com and the CWA Gold Dagger award for this book. I'm sorry that I read it. It's a decent book, but not great. It was not worth my time. The characters are flat and uninteresting, the dialogue is flat, and it wasn't much of a page-turner. Basically, it's an unexciting book that leaves you on a down -- kind of like the Swedish personality in general -- which is a theme of the book itself. While I'm not a mystery-book junkie, I'm open to the genre. If this book constitutes an award winner, then I'm hesitant to read much else in this genre that is celebrated by the "experts."

It's my wife who is the reader of mysteries in the family. And she highly recommended Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander mysteries to me, and Side-Tracked in particular. This was a pleasant diversion and Mr. Mankell is an excellent writer and his detective Kurt Wallander is an interesting lead character. The book opens with a great start, a wandering middle and strong yet predictable ending. After all the reader learns half way though the book who done it and waits while Wallander and his Swedish detectives figure it out. One of the charms of the book is its Swedish local and yet that part of this particular book is not fully realized. This could just as well have been Kansas. So my read is a recommendation as the book is entertaining, well written, and if you're in the mood for a mystery I think you will enjoy your time with Mr. Wallander. But don't skip those other great Non-fiction books out there unless your looking for pure diversion. Yet, I will look forward to sampling another Wallander Mystery sometime soon.

A policeman's lot is not a happy one! W.S. Gilbert.

Even in Sweden if Henning Mankell's police procedurals provide any clue. Detective Inspector Wallander's lot is not a happy one in "Sidetracked". By the time you get through the first two chapters Wallander has seen an unidentified teenage girl douse herself with gasoline and watched helplessly as she burned to death. He is then placed in charge of the investigation of the murder of a former Minister of Justice who was killed with an axe and then scalped. To make matters worse, while Wallander is busy trying to solve these apparently unrelated events, Sweden has pretty much come to a standstill as the whole nation (with the possibly sole exception of Wallander) as it watches Sweden's run to third place in the 1994 World Cup. As Sweden's World Cup fever increases the scalper strikes again and again and Wallander feels as if he is the only person not glued to a TV set.

Mankell's Kurt Wallander series is often compared to the Martin Beck detective mysteries authored by the husband and wife team of Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall. Wallander, like Beck, is a police detective in Sweden. Unlike Beck, whose beat was Stockholm, Wallander works in the small southern-Swedish city of Ystad. The Wallander series takes place in the 1990s while the Beck series took place in the 1960s and 1970s. Although I tend to prefer the Beck series, the Wallander books are entertaining page-turners. Mankell stays well within the `police procedural' formula and has not tried to reinvent the genre. However, he has done a good job of developing the character of Mankell and his supporting cast of characters. Wallander is no Sherlock Holmes and gets results more by perspiration than inspiration. He is also a fully drawn character. We see him dealing with the break-up of a marriage, an estranged daughter, and a father who is developing senile dementia. The supporting characters, particularly his fellow detectives, are also well drawn.

I thought Mankell did a good job in Sidetracked. As the plot is advanced we see Wallander struggling to find clues and then struggling to get a grasp of their meaning. The reader has an advantage in that Mankell reveals more to the reader than to Wallander. The interest for the reader (or at least for me) is to see Wallander gradually put the pieces together. Basically, this is a well-written police procedural. It does not break new ground or transcend its genre but it is a very entertaining, if sometimes depressing, book to read.

Potential readers should know that this is the fifth in a series of Kurt Wallander mysteries. (There is likely to be a Comment under this review with a list of Wallander books in chronological order.) Although each stands on its own as a self-contained story there is a lot of subtext that may be lost on readers who read the books out of order. Mankell's characters and their relationships with each other evolve over time. I suggest that anyone interested in this series start of with the first book, Faceless Killers, before picking up Sidetracked. Some books in the series are more entertaining than others but I don't regret having read the first five books. Recommended. L. Fleisig

I thank fellow reviewer Leonard Fleisig for bringing this author to my attention. The writing is simply superb. I am very interested in reading more books by the Mankell. So far, I have bought and read six novels in the Wallander series.

I thought that the novel was excellent up to a point. But then when the bloody and gruesome murders go on and on - and right to the end - it becomes a bit too much. For that reason I think that Faceless Killers or One Step Behind are his best novels. But the present novel is not far behind. This problem with the murders is that the story is set over a very short time frame, and Wallander does not have enough time to solve the case. I thought that Mankell was doing a great job with the novel and it might be his best, until the murders become tiresome. The novel reminded me a bit of the Peter Robinson Inspector Banks series and of course here the multiple murders set the structure of the novel.

The book opens with a map of southern Sweden showing the location of the town of Ystad. The latter is the primary setting, although the crimes are spread around the southern part of Sweden. The police station is located in Ystad which is near the most southerly part of Sweden, south and east of Malmo and on the Baltic. Malmo itself is on the west coast of Sweden, just 10 km across the narrow straights from Copenhagen. Part of the tale takes place in Malmo and part in Helsingborg, north of Malmo.

I will not give away the plot and the essential plot elements are outlined by the publisher: there is a series of murders and an unrelated suicide. The policeman, Kurt Wallender, takes a personal interest in the suicide, and is somewhat "sidetracked."

This is a great and a fast read that I was able to read with a great deal of enjoyment in less than a day or two - even though it is 500 pages. I read it while staying at a hotel in southern Sweden, not too far from the crime scene, and that the details and descriptions of the places, people, and other details are made to seem authentic.

This is a book that I highly recommend, but because of the multiple murders it merits between 4 and 5 stars. The writing is smooth and flawless.

I was really quite surprised to find such a strange and deceitful person.a real woman could do such horrifying things to her own family. I never thought that true life could be worse than a fiction murder mystery.

Though it was not one of the best true-crime books I've read, it certainly is worth reading.

I'm a self-confessed true-crime junkie. I picked this up because I remember seeing part of the coverage on TRU TV back when Brookey was on trial. This book is wonderfully researched and presented. The photos are gruesome; even for a true-crime novel. You usually see grainy shots of uninteresting aspects of the crime. Here, it's right there in all it's horror. In addition, there are many side stories presented by the author, detailing some of Las Vegas' more notorious crimes. Unsettling and disturbing, "Witch" is a must add to your true-crime library. I hope to see more from this author!

I was initially intrigued, but unfortunately wound up being extremely disappointing. The author was a bit too self-important for my taste, and new information became more and more scarce as the book progressed. One of the later chapters isn't even an original work, but is instead a wholesale reproduction of a coroner's report.

Not recommended.

All I read is true crime and this is a good book.
I thought the author did a great job of researching the characters for this book and really brought them to life.
It is unbelievable how much this women got away with!

Jonathan Mayberry is becoming one of my favorite authors. This books continues where "Ghost Road Blues" left off.

I would like to tell Mr. Mayberry one thing: GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND GET US THE THIRD NOVEL ALREADY!!

You ROCK!

I loved the first book, "Ghost Road Blues" and couldn't wait for this book. One important thing to know: you should read "Ghost Road Blues" before you read "Dead Man's Song", not everything is explained well enough in the second book to be able to pick up the complete storyline. I have already pre-ordered the next book, "Bad Moon Rising". Johathan Maberry is well on his way!!!!

This book was as good, or perhaps even better, than the first book in this series. The writing style is so good that you are able to see what the characters see and know how the town looks and where everything is in relation to it.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, though I do recommend that you read the first book before reading this one, though it is not necessary as there is a synopsis.

I never write reviews, but I almost didn't buy this book after seeing some of the negative reviews. I liked the 1st book, so I broke down and ordered it, figuring that it would be more of the same as the 1st book and I would probably get bored of it(not that the 1st book was bad at all, but I couldn't imagine what more could happen). It is nothing like the 1st. Yes, the same people and town, but now it really picks up momentum and we are getting into the supernatural on a big scale. I could not put it down. Yes there are a couple of typos that did not get found when edited, but give me a break, it's over 500 pages. Anyway, if you are really caught up in the story, you never notice the small stuff. I can't wait for the next. In spite of the person raving about it not having an ending, I am so glad it didn't. Now I have the rest of the story to look forward to.

Let me get one thing straight first. One reader of the first book in the Pine Deep trilogy fired some idiotic salvo accusing Maberry of paying people $500 to write favorable reviews. A couple of others picked up that ludicrous refrain for this book. Now, in a world full of intelligent readers there would be no need to respond to such blithering numbskulls. I'm sure Maberry himself feels no need to take such fools seriously. But on the chance that someone may actually be swayed by such bilge I'll go on record as saying my opinion comes free of charge. I've never met Jonathan but if I ever do I'll shake his hand and congratulate him on creating perhaps the best horror tale of the present decade.

Don't let the baseless rantings of attention-challenged cretins persuade you for a second that Ghost Road Blues and Dead Man's Song are anything less than landmark works in horror fiction. If they can't hang with a couple of 500 page novels I would suggest they see their doctor about the possibility of undiagnosed ADHD. Maberry's Bram Stoker Award nomination is no accident. These books are the REAL THING. Immerse yourself in Maberry's meticulously crafted story. Leave the aforementioned cretins to Dick And Jane and coloring books.

First part of the book is interesting until the trial is over.
Then the after the trial the rest of the book is tedious and somewhat boring.

Author Joyce Maynard does a terrific job of recreating this fascinating true-crime story: of an award-winning school teacher, Nancy Seaman, who butchered her husband, tried to hide his body and then tried to use the battered wife syndrome as her defense. The killer comes across as arrogant, cold, manipulative and repulsive. Instead of her being the battered wife, it appears her husband was the actual battered victim. The way the killer tries to adopt the personae of a battered woman is repulsive and enrages the reader. One of her sons, Greg, appears pathologically incapable of seeing his mother as a vicious killer, while his brother, Jeff, sees her as a cold-blooded murderess whose attempts to persuade him and her friends at school that she was the victim of a heartless wife beater are hysterical. Whenever she bruised herself, she would go around touting the bruise as just one piece of evidence that she is being beaten. Where I had problems with the book is when the author heavily interweaves her own life of marital problems into the mix, as if trying to justify her fascination with this case. She spends much too much time describing her failure to attain interviews with Greg and his killer Mom and other friends and enemies of the Seaman family. Jeff comes across as a boor who continuously stands up the author for scheduled interviews. Sometimes an author can step into the story and enhance it, if it adds another dimension to it--much like what Jim Schutze did in his fascinating study of judicial lynching in BY TWO BY TWO. This is when twin sisters were accused of murdering the dentist husband of one and the charges of a psychopathic, alcoholic drug addict were used to railroad one sister into prison for life, while the other one was acquitted. But in INTERNAL COMBUSTION, the author's personal intrusion into a fascinating study of evil dampens the effect of the story. I'd like to see what Ann Rule or Jim Schutze would have done with this true life tragedy.

Both as a "what-made-her-do-it?" investigation and as a searing cultural and family study of 3 generations of Detroit-area auto engineering people, Maynard relentlessly digs for truth and understanding of murderous rage that destroyed a prosperous family. I stayed up all night two nights in a row to finish it and was sad to see it end, but the book forced me to think hard about the catastrophic violence waiting to explode in so many feuding families -- and what causes the explosions to occur, as well as the consequences for the survivors. Regardless of how tranquil your world, you will be shaken by the story of what may have caused an award-winning 4th grade teacher to take a hatchet to her husband's head. The author's intermittent reflections on her own fascination with the story add extra poignancy and mirrored many of the questions I was asking myself about this fascinating case study of a seeming typical American upper middle class family. A real treasure.

What do you do when you set out to write a true crime book, but the perp won't talk, even though you've invested a lot of time and money in the faith that she will? Well, this book shows how to get around that major problem. You pad it. Pad it with observations about everything you did while waiting around for the key interview that won't ever happen. You attend the funeral of a Four Tops singer. What's that got to do with Nancy Seaman? Nada. You hang out at the lake house of the local courthouse reporter and pad a few chapters about that. You decide you'll draw parallels with your own failed marriage and divorce. That's good for maybe 25 percent of the required pages to make your book contract. Hmm. Let's see, now? What else can you pad with? Oh, I know. Make some big socioeconomic generalizations about the haves and have nots who populate both sides of the tracks in your setting, in this case, Detroit's 8 Mile Road. Even so, this book is still pretty interesting and Maynard is a world-class writer. So you should read it, even though it's deeply flawed. The case in question is a real beaut.

Let me say this on the onset: I love Joyce Maynard and her writing style. Which is why when I saw this book at the airport 2 weeks ago, I jumped at it and wondered how I had not known it was out. That was 2 weeks ago. Now, 2 weeks later, I am frustrated with the obvious bias and contempt Maynard shows toward Nancy Seaman. I am not sure where this comes from: perhaps because Seaman refused to give Maynard an interview. But the book comes out completely one-sided, despite assertions time and time again by the author that she wants to be fair to all. You get the same feeling when the author speaks about Greg (bad son) vs. Jeff (good son).

I am now at the point where I am now rolling my eyes every time she makes a side comment about Nancy. The section on Nancy calling people "[...]" is actually laughable. By this point, the author is portraying Nancy as the most ungrateful, most despicable, most unreasonable woman in America. Of course, not to mention that she is also an ax murderer.

However, when you see the "support" Nancy gets from her community, the Judge, as well as the angle of the CBS 48 Hours documentary, one really has got to wonder who is really being fair and balanced.

I give the book a 3 because, even with the flaws of the book (such as Maynard now inserting herself into the story -- what is THAT about?), the writing style is still very enjoyable.

But the story itself is really really really sad.

And, I do have a side comment of my own: even though Julie Dumbleton may not have been sleeping with Bob Seaman, I truly believe she was in love with him (the kind of love a spouse has the right to wonder about); and as much as Nancy was fighting for her man, so was Julie giving back ounce for ounce. She is not an innocent naive woman one bit. Instead, I see her as a very calculating woman who was instrumental to the break-down of a marriage. And, quite honestly, I see what Julie and Bob had as an affair. It obviously was not sexual or intimate, but an affair nonetheless.

Like I said, it has been 2 weeks now, and I am internally combusting, but determined to finish the book, because I paid for it. But I am at the point where I am wondering when the book changed from "The Story of a Marriage and a Murder in the Motor City" to "My Life and Times As A Woman, Mother and Writer." The whole focus of the book seems to have changed.

Sometimes authors make mistakes, like killing a character they shouldn't have. Then, they come up with contrived stories that try to explain why the character wasn't really dead, and bring him / her back. Dorsey, with his irreverent and unorthodox style is not going to stoop that low. The craziness in his stories allows him to simply accept he made a mistake, and ask us to forget about the fact that Coleman was dead. Now we can once more experience the laughs this character, together with Serge A. Storms, brings to the table.

If you are a fan of the series, you are used to Dorsey's writing style, seemingly unconnected passages, with hilarious situations, that start to make sense about a quarter of the way through. But that never really make complete sense! In this case, this style is exacerbated, so if you have come to accept it, like I did, you will be fine. For people that have not being exposed to the author before, I recommend you start elsewhere; the best is to read these books in the order of publication.

The humor in this installment is at the usual high level, with the typical satiric elements and much more. The only thing that I did not particularly enjoy much was that Serge was not as "convincing" in dealing with annoying people as he has been in the past. Seeing Serge punish those that deserve it, is usually and entertaining experience, and that aspect was fairly limited in this novel. However, to compensate for that, Serge is on the prowl for a wife! Yes, you read right. He is looking to settle down and start a family. When I read this, two questions instantly popped up on my mind. Will he find someone willing to marry him? If he does, is there even a remote chance of it working out alright?

Fans of the series cannot afford to miss the answers to those questions, which are presented together with a bunch of loony characters and hilarious situations. Enjoy!

Presently Dorsey is one of my favorite authors. He has a great sense of humor and a gift for putting it on paper. His stories are zany and lots of fun to read.

I enjoyed this odd, quirky book and have loved all of Tim Dorsey's tales. I laughed out loud often and hard with the reading of Torpedo Juice.

When I dove into this story I found myself tumbling in waves of confusion. I'm still not certain what the beginning of the book had to do with anything, but the deeper I went, the more amused I become. Dorsey's characters are lively and indeed addictive. The story itself is a bit awkward, but by the time I got to the end, I was not at all disappointed.

When our leading man, Serge decides he's getting married, the fact that he has no woman in his life is a minor techincality. There are ups and there are downs. There is romance and there is Coleman...oy Coleman. And Dorsey's fans won't be at all surpised by the level of murder and mayhem.

Serge's unique personality traits carry the readers through the story--more than the plot--but Dorsey's talent as a writer offers paydirt when almost everything is cleared up in a zinger of an ending.

Dorsey's seventh outing with Florida obsessed Serge A. Storms and stoner pal Coleman settles in for a breezy time in the Keys. Serge this time decides it's time to get married and meets new (and dangerous) characters in the Keys.

Being a longtime Florida resident, Dorsey knows his locale. Some fans of this series say this book was slow-paced, I disagree. Dorsey captured the feeling of being in the Keys as it is. People come to the Keys to either fish, dive or drink. So I thought the pacing was appropriate.

With slick, stylish prose and his ingenous way of wrapping a plot around the high jinks and a few barbed comments about marriage, Dorsey keeps this series fresh.

I really liked this one. I have read every SHANE SCULLY book so far and this is the best one yet.A complex plot is told in a uncluttered manner.One thing that CANNELL excels in is character dialogue. The use of police jargon and one characters down home southern quips is classic stuff.SCULLY is called to investigate a homicide in which it would appear is the latest victim of a serial murderer in LA. As certain facts common to the other victims dont add up in this one, SCULLY gets the feeling this is the work of a copycat. Soon the FBI is heading up a task force and the powers of the Patriot Act are at play. This story delves into the ramifications of abuses of power and the FISA court and unaccountable federal agents. There is a subplot dealing with SCULLY's alcoholic partner that gets old fast but over all a very fast paced story.

Like many of today's best novelists, Stephen J. Cannell has a political agenda to exploit in telling his story. Many people don't yet realize that the Patriot Act provides the kind of unlimited government powers that the 13 original colonies decided to separate from by revolution. If you put enough arrogant people in place who don't know what they are doing, the results can be pretty distressing. That's the major message of this book.

If you are looking for a police procedural, you'll find this story mainly interesting for its development of two key characters, Shane Scully and his partner, by the actions they take (or don't take). You'll feel like both characters are interesting and that what they do mostly rings true. For the rest of the characters, it's mostly card board and cameo roles. The investigation is severely compromised from the beginning by press interest, political pressure and police bureaucracy. Many of the "breaks" in the case seem a little dubious in terms of their probabilities.

If you are like me, you'll think that a "cold hit" is an assassination done for money (or something like that). In police parlance, a cold hit is an identification of a weapon used in two separate crimes . . . separated by some time. The ballistics evidence in this case gradually points the investigation in the right direction.

I found the plot development to be noteworthy in a couple of ways. First, Scully is allowed to be a human being . . . with weaknesses, mistakes, distractions and other limitations. Second, we get to find out what he's like outside of work.

I'm not sure that the plot complication of having Scully ultimately working for his wife is credible and valuable for story-telling, but you have to admit that it's an unusual approach.

Ultimately, the book succeeds because Mr. Cannell is a solid story teller who knows how to get our attention with unexpected events and confrontations that move the plot along at an ever stronger pace.

Shane Scully has reached detective level III in Homicide Special division, run under Lieutenant Alexa Scully, who is also Shane's beautiful wife. Shane gets called out of bed on one of his cases, a serial murderer tagged as "The Fingertip Killer" because he clips the fingers off his victims. But first, he needs to pick up his old partner whom he had tagged up with again. This time, rather than Zack covering for Shane, Shane finds himself covering for Zack.

Investigating this victim of "The Fingertip Killer" gets a little squeaky when Shane finds some discrepancies. For one thing, the bullet is left behind allowing for a ballistics trace, and the bum who was the target has some strange items on his person for a homeless person. Is this a real "Fingertip" killing, or is Shane facing a copycat?

New pressure comes down when its discovered the bullet matches ballistics on a ten year old cop murder. Plus, with the serial aspect increasing an abrasive, toughened FBI agent is assigned to lead the team under the new Homeland Security Act because one of the street bums turned out to be a wanted Russian agent.

Shane seems likes he's trapped by bureaucracy from all sides until he sidles in with a pair of CTB Intelligence officers named Roger Broadway, a sleek and slick aristocratic black man and Emdee Perry, a trash talking redneck. With this unlikely mutt-and-jeff team, Scully may just have a chance.


But as usual something goes wrong, and knowing Shane and Alexa, it will boil all the way to the top of the blackened pot before the creeps come crawling out of the woodwork.
I love Stephen J. Cannell's 'Scully' series because there is never a dry or dull moment in them. Extra-ordinarily fast-paced entertainment that grabs you by the collar and doesn't let go until it has drug you through the last dregs of the sleazy societies Shane and Alexa investigate.

Using very precise and tight prose, Cannell manages to get a great deal across to the reader using vivid scenes without sacrificing speed or characterizations. Shane, Alexa, and their son Chooch are real people, and you will know Broadway and Perry well enough to sit down and talk awhile by the time the book is finished. It always amazes me how full and rich Cannell's books are without stuffiness, boredom, or excessive length. Keep writing, Stephen! Enjoy!

I consider the Rockford Files one of the best TV shows ever. A lot of that is due to its star, James Garner, but credit also needs to go to Stephen J. Cannell, who created and helped write the series. Cannell is responsible for a lot of other TV shows (including Hunter, Wiseguy and the A-Team), but of late he has been more focused on mystery writing. Based on my fondness for his TV work, I should be inclined to enjoy his books, but they actually rate from just above average to barely adequate; if these were graded in school, the best would be a B. Cold Hit gets a C-minus, or put in Amazon terms, barely three stars.

Cold Hit is around the sixth book in the Shane Scully series (admittedly, I have only read three or four of them). In this volume, Scully is lead investigator in the hunt for a serial killer known for cutting off the fingers of his victims (hence hindering investigation). As the story opens, a new body has been found, but Scully suspects a copycat due to certain distinctions from previous crimes. Unfortunately, he is getting nowhere and the FBI is being called in to take over. In addition to this, Scully's partner is going off the deep end with increasingly risky (and drunken) behavior.

Although Scully is cast into a subordinate position, he still comes up with some important clues that indicate the involvement of some Russians. This stirs up a whole nest of problems, with the result that Scully winds up locking horns with Homeland Security people; in such a battle, the odds are really against Scully, since the Feds are willing to use all sorts of secretive, Patriot Act allowed acts to enforce their will.

Ominously, the gravest perils that Scully faces are not from the killer but rather from the government figures. The serial killer (and the supposed copycat) are rather remote figures (until the end of the book), but the danger that looms over Scully is the possibility that he is constantly being monitored and may suddenly be arrested and held without charges or representation, and it may all be legal.

Cannell's rather effective indictment of the Patriot Act (and related laws) and the extremes it can allow in the name of national security is watered down by the fact that the story itself is not all that well written. While some of the cliched and rather shallow characters (for example, the arrogant FBI agent who takes over and dismisses the input of the local cops) may fit well in a standard TV crime drama, they are lacking in a novel. The plot itself is rather standard, although there is one decently clever twist towards the end. What I kept thinking of is Michael Connelly's far superior Harry Bosch stories that are also police procedurals involving an L.A. homicide detective: this book falls far short of that standard. Cannell's competent enough to keep this from being a truly bad book, but he can't make it good either. This book should only be read if you're a Cannell fan; otherwise, you're better off with some other author such as Connelly.

I'm surprised that we haven't seen Shane Scully on the big screen yet. Stephen Cannell writes crime fiction that is action packed, filled with smart-alec humor, and enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning pages. As strange as it sounds, one of the things I like most about this novel is that Shane Scully, as likeable as he is, can be a real jerk sometimes. I know this sounds odd, but it is refreshingly real. So many fictional cops (I'm talking about you Alex Cross) are annoyingly perfect. Shane is a rough and tumble guy who doesn't pull any punches, always has a witty comeback, and is tenacious when it comes to finding the truth. But he's also a hot head who makes mistakes and who finds that his tolerance for pain isn't nearly as high as he would like it to be.

The plot: Shane and his partner are investigating a serial murder case when they discover that the gun that killed one of their victims was used to kill a cop a decade earlier. This cold hit leads Scully to a suspect with ties to the old KGB and the Russian mob and puts Shane in the crosshairs of the FBI and Homeland Security who seem intent on derailing his investigation in the interest of National Security.

While Cannell's novels fall short of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels (Harry treads on the same LAPD ground), novels like Cold Hit and Vertical Coffin are entertaining to read. In Cold Hit, Cannell offers readers more than just another crime novel. He tackles some difficult issues as well. Shane must deal with his partner's downward spiral as he battles alcohol and suicide, the grinding bureaucracy of the LAPD (which his wife Alexa is a part of), and the frightening abuse of power that is the Patriot Act.

Cannell uses Cold Hit as a platform to rail against the Patriot Act. This may be valid enough (I'm Canadian - so of course I think so), but it results in some awkward unnatural sounding dialogue as the characters debate its pros and cons. While Scully is a well rounded character, much of the supporting cast is filled with stereo-types(like the arrogant FBI agent who assumes control of the investigation)

These are minor complaints though. Cold Hit is a solid thriller. Fans of Cannell and Shane Scully will not be disappointed.

I don't read that many books a year, but ,this book is probably the best best book I have read ever. I love the style, dramatic diolog, and can't wait until the sequence is written! Please let me know if this is going to movie. Would love to give you some ideas to use.

As an avid reader, I am always pleased to discover books that are original and thought provoking. The Devil's Rood is definately this type of book!! I can not say it was an easy "read", but once I grew accustomed to the style, I was hooked!! The mind of the main character and the manner in which he manipulated so many around him was fascinating. Kudos to the authors for originality and daring to try a different style of writing!!

One of the most outstanding books I have ever read. This is a definite page-turner. It's hard to believe a man like Midgett/Holmes could have done the things he did; it's even harder to believe hardly anyone has heard of this demon -- until now.

I especially liked the way the story was written -- using one-sided conversations, diary entries, letters, actual newspaper accounts -- the writing is superb. ...

I found this book to be disturbing as well as entertaining. The fact that this man actually lived is disturbing because I've never even heard of him. I have read plenty of fiction and non-fiction on the subject of serial killers, and this is the first time I have run into this diabolical fiend. The monologue style was particularly engrossing, and made for a very quick read. Being in on only one side of the conversation really allowed you to use your full imagination. I would be interested to see more about Mr. Hermann Mudget.

After only 10 pages into The Devil's Rood, I made the observaton that it read like a high school creative writing exercise. After looking through the US Five's web page, I found that I was close to the mark, except that this pedestrian work is the creation of a college professor and four of his former students. The dramatic monlogue device, or whatever you call it, gets old very fast. Since you only hear one part of a conversation, the text does it's best to give you an idea of what the other characters are saying with unnatural utterances and silly dialogue. By the time you are a quarter of the way through the book, you no longer think of the book's style as a gimmick, but as the only way five very poor writers, with an ear for cliches and preposterous dialogue, could blend their respective messes together. I did get some enjoyment out of the book once I allowed myself to laugh out loud. I could just imagine the US Five getting together on the weekends:drinking coffee and guffawing over the salacious letters and dialogue they had written in their spiral notebooks during the week. I'm sure they received a lot of pleasure at their literary sewing circle. It's too bad they didn't use their research to write a real novel, as opposed to The Devil's Ruse (Sic). It is my guess that the positive reviews I've read were written by family members of the five authors. An awful mess.

I bought this book for $1.00 at a book sale. A great investment. All in all, a very good story although it rambles quite a bit in the last 200 pages or so; those could have been reduced considerably without losing anything. The ending was excellent and cries out for a sequel, but that seems unlikely after all these years. It would be interesting to know how Morava fared during the Cold War and after.

Kohout's novel works on two levels. First, it's an excellent, gripping, historical murder mystery. The characters are well-rounded and interesting, the killer mysterious and frigtening, and the plot taught and fast-moving. Second, it's a thoughtful examination of issues of loyalty and personal morality, revolving primarily around the efforts of a Gestapo officer and a local, partisan Czech police detective to cooperate in capturing a sociopath while balancing their respective commitments to their own consciences, and their loyalties to their own countries, as the Reich falls around them.
A very good read.

The literary and psychological possibilities generated by a detective story set in the last three months of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the rump state created by the Third Reich after the two-stage dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939) are promising. But this novel does not fulfill that promise. The major problems of the work are the clichéd nature of some of its characters and the implausibility of much of their dialogue, in which a sort of thinking-out-loud auto-didacticism occurs (in too many conversations characters review their lives and their relationships, including those of self to nation and culture, in a way that does not reflect realistic dialogue, although the subject matter of the dialogues and interior monologues is rooted in the real). The translation by Neil Bermel is solid and should not be held responsible for any shortcomings of style and expression found in the book - those are, as the saying goes, on Kohout's plate. It is clear from reading other works of Kohout (e.g., "The Hangwoman") that he does have superior talents as a narrator and stylist, but they are not on display in "The Widow Killer". If , however, you are partial to thrillers and "police procedurals", then you should go ahead and read the book, but don't expect either the characterizations or the accompanying philosophizing to rise above the conventional.

The story line is that of an investigation of a depraved serial killer who mutilates women in ritual fashion and who is accelerating the pace of his crimes. As the story progresses the investigation merges with the political and military events of the fall of the Protectorate. From a psychoanalytic point of view we readers learn rather soon that "his mama made him do it" - i.e., the murderer is driven by an abject condition of total emotional dependency on the "approval" of his dead (and formerly domineering) mother. His conversations with himself are well rendered, capturing the closed and agitated mental world in which he dwells. As the fall of the Protectorate nears he transfers his brutal energies to new targets and in his own mind he becomes an avenging angel against any and all Germans he encounters, and he begins to re-imagine himself as a national savior, a "new man" and a leader with a special mission. Whatever its object, he remains proud of his butchery. The equation of the killer with unregenerate Nazis, with Hitler himself, and with the most brutal enforcers of the Communist regime to come are evident. This is the killer's allegorical role.

Three policemen are especially important to the unraveling of the crimes and the pursuit of the madman. And, like the killer, each of them becomes a rather obvious allegorical or symbolic agent of recent political life and its messy morality. Superintendent Beran, of whom we learn nothing personal, is a fair-minded civil servant and highly professional policeman who also emerges as a mid-level leader in the movement to restore democracy to his country - he represents the virtues of the Czechoslovakian First Republic. His assistant, Jan Morava, is a young and somewhat naïve "country-boy" who comes to the capital city and adapts rapidly to a new way of life and who shows an instinctive investigator's abilities. His love-affair with Jitka is a side-story introduced in order to show us his admirable qualities (rooted in the traditions of his rural childhood) and to provide the killer with another heartbreakingly innocent victim. By the end of the book Morava is transformed into the typical good man of the postwar era who makes some very bad choices and lives to regret them. The third policeman is a German Gestapo man, Buback; he is a "half-Czech" who conceals his roots. His background and responsibilities are those of a conventional criminal-police investigator (and, as emphasized, not that of a "political" or "secret police" operative, despite his position in the Gestapo). He stands for the potentially "good German" who comes to his senses during the death spasms of the Third Reich. While Buback and his German lover (a promiscuous dancer and professional mistress who is self-deceiving but always alluring) confess their human failings to each other and attempt to redeem themselves by being of service to the Czechs, Morava goes through a parallel set of ruminations in which he tries to curb his antipathy toward Germans by recognizing their common humanity with his own people. These deliberations strike me as too transparent and somewhat awkward, and they represent, I believe, Kohout's retrospective contemplation of his own feelings at the time of the story (1945). They are psychologically plausible and instructive, but should have been rendered more indirectly and less clumsily.

As for the "thriller" elements of the story, it becomes obvious by the middle of the book that both Morava and Buback (and his girlfriend Grete, who is the tainted counterpart of Jitka) will not only solve the case but will also be on a personal collision course with the murderer, placed by the author on converging pathways that will lead inevitably to a gruesome conclusion. The reader will be surprised by the identities of the killer's last sacrificial lamb and the character who renders the ultimate justice.

Interesting details of the historical situation are introduced in the final pages of the book -- the role of General Vlasov's doomed renegade army in evicting the Germans from Prague; the city's rather casual and chaotic liberation; and the arrival of a fiery and decisive Communist leader named Svoboda who has definite plans for the constitution and political complexion of the future Czechoslovakian state (this is not Ludvik Svoboda, the military hero who later became President; but it is a name chosen for its symbolism, a name directly translatable as "freedom"). Svoboda's energy, persuasive talents, apparent rectitude, and previous suffering on behalf of his cause convince Morava to commit himself to the emerging Communist regime, believing it is the path to a just society. As the book's final sentence states, this decision is the biggest mistake of his life. This judgment comes at the end of a sentimental message from Morava to the deceased Jitka (a message that mingles a love-note with simple-minded patriotic and political musings akin to slogans). The deflating last sentence of the book appears to be a sort of oblique self-evaluation by the author, since Morava's sudden and eager commitment to the Communist cause reflects the early "ideological" career of Kohout himself. We might read it as a displaced acknowledgment of guilt, that is, as the author's confession of and penance for the follies of his own youth, follies always implicit in the assumption of harsh and "pure" beliefs (and their punishing effects on the lives of others), which he too came to regret.

Not only for its first sentence, cited on Amazon, but for its last, which raises hopes of a sequel about the rise of Communism in the Czech lands already begun before the final silencing of the Nazis in Prague--this novel deserves an audience in the West. It did take me a long time to finish, and while I cannot comment on whether the fact of translation (which I always suspect when I slowly read applicable novels in English) or the details amassed by Kohout were the cause, the density of atmosphere as Prague struggles to free itself from its captivity as the capital of the Reich's Protectorate makes for a fittingly somber and moving fictional thriller, combined with a thoughtful meditation, thanks especially to Gestapo functionary Buback and his love Grete, on how decent people can redeem themselves--and perhaps others--from barbarity for which they have been too long its too complacently silent perpetrators.

This added depth to an already intricate whodunit enriches the plot. It's not perfect. A map should have been added for the benefit of readers not familiar with Prague's byways. Even as a repeat visitor there, I wished for some guidance, as much of the action in the later chapters depends upon the barricades and escapes among its city streets and districts, as the German and native elements make their assaults and retreats.

The action itself, although it starts finally to intensify after the news of Hitler's suicide begins to encourage and discourage the novel's various characters, might have moved along far quicker; although the novel never bogged down, it did wander off on detours that detracted from the intensity of its central clash between liberators and oppressors. I do not read mysteries or thrillers normally, so I may be not the best critic of such genre conventions regarding pacing. The murders, thinking about it in retrospect, uneasily shift from those of psycho-sexual delusion to those excused on behalf of a vengeful populace, and although this transfer is less than smoothly accomplished, it does perhaps represent more accurately the sudden jerks of the crazed mind rather than the controlling author.

As I stated earlier, I'd love to read more about some of the key figures as the Czech democrats succumbed to the Communists, and certainly Kohout's own age and experience would make him an excellently placed observer and chronicler. In the meantime, this novel may not describe much of the beloved postcard Prague, but conjures up the sinister shadows that, when I walked along Bartolemeska street, I could still enter, left by decades of its prominence as the dark facades where the police and the jail loomed even as the flags changed.

I bought this book to get away from the normal stuff that I read. Good choice, as it is both historical gives one a glimpse of the days of German-occupied city of Prague during the twilight of World War II. The story opens with the gruesome murder of Baroness of Pomerania, the widow of a German Wehrmacht general, by a serial killer. The coroner's report determines that the victim did not resist and was not raped. Mysteriously, her heart was removed and vanished with the killer.

The mismatched pair of Jan Morava, a Czech detective, and Erwin Buback, a Gestapo agent who is questioning his loyalty to the Nazis, set out to track down the killer before he can strike again. But as Morava and Buback follow the killer's bloody trail through Prague, it becomes clear that he is not a political radical or a wartime dissident but a tormented psychopath.

In the final days of the Third Reich, as the war proceeds to its gruesome end, the narrative sinuously shifts perspectives, taking us deep into the emotional maelstrom of each of the characters: young Morava, struggling to find love and approval in a war-torn city; the disillusioned Buback, haunted by the ghosts of his beloved wife and daughter; and the tormented killer, sent on a bloody rampage to please "her whom he obeys."

As the story comes to the end, it grips you yearning the know what will happen next. A gripping tale of human struggle under a thrilling murder, Pavel Kohout creation of a memorable work of fiction, as one of the last important novels from one the war's direct eyewitnesses.

Highly recommeded, text refers to hardcover edition.

I would really give this book a 3 1/2 stars if I could. It is a quick and easy read. Your average murder mystery with some romance thrown in. Not incredible, not horrible.

I was so intrigued by the emotionally-damaged, yet strong characters and gut-wrenching plot, I didn't even notice the evening go by. Sutcliffe harnesses her talent in this tightly-plotted, twisted tale with a dash of undeniable attraction between two characters who have suffered great tragedies and come out stronger.

Had, Bad Moon Rising, by Katherine Sutcliffe, been a little more "romantic" and a little less "street," I would have rated this book 5 stars! This is a terrific story and I know most people will think the same after reading it.

Someone is determined to stop the prostitution in the French Quarter, unfortunately, they are going to extremes to do so, killing all the ladies of the night. The serial killer's style makes it apparent that when the state executed a killer, they killed the wrong man. A slayer who years ago terrorized the city is back, giving JD Damascus a new chance to avenge the wife and children he lost in the first spree.

This new rash of slayings also brings Holly Jones to town, determined to rescue her best friend from the night life she herself escaped. Her quest brings her and JD together, in more ways than one. It also threatens to reveal Holly's dangerous secret. She is on the run for her life, and her new lover is the man who can set her free to begin a new life... if she continues to live, that is.

***** From page one, you will be on the very edge of your seat. Thrilling is only a mild word to describle this one. Holly could easily be one of the top ten heroines of all time. Her scars have made her a force to be reckoned with, without detracting from her feminity. JD is the kind of man who makes you think of Harrison Ford or Mel Gibson. If BAD MOON RISING fails to be a best seller, the public will really be missing a bet. Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Sutcliffe has been generally on target for many of her books and seems to improve with each one. This one has so much going for it, and yet...

A great locale, done well, New Orleans gives an eerie backdrop without too much of the "party-on-down, Cher". She has a gritty story (maybe a wee bit too gritty for romance) and unfortunately not enough romance to balance it. Everything felt forced, abrupt, not with her usual finesse. Some of the characters were a little trite, overdone. But where the book hurts mosts is the play between the leads. It's just a little too contrived, like forcing that square peg into a round hole. Something are never fully explained...

So this one leaves you with mixed feelings. Just a shame a few of these nagging problems could not have been ironed out for it is still a powerful read despite them.

I do think criminal profiling is a valid service, and this book has some interesting moments detailing the author's career in that field, what his childhood and young adulthood were like that might have led him to such a career. I also thought his late-life foray into priesthood was fascinating. Basically, he's a good writer, however, the book is spotty. There are parts that drag and don't mesh with the rest of the book. And though I have no experience whatsoever, personally, with satanic cults, I have met a few credible, tragically damaged people who claim, with complete sincerity, the things that the author says are "impossible," because the FBI has looked into them for years and has never substantiated a case of, for example, child sacrifice/homicide. I, too, was skeptical at one time, and never gave it a second thought, but I must say - again - that a few people who seek no media attention for their stories, have confided some hair-raising stories that are quite similar in nature, though the parties telling them had no knowledge of each other, and were from different parts of the country. In a way, it reminds me a little of alien abduction stories - I'm sure the author would negate these, too, but there are just so many of them that have uniqely similar aspects, and credible witnesses. Still out on this subject...

I am sure I have read the 'life story' type books of most of the well known profilers. I have to admit Roger L Depue was not a name I had come accross in any like books written in the same era. In fact I discovered only one well know book where his name appeared, then only a brief mention.
That aside if you have an interest in this type of book this one is worth the read.
The book essentially follows the life of Roger Depue from his childhood through his career as a rural police officer to the FBI. As most peoples' lives have there interesting aspects certainly anyone with the live experience of the author could not miss out in this area. Therefore I would see this book as esentially a biography. Certainly, in the book, there are many interesting examples of how profiling works and written in a style that is very easy to understand. The book also delves off into how his career and life events produced many 'turnings in the road'.
One of the more interesting parts of the book I found was the author's brief summation of a number of the 'big name' profilers of that era. I found it interesting some get mentioned by their christian names and others by surname only. I guess we can form our own opinions as to why.
Overall, yes 'Another Profiler's Life Story', but if you have an interest in that area, and don't mind a good dose of his personal life, go ahead and have a read. Might not be the best of these books but I found it interesting enough to go cover to cover in three 'sittings'.

I enjoy profiling books and recommend John Douglas' Mindhunters and Obsession . This book has very little for the reader to learn except minor tidbits like how to tell (via "overkill") that the unsub was known to the victim. The book has a long backstory on the authors childhood, dating, marines, etc. and he seems like a bully. The last 1/3 of the book is his religion taking over which is boring. None of the life story or seminary time relate to criminal investigations, which is probably why you are interested in this type of book. The John Douglas books cover fascinating, yet horrible crimes while giving insights into clues to the traits of the criminal - thus are far more interesting than this book by Depue.

I just can't say enough GOOD about this book!!!!! It was a great page turner and hard to put down once started. I thought it would be primarily about profiling, but the added twist of how that affected his life and faith is phenomenal....

He gives the insights of a profiler fine and good. But he is sickeningly boastful the whole book, not just in his description of profiler work, but before he even gets to that point. Its nothing but obvious delusion. Of course you have to try to make the book interesting, but you're NOT Charles Bronson, you're NOT Mike Tyson. I had to stop reading and skip forward in the book because I got tired of reading about how he won a fist fight in high school and then he said Claire Michigan was the closest thing the state had to the wild west, how he got beat up by two guys but should have paid attention because he could have taken them. That aspect of the book is nauseating. You would think he knocked out Muhammed Ali. I would skip this book if I had it to do over.