Rated: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ . ♥ {4.85}
Action: ♠♠♠♠ / Emotion: ♣♣♣♣.♣ / Romance: ♥♥♥♥.♥ / Sensuous: ♦♦♦ / Suspense: ♠♠♠♠
Action: 4.0 / Emotion: 4.7 / Romance: 4.5 / Sensuous: 3.0 / Suspense: 4.0 // Laughter: 1 // Tears: 6 / Teary: 1
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♥
2006 RT Reviewers' Choice Best Book Award -- Suspense Novel
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Setting: Seattle, Washington (and it's environs)
Era: Present Day [2006]
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There are several reasons that explain why The Kill, Allison Brennan's third book in The Predator Trilogy is an un-put-down-able, re-read-able book for me. {1} Allison Brennan is a favorite author. {2} Romantic Suspense is a favorite sub-genre. {3} I'm easy (in that I love most books I read). In spite of these personal biases, Brennan is a very talented storyteller who can quickly draw her readers into a romantic and suspenseful story and keep their interest all the way through the book. The Kill is just another example of that skill. With one little exception. This book became a bit too slow before reaching the end. The story went on a bit too long after the exciting 'this should have been the big finale' scene.
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Setting: Seattle, Washington (and it's environs)
Era: Present Day [2006]
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There are several reasons that explain why The Kill, Allison Brennan's third book in The Predator Trilogy is an un-put-down-able, re-read-able book for me. {1} Allison Brennan is a favorite author. {2} Romantic Suspense is a favorite sub-genre. {3} I'm easy (in that I love most books I read). In spite of these personal biases, Brennan is a very talented storyteller who can quickly draw her readers into a romantic and suspenseful story and keep their interest all the way through the book. The Kill is just another example of that skill. With one little exception. This book became a bit too slow before reaching the end. The story went on a bit too long after the exciting 'this should have been the big finale' scene.
One of the things that really enhances the flavor of a book is when an author expresses her views (after much research) about an event or a happenstance during the telling of that story. (Kind of like when parents read a story to their children and at the end of the story, they finish with "and the moral of this story is . . .") Brennan does that especially well during the telling of her stories. For instance, in The Kill Brennan reveals her take on: {1} what happens to an innocent man after he is incarcerated for years; {2} what happens to the family dynamic when a child is murdered; {3} what happens to a child who is unwanted, unloved, or overlooked by his or her parent(s); and {4} what makes a man become a serial killer.
Brennan makes the use of some very concise, descriptive sentences to draw readers into this book. In the Prologue, she paints a vivid picture of what little 5½ year old Livie was feeling when she failed to stop a man with a blue bird on his arm from taking her sister, Missy, from the park where she was playing. Livie ran home to tell her parents what had happened. Brennan ended the prologue with a powerful sentence that told readers so much about the childhood that Livie endured after that day.
Brennan used details in this chapter to give the impression that Olivia's home life had been shattered when her sister had been killed. Brennan emphasized her compassion for the victims, both in the telling of this story and in presenting readers with the message on the stone plaque outside the FBI Laboratory.
Brennan continues to draw readers deeper into the story by introducing Seattle Homicide Detective Zack Travis as he arrived at the crime scene of little nine year old Jenny Benedict. She began to give Zack multiple dimensions by describing his frustration at being assigned as the Field Training Officer to his new, wet behind the ears partner, Nelson Boyd. Another important, but minor secondary character is woven into the story when the head of the crime tech unit, Doug Cohn, arrives to process the scene. Zack and Doug had been part of the Seattle Police Department long enough to recognize the signs of a serial killer.
Olivia joins Zack in the conference room at the police department after meeting his Chief, Lance Pierson. As she worries about being discovered as a fraud, she begins to share all the information she had dug up on the killer who had been dubbed The Seattle Slayer. And so the investigation takes off and the story begins to soar. The action in this book, however, is more in the line of police procedural than exciting adventurous scenes such as car chases and the like.
Another way that Brennan increases the reader's interest and the suspenseful nature of the story and also presents a broader picture of what is happening is to give many different players in the story a point of view voice. Two of those characters are considered villains. One, The Seattle Slayer, truly is a villain and the second, Brian Harrison Hall, is a villain by circumstance.
Brennan surely understands the psyche of a down-trodden man who is also hampered by his lack of intelligence. She richly developed the personality of Brian Hall as he leaves the walls of Folsom Prison at the side of his attorney, Miles Bledsoe. Brian is consumed with thoughts of bitterness, injustices, and the fact that life is just not fair. He is angry because he became an old man behind bars for a crime he did not commit -- and it was all their fault. If Brian didn't remind me so much of a family member who shares all of his negative personality traits, it would have been easy to feel compassion for this man who didn't know how to function outside prison walls. Instead, he inspired contempt for not making the best of a bad situation by planning a life of luxury and leisure after he received the settlement due him from the government. Brian decided that the little girl who testified against him, the cop who framed him, and the old prosecutor who looked at him with contempt should pay for their role in his misfortune.
Brennan shares her struggle to understand what makes a serial killer as she begins to reveal snatches of The Slayer's childhood as he is given a point of view voice periodically throughout the story. It is impossible to feel any sympathy whatsoever towards a man who rapes and kills young girls between the ages of nine and twelve. As in the two previous books of this trilogy, Brennan continues to try to explain the unexplainable -- what makes a serial killer.
Brennan makes the use of some very concise, descriptive sentences to draw readers into this book. In the Prologue, she paints a vivid picture of what little 5½ year old Livie was feeling when she failed to stop a man with a blue bird on his arm from taking her sister, Missy, from the park where she was playing. Livie ran home to tell her parents what had happened. Brennan ended the prologue with a powerful sentence that told readers so much about the childhood that Livie endured after that day.
It was the last hug she would ever receive from her mother. (Livie, page 4)As the recently promoted director of Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis at the FBI's Virginia-based laboratory, Olivia St. Martin was working on evidence in the Camero case when her ex-husband, Greg van Buren, came to the lab to break the news that the man convicted of killing her sister thirty-five years ago, Brian Harrison Hall, had requested a DNA test and that he was going to be released because his DNA did not match the case evidence. Olivia was devastated. Had she been wrong -- had she allowed Missy's killer to roam free, to continue to practice his crimes against other girls and their families?
Brennan used details in this chapter to give the impression that Olivia's home life had been shattered when her sister had been killed. Brennan emphasized her compassion for the victims, both in the telling of this story and in presenting readers with the message on the stone plaque outside the FBI Laboratory.
Behind every case is a victim -- man, woman, or child -- and the people who care for them. We dedicate our efforts and the new FBI Laboratory building to those victims. (page 7)During the telling of this story, Brennan spends a lot of time detailing the destruction and devastation that families of murdered children experience. The second such expression is found when Olivia thinks:
Family, friends, and often whole communities mourned, sometimes so deeply they resembled an empty shell, gutted. All the survivors had left was their hope that the guilty would be punished for their crimes. (Olivia, page 7)For two weeks Olivia searched for information on Missy's killer. She found twenty-nine murders that had the same characteristics as Missy's over the last thirty-four years. Olivia documented many of the killer's patterns and was driven to stop this killer. With Greg's support, Olivia went to her boss, Rick Stockton, the director of the FBI Laboratory Services, to ask him to assign an agent to help the Seattle detective who was investigating the murders of Jennifer Benedict and Michelle Davidson, two young blonde girls who shared the same MO as Missy. When Rick gave Olivia a list of bureaucratic reasons why he could not do so, Olivia decided to take matters into her own hands. She went to Seattle and inserted herself into the investigation in the guise of an FBI Agent.
Brennan continues to draw readers deeper into the story by introducing Seattle Homicide Detective Zack Travis as he arrived at the crime scene of little nine year old Jenny Benedict. She began to give Zack multiple dimensions by describing his frustration at being assigned as the Field Training Officer to his new, wet behind the ears partner, Nelson Boyd. Another important, but minor secondary character is woven into the story when the head of the crime tech unit, Doug Cohn, arrives to process the scene. Zack and Doug had been part of the Seattle Police Department long enough to recognize the signs of a serial killer.
Olivia joins Zack in the conference room at the police department after meeting his Chief, Lance Pierson. As she worries about being discovered as a fraud, she begins to share all the information she had dug up on the killer who had been dubbed The Seattle Slayer. And so the investigation takes off and the story begins to soar. The action in this book, however, is more in the line of police procedural than exciting adventurous scenes such as car chases and the like.
Another way that Brennan increases the reader's interest and the suspenseful nature of the story and also presents a broader picture of what is happening is to give many different players in the story a point of view voice. Two of those characters are considered villains. One, The Seattle Slayer, truly is a villain and the second, Brian Harrison Hall, is a villain by circumstance.
Brennan surely understands the psyche of a down-trodden man who is also hampered by his lack of intelligence. She richly developed the personality of Brian Hall as he leaves the walls of Folsom Prison at the side of his attorney, Miles Bledsoe. Brian is consumed with thoughts of bitterness, injustices, and the fact that life is just not fair. He is angry because he became an old man behind bars for a crime he did not commit -- and it was all their fault. If Brian didn't remind me so much of a family member who shares all of his negative personality traits, it would have been easy to feel compassion for this man who didn't know how to function outside prison walls. Instead, he inspired contempt for not making the best of a bad situation by planning a life of luxury and leisure after he received the settlement due him from the government. Brian decided that the little girl who testified against him, the cop who framed him, and the old prosecutor who looked at him with contempt should pay for their role in his misfortune.
Brennan shares her struggle to understand what makes a serial killer as she begins to reveal snatches of The Slayer's childhood as he is given a point of view voice periodically throughout the story. It is impossible to feel any sympathy whatsoever towards a man who rapes and kills young girls between the ages of nine and twelve. As in the two previous books of this trilogy, Brennan continues to try to explain the unexplainable -- what makes a serial killer.
Not all kids raised by abusive fathers turned into killing machines. She imagined that it was something in his internal make-up, something that turned him into a killer when exposed to the rage of another. (Olivia, page 268)Brennan spent a lot of time detailing the psychological repercussions that happened to members of families of murdered children. Naturally, Olivia's trauma took center stage. Olivia was so shut down emotionally that she had difficulty letting anyone even touch her. During the investigative process, the steel walls that Olivia had built around her heart (because she became invisible to her parents at the death of her older sister) began to crumble.
Ever since Olivia learned Missy's killer was still at large, her emotions refused to stay contained. They fought the steel box she'd locked them in years ago. (Olivia, page 92)Brennan used Olivia's aloofness as a tool to further enhance her attractiveness to Zack as they spent more time together. Zack is described as a man who admits to knowing how, when, and where to touch a women (and isn't that a wonderful trait to give to a hero of a romance novel) and is astute enough to recognize the "don't touch" body language that Olivia projects.
Suddenly, unbidden, Zack wanted to crack her shell and watch her melt. (Zack, page 80)
There was a complexity of feelings buried beneath the controlled posture. He wanted to unwrap her and find out why she was so uptight, why she didn't share anything about herself, why she didn't like being touched. He wanted to hold her, thaw her. The cold personality was a façade . . . (Zack, page 126)
Brennan does an excellent job of balancing the emotional and romantic aspects of the story with the suspenseful investigation that drives the sequence of events taking place. Zack began questioning Olivia about her past as they were driving through her old hometown and Brennan took the opportunity to reveal more psychological details that survivors suffer in the aftermath of murder. She wrote a very emotional scene detailing the anger and blame that Olivia had suffered and stuffed since she was five and then detailed the horror and guilt a parent faces when losing one child instead of another. The more Zack learns about Olivia, the more he wants to know her. When Zack kisses Olivia in understanding, the passion between them ignites.
The family of one of The Slayer's victims was featured in this book. Zack and Olivia went to interview the family of Michelle Davidson. Brennan used this family to showcase the trauma that each member of a family suffers when a child is lost to murder. Olivia plays a key role in bringing Brenda Davidson, the mother, to her senses when she sees little Amanda Lynne Davidson become invisible to her mother who was totally focused on grieving for Michelle. Really enjoyed the addition of this family to the book and the picture Brennan was able to paint about survivors through their appearance.
Another thread interwoven into the fabric of the story was tied to Zack's past and his relationship to his sister, Amy Elizabeth Forster. Zack had issues with Vince Kirby, Amy's boyfriend, a reporter who worked for the Times and portrayed the Seattle P.D. as incompetent and overpaid. Because Brennan gave Vince a point of view voice, it was obvious that Vince was not writing the derogatory comments about the police department and he had apparently promised Amy to somehow try to get through to Zack about why she ended up dead. It wasn't until the end of the book that Brennan revealed Zack's 'black and white' nature and told readers Zack, Amy and Vince's story.
In conclusion, The Kill, the last book in Allison Brennan's The Predator Trilogy is a well-developed, well-written, intriguing, immensely suspenseful must read for Romantic Suspense lovers. The facets featured in this book include: {1} Zack Travis, a Seattle Homicide Detective who is a dedicated, sexy, driven, caring, protective hero; {2} Olivia "Liv" St. Martin, the director of Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis at the FBI's Virginia-based laboratory who hides her compassion, obsession, and determination behind a façade of ice; {3} an exciting sequence of events driven by police procedural methods in Zack and Olivia's efforts to find and stop a serial killer; {4} a deep emotional connection to the characters in this book and how they deal with the angst present in their lives; {5} a constant awareness of the romance building between Zack and Olivia; {6} a potent degree of spice and heat during the lovemaking scenes; {7} constantly increasing tension and suspense as each chapter ends; {8} villains who inspired hatred, fear and in one case, compassion; and {9} provoking secondary characters that added depth to the story. Brennan is truly gifted when it comes to telling a story about how the good guys win over evil and find their happily ever after by the end of the book.
--Vonda M. Reid (Wednesday, August 7, 2013 : 3:57 p.m. [323]
She brought out the passion in him, a deep longing that he hadn't felt for a long, long time. An intense need to connect with her on every level he could. To know her mind, her body, her soul. (Zack, page 215)Since this is a romance novel as well as a suspense novel, it came as no surprise that Zack and Olivia fell in love and went to bed together. Brennan added plenty of heat, spice, sizzle and emotion in the love scenes to appeal to romance readers.
The family of one of The Slayer's victims was featured in this book. Zack and Olivia went to interview the family of Michelle Davidson. Brennan used this family to showcase the trauma that each member of a family suffers when a child is lost to murder. Olivia plays a key role in bringing Brenda Davidson, the mother, to her senses when she sees little Amanda Lynne Davidson become invisible to her mother who was totally focused on grieving for Michelle. Really enjoyed the addition of this family to the book and the picture Brennan was able to paint about survivors through their appearance.
Another thread interwoven into the fabric of the story was tied to Zack's past and his relationship to his sister, Amy Elizabeth Forster. Zack had issues with Vince Kirby, Amy's boyfriend, a reporter who worked for the Times and portrayed the Seattle P.D. as incompetent and overpaid. Because Brennan gave Vince a point of view voice, it was obvious that Vince was not writing the derogatory comments about the police department and he had apparently promised Amy to somehow try to get through to Zack about why she ended up dead. It wasn't until the end of the book that Brennan revealed Zack's 'black and white' nature and told readers Zack, Amy and Vince's story.
In conclusion, The Kill, the last book in Allison Brennan's The Predator Trilogy is a well-developed, well-written, intriguing, immensely suspenseful must read for Romantic Suspense lovers. The facets featured in this book include: {1} Zack Travis, a Seattle Homicide Detective who is a dedicated, sexy, driven, caring, protective hero; {2} Olivia "Liv" St. Martin, the director of Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis at the FBI's Virginia-based laboratory who hides her compassion, obsession, and determination behind a façade of ice; {3} an exciting sequence of events driven by police procedural methods in Zack and Olivia's efforts to find and stop a serial killer; {4} a deep emotional connection to the characters in this book and how they deal with the angst present in their lives; {5} a constant awareness of the romance building between Zack and Olivia; {6} a potent degree of spice and heat during the lovemaking scenes; {7} constantly increasing tension and suspense as each chapter ends; {8} villains who inspired hatred, fear and in one case, compassion; and {9} provoking secondary characters that added depth to the story. Brennan is truly gifted when it comes to telling a story about how the good guys win over evil and find their happily ever after by the end of the book.
--Vonda M. Reid (Wednesday, August 7, 2013 : 3:57 p.m. [323]
| Notes: |
Would never have noticed this if not for creating a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. But the last chapter in the book is labeled "Chapter 28." It's predecessor is "Chapter 34." Whoops! |
|
Would never had noticed the use of the same last name for totally unrelated, very minor secondary characters if didn't make a character chart. How does an author choose the names for minor characters who are just fillers for the story? First, there are two sets of Burgesses: {1} Tanya and her mother, Ms. Burgess, are introduced when Zack and Olivia interview Tanya as a witness to her friend, Jenny Benedict's abduction. {2} Karl and Flo Burgess are introduced as an elderly couple who drive a Ford F-150 and eat once a week at the restaurant where The Slayer works. Second, there are two Palmers and both are so minor they never even show up in person. {1} Debbie Palmer was an afterthought. She had sex with an acquaintance of Brian Harrison Hall. {2} Ned Palmer was a Redwood City assistant district attorney that was familiar with the Melissa St. Martin case. |
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Chapter-By-Chapter Synopsis: Allison Brennan -- The Kill
Prologue
On the day before Halloween, when Livie was 5½ years old, she was playing in the park while her sister, Missy, was reading. Livie screamed at the man with a blue bird on his arm who took Missy to his truck and drove away. Livie ran home to tell her parents what had happened. Brennan ended the prologue with a powerful sentence that told readers so much about the childhood that Livie endured after that day.
Brennan seems to be using some very powerfully descriptive sentences already in this book. Just look at the way she opens the chapter.
Brennan used details in this chapter to emphasize the impression that Olivia's home life had been shattered when her sister had been killed. She revealed what the stone plaque outside the FBI Laboratory building read:
Brennan surely knows how to draw readers into the story. She paints a vivid picture of the squalor of the light industrial area, the fog and the darkness of night as Seattle Homicide Detective Zack Travis arrives at a crime scene. College student and the part time employee of Clark and Swanson Electronics, Reggie Richman, found the body of nine year old Jenny Benedict, who had gone missing three days ago. Zack goes inside the industrial building that houses the electronics company to interview Reggie and then goes back outside to find that the crime scene techs had arrived.
Brennan begins fleshing out the personalities of law enforcement personnel working with Zack. She makes them feel so real. For instance, Zack is bemoaning his fate to have been assigned as the Field Training Officer to his new, wet behind the ears partner, Nelson Boyd, "as revenge because [the chief's] ex-squeeze had hit on Zack at the Guns and Hoses football game." As Zack talks about the manner and time of death of Jenny with the head of the crime tech unit, Doug Cohn, another veteran, they are both in agreement that this murder has all the markings of a serial killer.
Chapter Three
It was easy to see how Brian Harrison Hall had been convicted of murder as he left Folsom Prison at the side of his lawyer, Miles Bledsoe. Brennan painted a very realistic picture of Brian, who belittled everyone he thought about. Brian was so busy blaming everything that happened to him on everyone around him, that he didn't notice that he came across as an illiterate-sounding, selfish jerk. Brian is so simplistic that instead of thinking of using the $1.2 million to which he is entitled for wrongful imprisonment as a way to live the easy life, he is instead planning on using the funds to find the little girl, the fascist cop, and the old prosecutor who jailed an innocent man.
When the killer read about Harry's release from prison, he remembered all the lessons he'd learned from Harry's conviction after he'd used Harry's truck to spontaneously take the girl sitting in the park to replace his Angel. Brennan began developing the personality of the killer, revealing his obsessive compulsive traits and the reason he had managed to remain undetected as a predator for so long -- he knew when to move on.
Chapter Four
For the past two weeks Olivia had been searching for information on Missy's killer. She found twenty-nine murders that had the same characteristics as Missy's over the last thirty-four years. Olivia recognized many of the killer's patterns and was driven to stop this killer. Olivia appealed to Greg for help. They went to their boss, Rick Stockton, the director of FBI Laboratory Services, to ask him to assign an agent to help the Seattle detective who was investigating the murders of Jennifer Benedict and Michelle Davidson.
When Rick explained why the agency could not get involved, Olivia understood but she was not willing to let this killer escape justice. Because Olivia noticed that the killer would kill four girls in one area and then move on, she knew that there was a limited time frame in which to find Missy's killer. Afterwards Olivia asked Greg for a huge favor that could harm both of their careers. Surprisingly, Greg agreed to call Seattle and pave the way, so Olivia could take vacation time and go to Seattle, pose as a field agent, and give the detective in charge the information she had uncovered.
Chapter Five
Zack takes two big hits in a row. First he is angry when he learns that reporter, Vince Kirby, is already writing headlines about a serial killer and calling the police incompetent and overpaid. Brennan throws in another little tidbit about Zack's history -- that he somehow feels like he should have been there to save his sister, Amy, and that Kirby reminds him of his failure to save Amy. Then Zack is called into Chief Pierson's office where he learns that he will have to work with an FBI agent.
Zack reveals to Olivia that the last two times he'd worked with the FBI they were less than forthcoming and endangered others in their efforts to seize all the glory. Olivia is nervous because she doesn't want Zack to dig too deeply into her reasons for inserting herself into the investigation and asks him to give her a chance. And so they head to the conference room and begin revealing the information they have on this murderer.
Chapter Six
Brennan has done a truly outstanding job of getting into the mind of a simplistic man whose mantra is, "that's not fair." Brian is a bit shell shocked by the changes that have occurred outside the walls of Folsom Prison in 35 years as he heads over to Menlo Park to visit his mother. Brian's thoughts are constantly belittling and berating everyone because his life was stolen from him for something he didn't do.
The picture Brennan painted of Brian as he tried to reign in his anger because his cousin, Toby, blocked the door to his mother's house and his mother didn't believe in his innocence is a bit sad, in spite of the natural dislike for such a bitter, negative man. Even though Brian didn't kill Missy and lost most of his life to a wrongful conviction, if you read between the lines, it's obvious that Brian was no choir boy either. In the end, though, Vi Hall held out her arms to her son and embraced him -- this little lost boy.
Chapter Seven
Zack watched Olivia win Doug over as they talked about transporting Michelle's DNA to the FBI lab in Virginia. Olivia told Zack about her belief that the killer stole vehicles that were used to transport the girls. As they continued to discuss the case, Zack got a call from Sheriff Jim Rodgers notifying him that Jillian Reynolds' decomposing body had been found on Vashon Island. Olivia worried about the time frame in which to catch the killer because he usually fled the area after killing four girls.
It looks like Brennan is going to feed readers the details about the relationship between Vince Kirby, Zack and what happened to Amy in a piecemeal fashion. Brennan gives Vince a point of view voice and he is not a villain or Zack's enemy, but a victim in his own way as well. He writes his articles and then his senior editor, Mr. Bristow, seriously edits them. Vince would love to leave the paper since the love of his life is no longer alive, but he'd made a promise. Vince heads out to Vashon Island at Bristow's order.
On Vashon Island, The Slayer is contemplating the problem that has arisen because he made an impulsive move three months ago when he saw his angel running along the beach and made an impulsive move, which is rare for him. The Slayer has already picked out his fourth angel and he cannot leave Seattle yet because that would bring suspicion down upon him, so he must bide his time. Meanwhile, The Slayer goes to his closet to stroke the trophies he took from his angels.
Chapter Eight
On the ferry ride to Vashon Island, Zack, who admits to knowing how, when, and where to touch women is astute enough to recognize the "don't touch" body language that Olivia is projecting when he went to put his bomber jack around her shoulders. And so the awareness begins arching between Zack and Olivia.
Chapter Nine
A rich description of Vashon Island followed Zack and Olivia's arrival at the crime scene. Brennan continued to paint the heart-rending picture of what a solitary, emotionally devoid person Olivia had become.
Chapter Ten
Brennan is so talented at describing the horror of an autopsy with just a few words:
Miranda had just returned from her honeymoon and called to check on Olivia when she heard that Hall had been released. Olivia's feelings of guilt increased even more because although she would like to confide in her best friend, Miranda was married to Quinn Peterson, an FBI Agent who was assigned to the Seattle office and she could not risk his position by revealing her actions. But since she was such a horrible liar and told Miranda everything was okay, Olivia was sure Miranda didn't believe her.
After the autopsy was over and Zack discussed cause of death and processing the DNA of the pubic hairs found, Zack went to look for Olivia. Zack was beginning to feel there was something Olivia wasn't telling him as she revealed her interest in this case was tied to a very old case she worked. Olivia's inability to suppress her feelings was becoming more severe as she lost her temper when Zack told her he would not let her compromise this case because of a vendetta.
Brennan does a wonderful job of addressing several issues as she sets a steady pace of performing everyday activities interspersed with profiling and discussions about The Slayer. When Zack and Olivia get back to the office, Zack assigns Boyd more duties tied to the case and then reflects on his poor mentoring skills because Boyd is always second-guessing himself -- the Ordinariness.
When Zack joins Olivia in the conference room, she is writing details about the victims on the white murder board. Olivia's feelings about making a mistake are evident as Zack and Olivia try to profile The Slayer, bouncing ideas off one another and Zack has to force Olivia to give him her gut feelings about The Slayer -- the Insecurities.
When Zack and Olivia go to the home of Will and Dina Adams to interview their daughter Laura, Jenny's best friend, and Tanya Burgess, another witness to Jenny's abduction, Will acknowledges his fascination with Olivia -- the Romance.
Chapter Twelve
Brennan is amazing as she weaves such deep emotion into a story about a monster. When Zack and Olivia arrived at the home of Brenda Davidson, Michelle's mother, Olivia is surprised that Zack allows his pain to show.
But Brennan never forgets the investigation. Doug calls Zack to interrupt their conversation to let him know that the Austin and Colorado lab directors remembered the marks left by The Slayer on the victims in their jurisdictions. The Slayer was signing his victims.
Brennan closes out the chapter by introducing the memories The Slayer was experiencing. She painted a picture of what life had been like for an eleven year old boy who was moving for the eighth time in his short life. His dead mother's boyfriend was taking him and his beautiful sister, Angel, to Los Angeles. He loved Angel and told her he wouldn't let Bruce hurt her, but seven year old Angel said, "It's too late."
Chapter Thirteen
Very short chapter. Zack, Olivia, Boyd, Cohn and Jan O'Neal are working in the conference room, recapping their next steps to take on the case. Although Olivia wanted to be there when Missy's killer was caught, she had no choice but to face exposure as she told Zack to contact the Seattle FBI office and have them research the twelve marks The Slayer was leaving on the girls.
Brennan continued to paint a picture of what life must have been like for five year old Olivia when Missy died. Little Amanda is determined to set out to find Heaven and bring Michelle back so her mother and father will quit crying and her mother will hug her again.
Chapter Fourteen
Brennan puts so many layers into the story. Brenda Davidson is given a point of view voice, detailing how she is left to carry on after being unable to save her daughter from death. As she bangs pops and pans making breakfast, she watches Peter flinch at her response to his news that Amanda is missing. Brenda gathers Peter into her arms and tells him that she loves him. She goes upstairs and finally sees the pain in Andy's eyes. Then they see the note left by little Amanda.
After Greg wakes Olivia at 6:34 a.m to let her know that the Seattle DNA is a match to Missy's, she feels guilty because she was such a horrible wife to him -- distant and silent. Olivia knows that Grey is risking a reprimand from Rick but he continues to help her on the case because he still loves her. Loved Olivia's thoughts when it came to her role in catching Missy's killer.
Chapter Fifteen
Brennan shows her skill at research as she continues to paint a painful but believable picture of what a family suffers when a child is lost to murder. You can't help but wonder if Brennan attended some group meetings of survivors and really listened to what those family members had to say -- and then shared it with readers in this moving chapter where Brenda not only hugs her remaining daughter, Amanda, but hugs the little girl inside Olivia when she confesses about her invisibility to her own mother when her sister died.
Chapter Sixteen
The investigation is getting exciting. Sean Miller couldn't describe The Slayer but he could describe the blue tattoo. Zack and Olivia threw out ideas about Brian Harrison Hall having the same tattoo as the killer and that they served together in Vietnam. Zack called Chief Pierson and asked him invite the FBI into the investigation in an official capacity to get military records on Hall. Zack suggested that Olivia contact the district attorney and see if he could get Hall to come in for an interview. Olivia learned from Gary Porter that Hamilton Craig had been killed but he would contact the D.A.'s office to see if he could set up the interview with Hall. Olivia is sure that she is going to be sent back to Virginia as soon as her fraud comes to light.
Chapter Seventeen
The Seattle Police Department investigation team has grown as Zack, Olivia, Boyd, O'Neal, Randy, Deb and Chief Pierson gather in the lab for Doug Cohn to explain what the marks on the arms of the victims mean. After Boyd details his search for the vehicles The Slayer uses and his intention to contact rental agencies and long-term parking lots, Doug explains that the marks on the arms of the girls is Morse Code for Angel.
The Slayer is currently using the alias of Steve Williams and he learned that two of his regular customers, Karl and Flo Burgess, who drove a Ford-150, were flying out of town to visit their daughter. The Slayer has already picked out his final angel and has now found a vehicle to use. The Slayer likes living in the Pacific Northwest and is sad that he must soon leave. As he looks at a sunset that Angel would have loved, he remembers when she begged him to run away with her because Bruce Carmichael's nightly visits were too painful to endure.
Chapter Eighteen
Brennan is a master at escalating the tension as the story progresses. Since we know that Brian Harrison Hall is gunning for Gary, when he arrives home from Harrison's funeral and his lights go out, it is no surprise that Brian Harrison Hall is the culprit and that he shoots Gary. But it was the last sentence Gary heard that was a surprise.
Chapter Nineteen
Although it is a very effective and much-used tool to keep from losing a reader's interest during the telling of a story, sometimes it is so frustrating to read about the hero or heroine's background in a piecemeal fashion. Brennan is halfway through the telling of Zack and Olivia's story, and she just revealed another tidbit of information about Zack's past and that of his sister, Amy -- but not enough to know what actually happened to her. Thus, Brennan has succeeded in grabbing the reader's undivided attention for two reasons: {1} to find out what happens to Zack and Olivia as they solve their case and {2} to find out what happened to Amy and how Kirby is tied to Zack. Olivia is amazingly perceptive when Zack reveals that his mother dumped him at his grandmother's house when he was nine and then three years later came home pregnant with Amy and left shortly after she was born.
Chapter Twenty
Brennan does an excellent job of balancing the emotional and romantic aspects of the story with the suspenseful investigation that drives the sequence of events taking place. Zack began questioning Olivia about her past as they were driving through her old hometown and Brennan took the opportunity to reveal more psychological details that survivors suffer in the aftermath of murder. She wrote a very emotional scene detailing the anger and blame that Olivia had suffered and stuffed since she was five and then detailed the horror and guilt a parent faces when losing one child instead of another. The more Zack learns about Olivia, the more he wants to know her. When Zack kisses Olivia in understanding, the passion between them ignites.
Chapter Twenty-One
After Zack's interview with Hall, he called Chief Pierson so they could begin gathering data on Chris Driscoll and to get a picture of him so they could put out an APB. As Zack was waiting on his Chief to set up an interview with Bruce Carmichael in San Quentin, he drove Olivia to the Melissa Anne St. Martin Memorial Park so she could purge some of the pain from her childhood.
At the park, Zack shared Amy's story. Amy grew up troubled because she had no mother and fought with Mae. Mae died when Amy was fourteen and Zack was a young rookie struggling to be her guardian. Amy rebelled when Zack was too strict and turned to drugs. Amy turned her life around when a friend died of a drug overdose. Zack didn't like Amy dating Kirby, who was already a cocky reporter on the crime scene, but they dated for two years. Amy was killed in a drive-by shooting the day after she helped play a major role in a big drug bust by the police department.
Brennan keeps the suspense level always present, even as she writes an emotional chapter like this one. She describes a picture of Brian Harrison Hall as he leaves San Mateo County Courthouse in Redwood City engaged in his usual negative and blameful thinking when he spots Olivia being embraced by Zack. While Brian now blames Driscoll for sending him to prison, he still cannot forget Olivia's role and decides he needs to drive to Seattle to kill her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Just as Brennan revealed the story of Amy's life and death in a piecemeal fashion, so too does she continue to increase the suspense factor and need to keep reading this book as she told Christopher Adam Driscoll's (The Seattle Slayer's) story in like manner. When Zack and Olivia went to San Quentin, they read Bruce Carmichael's file and learned about the death of Angel Lee Carmichael at the hands of her father. However, Bruce told authorities that Chris had killed Angel.
Brennan then took readers back to Seattle where Chris has gone to the long-term airport parking lot to get the Burgess's truck so he can get his next angel. As Chris waits for his angel to arrive, he remembers when he was fourteen and Angel planned to betray him -- to tell Mrs. Thompson, their neighbor, about her father's abuse because she could no longer stand the pain. So, now you can't help but wonder if perhaps Chris had killed his sister after all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The story is heading towards that intense finale as Brennan begins lining up all the pieces of the puzzle so they can come together into a cohesive picture. First, Chief Pierson calls Zack to let him know that Nina Markow has been taken by Driscoll. Second, Quinn is at the police station when Zack and Olivia arrive and has a one-on-one emotional discussion with Olivia about her fraud jeopardizing the case . . . but he doesn't reveal her secret. Third, Brennan continues to address the conflicts and issues that survivors encounter when Mr. and Mrs. Vail bring their ten year old daughter, Abby, Nina's best friend and neighbor, to the station to give a tear-inducing account of Abby's actions that led up to her being an eyewitness to Nina's abduction.
Next, Brennan inspires a bit of hope that Nina is going to come out of this event alive because she gives Nina a point of view voice as she wakes up in a camper shell in the back of a pickup, bound, blindfolded and in pain. Nina thinks of her mom, her struggles to be an Olympic gymnast, and tries to escape and run (as her mother taught her.)
Finally, Redwood City's Chief of Police, Bill Tuttle, approaches Assistant District Attorney Ross Perdue, who is considering the wrongness of Hamilton Craig's untimely murder, to tell him about Gary Porter's death. Both men believe Brian Harrison Hall to be responsible. Bill asks Ross for help in getting him a warrant to search Hall's apartment.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Love the way Brennan makes statements about attitudes, events and people in real life as she continues to enthrall readers with this suspenseful tale. As in the two previous books of this trilogy, Brennan continues to try to explain the unexplainable -- what makes a serial killer.
Brennan continues to keep the romance ever evident as well. When Olivia finds the shrine Driscoll made to Angel, she realizes that she has not been living her own life and decides to no longer let her past control her future. For the first time in her life, Olivia reaches out to somebody -- to Zack.
The tension escalates. Driscoll drove into the Cascade Mountains and set up camp. Quinn called Zack and told him that the Amber Alert revealed two sightings of the truck Driscoll was driving. Quinn was sending a helicopter and a search and rescue expert, Miranda, his wife, to collect them and head to the mountains. Meanwhile Nina has escaped her captor and is filled with terror as she runs through the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Miranda met Zack and Olivia at the helicopter and gave them instructions as they traveled up the mountains. Miranda could not help but notice the connection between Olivia and Zack and teased her. The tension continued to escalate as the team found the white truck wrecked near a dead deer with Driscoll and Nina nowhere to be found. The search continued and Nina was found in a crevice that was endangered by sliding rocks. Naturally, Olivia went down to free Nina's stuck foot. You could not help but worry with Zack when the ground gave way.
During the rescue efforts Zack could not help but notice the respectful, teasing and loving relationship between Quinn and Miranda and wanted that kind of relationship for himself. He could not help but pull Olivia into him arms for a kiss when they pulled her to the top of the crevice.
To the exciting rescue and the romance that was evident between the two couples, Brennan added more suspense and fear. Driscoll was furious that Nina escaped and believed her to be a devil to trap him instead of an angel to be released from her pain. Driscoll, however, had a backup plan, so the chase is not yet over.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The manhunt was at a standstill because fog had rolled in so the team went to the North Fork Lodge to get some rest before starting another long day. Zack was not sure he understood the subtle nuances when Quinn told him that he and Miranda cared for Olivia, that she'd taken the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she deserved some happiness. Zack knew he couldn't sleep so he went to Olivia's room. Brennan wrote a powerfully moving, passionate love scene between Zack and Olivia that was full of heat, sensuality and emotion.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Don't you just love the way that an author can create a situation to lead the heroine into danger. The first hint that something is about to happen is that Driscoll was timing the deputies patrolling the house he was watching. Everyday, ordinary little things happen that lands Olivia in the hands of Driscoll. Olivia wakes in Zack's bed, happy with sex the way Zack does it, but heads out to the kitchen to get her clothes from Kristy Krause who took them last night to clean. In the kitchen, Olivia offers to take coffee to the patrolling Deputy, Will Jeffries, so Kristy can take care of the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Crenshaw.
Meanwhile, Quinn finds Zack in Olivia's room and lets him know that the sheriff called and said Driscoll's trail leads to this lodge. Zack, Quinn, Miranda and Doug join the Krause sisters and the helicopter pilot, Josh Fields in the kitchen, only to go on full alert when they learn Olivia took coffee out to Deputy Jeffries.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A very exciting and tense chapter as Zack and Quinn gave chase when Driscoll forced Olivia to drive him down the mountain. Olivia calmed down enough to get Driscoll to talk to her before she escaped the car and Zack caught up with Driscoll.
Chapter Thirty
This part didn't exactly make sense. When Zack and Olivia went back to the lodge and left Quinn to take care of Driscoll, Olivia immediately told Zack about her fraud as an FBI Agent after the EMT treated her wounds and Zack proclaimed his love for her. Zack's reaction was explosive. He felt betrayed that Olivia hadn't trusted him. Naturally, there is no good time to tell the man that you love that you've been lying to him all along, but why did Olivia tell Zack before all the loose ends of the case were tied up and they went away together?
Zack was not only angry at Olivia but he was angry at Quinn for upholding the lie. Zack headed to the substation where the deputies took Driscoll so he and Quinn could interview him. Basically, the interview was almost anti-climatic since all the details that were revealed had already been discovered during the investigation. Except for one -- Driscoll explained why he had killed his sister, Angel. (As if we hadn't already figured it out!)
Chapter Thirty-One
Now for the consequences. First, Olivia is sitting in the Peterson's kitchen and Miranda tells her to give Zack time to deal with her fraud, but Olivia believes Zack will have nothing to do with her. Second, Rick called and told Olivia he knew about her actions and would deal with them later, right now she needed to be aware that Hall had killed Hamilton and Gary and the profiler, Vigo, thought Olivia was his next target. Third, Olivia called Zack to tell him that she had to do what she did, that she was not sorry for that but she was sorry for hurting him. Olivia ended by letting Zack know she, too, had fallen in love.
Loved the opening sentence of this chapter. "Freedom comes at a price." Although this sentence means so much to so many, what did it have to do with Paul Benedict waiting on the steps of the Seattle Justice Center with a nine-millimeter to end the life of the man who killed his daughter. And while you can't help but understand a father's grief, it seems Driscoll would have suffered more in prison than with a quick bullet to end his life.
Then we find out why Vince Kirby had been introduced into the story. In turmoil, Zack went to the cemetery to talk to Amy and he was not happy to find Kirby there. Surprisingly, this scene was so moving that it brought forth tears. Kirby took the time to explain to Zack why Amy had done what she felt she had to do and that she could not tell Zack because he was so protective, saw everything in black and white, and was so unwilling to give second chances that she was afraid he would stop her. As a parting shot Kirby told Zack he quit his job and that everything that appeared in the paper was not his. Naturally, we understand the parallel between Amy and Olivia and Zack's quick judgments.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Brennan explained why she opened the previous chapter with "Freedom comes at a price." Olivia watched the news and thought about Paul Benedict's actions:
Brian is waiting for Olivia to come home to Virginia. He's not sad that Driscoll was dead, although he did wonder how he would have fared in prison. Brian thinks of where he will go after killing Olivia and of all the mistakes he had made as he snuck into Olivia's house.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Zack went to Virginia with Olivia when learned she was under federal protection because Hall had killed Hamilton and Gary. There was a tiny moment of suspense before Hall's appearance at Olivia's home. When Olivia finally had her confrontation with Hall, it was easy to understand her sympathy for Hall because of his simplistic nature and his inability to function outside prison walls. Obviously the exciting finale is over and done with and Brennan is just tying up loose ends.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zack and Olivia's wedding interrupted.
On the day before Halloween, when Livie was 5½ years old, she was playing in the park while her sister, Missy, was reading. Livie screamed at the man with a blue bird on his arm who took Missy to his truck and drove away. Livie ran home to tell her parents what had happened. Brennan ended the prologue with a powerful sentence that told readers so much about the childhood that Livie endured after that day.
It was the last hug she would ever receive from her mother. (Livie, page 4)Chapter One
Brennan seems to be using some very powerfully descriptive sentences already in this book. Just look at the way she opens the chapter.
The day Olivia St. Martin's life turned upside down for the second time began like any other. (page 5)As the recently promoted director of Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis at the FBI's Virginia-based laboratory, Olivia was working on evidence in the Camero case when her ex-husband, Greg van Buren, came to the lab to break the news that the man convicted of killing her sister thirty-five years ago, Brian Harrison Hall, had requested a DNA test and that he was going to be released because his DNA did not match the case evidence. Olivia was devastated. Had she been wrong -- had she allowed Missy's killer to roam free, to continue to practice his crimes against other girls and their families?
Brennan used details in this chapter to emphasize the impression that Olivia's home life had been shattered when her sister had been killed. She revealed what the stone plaque outside the FBI Laboratory building read:
Behind every case is a victim -- man, woman, or child -- and the people who care for them. We dedicate our efforts and the new FBI Laboratory building to those victims. (page 7)And then she topped if off by sharing Olivia's thoughts.
Family, friends, and often whole communities mourned, sometimes so deeply they resembled an empty shell, gutted. All the survivors had left was their hope that the guilty would be punished for their crimes. (Olivia, page 7)Chapter Two
Brennan surely knows how to draw readers into the story. She paints a vivid picture of the squalor of the light industrial area, the fog and the darkness of night as Seattle Homicide Detective Zack Travis arrives at a crime scene. College student and the part time employee of Clark and Swanson Electronics, Reggie Richman, found the body of nine year old Jenny Benedict, who had gone missing three days ago. Zack goes inside the industrial building that houses the electronics company to interview Reggie and then goes back outside to find that the crime scene techs had arrived.
Brennan begins fleshing out the personalities of law enforcement personnel working with Zack. She makes them feel so real. For instance, Zack is bemoaning his fate to have been assigned as the Field Training Officer to his new, wet behind the ears partner, Nelson Boyd, "as revenge because [the chief's] ex-squeeze had hit on Zack at the Guns and Hoses football game." As Zack talks about the manner and time of death of Jenny with the head of the crime tech unit, Doug Cohn, another veteran, they are both in agreement that this murder has all the markings of a serial killer.
Chapter Three
It was easy to see how Brian Harrison Hall had been convicted of murder as he left Folsom Prison at the side of his lawyer, Miles Bledsoe. Brennan painted a very realistic picture of Brian, who belittled everyone he thought about. Brian was so busy blaming everything that happened to him on everyone around him, that he didn't notice that he came across as an illiterate-sounding, selfish jerk. Brian is so simplistic that instead of thinking of using the $1.2 million to which he is entitled for wrongful imprisonment as a way to live the easy life, he is instead planning on using the funds to find the little girl, the fascist cop, and the old prosecutor who jailed an innocent man.
When the killer read about Harry's release from prison, he remembered all the lessons he'd learned from Harry's conviction after he'd used Harry's truck to spontaneously take the girl sitting in the park to replace his Angel. Brennan began developing the personality of the killer, revealing his obsessive compulsive traits and the reason he had managed to remain undetected as a predator for so long -- he knew when to move on.
Chapter Four
For the past two weeks Olivia had been searching for information on Missy's killer. She found twenty-nine murders that had the same characteristics as Missy's over the last thirty-four years. Olivia recognized many of the killer's patterns and was driven to stop this killer. Olivia appealed to Greg for help. They went to their boss, Rick Stockton, the director of FBI Laboratory Services, to ask him to assign an agent to help the Seattle detective who was investigating the murders of Jennifer Benedict and Michelle Davidson.
When Rick explained why the agency could not get involved, Olivia understood but she was not willing to let this killer escape justice. Because Olivia noticed that the killer would kill four girls in one area and then move on, she knew that there was a limited time frame in which to find Missy's killer. Afterwards Olivia asked Greg for a huge favor that could harm both of their careers. Surprisingly, Greg agreed to call Seattle and pave the way, so Olivia could take vacation time and go to Seattle, pose as a field agent, and give the detective in charge the information she had uncovered.
Chapter Five
Zack takes two big hits in a row. First he is angry when he learns that reporter, Vince Kirby, is already writing headlines about a serial killer and calling the police incompetent and overpaid. Brennan throws in another little tidbit about Zack's history -- that he somehow feels like he should have been there to save his sister, Amy, and that Kirby reminds him of his failure to save Amy. Then Zack is called into Chief Pierson's office where he learns that he will have to work with an FBI agent.
Zack reveals to Olivia that the last two times he'd worked with the FBI they were less than forthcoming and endangered others in their efforts to seize all the glory. Olivia is nervous because she doesn't want Zack to dig too deeply into her reasons for inserting herself into the investigation and asks him to give her a chance. And so they head to the conference room and begin revealing the information they have on this murderer.
Chapter Six
Brennan has done a truly outstanding job of getting into the mind of a simplistic man whose mantra is, "that's not fair." Brian is a bit shell shocked by the changes that have occurred outside the walls of Folsom Prison in 35 years as he heads over to Menlo Park to visit his mother. Brian's thoughts are constantly belittling and berating everyone because his life was stolen from him for something he didn't do.
The picture Brennan painted of Brian as he tried to reign in his anger because his cousin, Toby, blocked the door to his mother's house and his mother didn't believe in his innocence is a bit sad, in spite of the natural dislike for such a bitter, negative man. Even though Brian didn't kill Missy and lost most of his life to a wrongful conviction, if you read between the lines, it's obvious that Brian was no choir boy either. In the end, though, Vi Hall held out her arms to her son and embraced him -- this little lost boy.
Chapter Seven
Zack watched Olivia win Doug over as they talked about transporting Michelle's DNA to the FBI lab in Virginia. Olivia told Zack about her belief that the killer stole vehicles that were used to transport the girls. As they continued to discuss the case, Zack got a call from Sheriff Jim Rodgers notifying him that Jillian Reynolds' decomposing body had been found on Vashon Island. Olivia worried about the time frame in which to catch the killer because he usually fled the area after killing four girls.
It looks like Brennan is going to feed readers the details about the relationship between Vince Kirby, Zack and what happened to Amy in a piecemeal fashion. Brennan gives Vince a point of view voice and he is not a villain or Zack's enemy, but a victim in his own way as well. He writes his articles and then his senior editor, Mr. Bristow, seriously edits them. Vince would love to leave the paper since the love of his life is no longer alive, but he'd made a promise. Vince heads out to Vashon Island at Bristow's order.
On Vashon Island, The Slayer is contemplating the problem that has arisen because he made an impulsive move three months ago when he saw his angel running along the beach and made an impulsive move, which is rare for him. The Slayer has already picked out his fourth angel and he cannot leave Seattle yet because that would bring suspicion down upon him, so he must bide his time. Meanwhile, The Slayer goes to his closet to stroke the trophies he took from his angels.
Chapter Eight
On the ferry ride to Vashon Island, Zack, who admits to knowing how, when, and where to touch women is astute enough to recognize the "don't touch" body language that Olivia is projecting when he went to put his bomber jack around her shoulders. And so the awareness begins arching between Zack and Olivia.
Suddenly, unbidden, Zack wanted to crack her shell and watch her melt. (Zack, page 80)Since thinking about Missy has brought Olivia's feelings closer to the surface than ever before, she is afraid that Zack and his assessing gaze can see right through her barriers and will learn her secrets. To try to throw him off track Olivia begins discussing the tendencies of serial killers and their efforts to prevent being caught. Zack, however, interrupts Olivia and asks why she, specifically, was sent to work this case. When Olivia explained about the loss of her sister, Zack shared that he lost his college-aged sister to death as well.
Chapter Nine
A rich description of Vashon Island followed Zack and Olivia's arrival at the crime scene. Brennan continued to paint the heart-rending picture of what a solitary, emotionally devoid person Olivia had become.
Ever since Olivia learned Missy's killer was still at large, her emotions refused to stay contained. They fought the steel box she'd locked them in years ago. (Olivia, page 92)Brennan addressed the issue of what the face of evil looks like as Olivia listened to Sheriff Rodgers and Zack discuss the processing of the crime scene. (It is something Brennan has done in each book of this trilogy.)
Don't they [children] know that evil looks like them? That sick perverts don't have "child predator" written across their face? That killers don't have "murderer" tattooed on their forehead? (Olivia, page 91)Brennan begins making the reader more aware of the subtle connection between Zack and Olivia when Vince Kirby arrives at the scene and baits Zack into losing his temper. All it took was the touch of Olivia's hand to Zack's arm to rein in his desire to punch Amy's boyfriend in the face. Could not help but appreciate the class Olivia exhibited when she gave Kirby a silent message of disinterest.
Olivia didn't say a word. She arched a single eyebrow at Kirby, her expression cool, detached, and disapproving. (Zack, page 96)Brennan does an outstanding job of presenting the problems Brian is encountering functioning in the world outside the walls in which he spent over thirty years of his life. She continues to paint Brian in all his negativity and highlights his determination to blame others for his condition. The suspense continues to escalate as Brian decides he must make the three people responsible for his lack of a life pay -- first the attorney, then the cop, then the little girl who lied.
Chapter Ten
Brennan is so talented at describing the horror of an autopsy with just a few words:
. . . watching the coroner take apart and put back together a dead human body. (Olivia, page 101)The horror of witnessing an autopsy of a little girl hit too close to home, so Olivia fled the building when Dr. Sparks pulled back the sheet from Jillian's little body. As Olivia walked and waited, she got a concerned call from Greg and they discussed the DNA she'd sent to him.
Miranda had just returned from her honeymoon and called to check on Olivia when she heard that Hall had been released. Olivia's feelings of guilt increased even more because although she would like to confide in her best friend, Miranda was married to Quinn Peterson, an FBI Agent who was assigned to the Seattle office and she could not risk his position by revealing her actions. But since she was such a horrible liar and told Miranda everything was okay, Olivia was sure Miranda didn't believe her.
After the autopsy was over and Zack discussed cause of death and processing the DNA of the pubic hairs found, Zack went to look for Olivia. Zack was beginning to feel there was something Olivia wasn't telling him as she revealed her interest in this case was tied to a very old case she worked. Olivia's inability to suppress her feelings was becoming more severe as she lost her temper when Zack told her he would not let her compromise this case because of a vendetta.
Oh, yeah. Something was definitely going on. And Zack would damn well find out what it was. (Zack, page 113)Chapter Eleven
Brennan does a wonderful job of addressing several issues as she sets a steady pace of performing everyday activities interspersed with profiling and discussions about The Slayer. When Zack and Olivia get back to the office, Zack assigns Boyd more duties tied to the case and then reflects on his poor mentoring skills because Boyd is always second-guessing himself -- the Ordinariness.
When Zack joins Olivia in the conference room, she is writing details about the victims on the white murder board. Olivia's feelings about making a mistake are evident as Zack and Olivia try to profile The Slayer, bouncing ideas off one another and Zack has to force Olivia to give him her gut feelings about The Slayer -- the Insecurities.
When Zack and Olivia go to the home of Will and Dina Adams to interview their daughter Laura, Jenny's best friend, and Tanya Burgess, another witness to Jenny's abduction, Will acknowledges his fascination with Olivia -- the Romance.
There was a complexity of feelings buried beneath the controlled posture. He wanted to unwrap her and find out why she was so uptight, why she didn't share anything about herself, why she didn't like being touched. He wanted to hold her, thaw her. The cold personality was a façade . . . (Zack, page 126)Olivia does an outstanding job of interviewing the girls because she can remember what it was like for her after Missy was taken. Olivia got past the barriers Laura and Tanya exhibited because they had talked to some older boys in the park that Tuesday and were afraid that their parents would find out. Again, Brennan reveals that she understands the feelings of relief and guilt that a parent undergoes at a time like this -- the Guilt.
Will Adams probably thought how easily it could have been her [Laura] -- and how relieved he was that it hadn't been. Then came guilt at that relief. (Olivia, page 129)Finally, Zack and Olivia go to the home of Sean Miller, a teen who had been at the park against his mother's wishes. Zack and Olivia play the good cop, bad cop routine and learn that Sean saw The Slayer and described the blue tattoo on his arm -- the Clue.
Chapter Twelve
Brennan is amazing as she weaves such deep emotion into a story about a monster. When Zack and Olivia arrived at the home of Brenda Davidson, Michelle's mother, Olivia is surprised that Zack allows his pain to show.
If she allowed the pain and anger to surface, she'd never be able to put it aside. (Olivia, page 141)While Olivia did a phenomenal job during the interview with Laura and Tanya, Zack is horrified at her actions towards Mrs. Davidson. While Mrs. Davidson prosed on about her beautiful, perfect Michelle, Olivia saw little Amanda's actions as her mother totally ignored her. Zack hauled Olivia from the house when she confronted Mrs. Donaldson regarding the whereabouts of Amanda and Peter.
It would be worth losing everything she had, everything she was, if she could stop Michelle's little sister from growing up like she had. (Olivia, page 146)What a bold, vivid picture Brennan painted of the lost little girl that Olivia had been when Missy died. This is a powerfully moving chapter. When Zack drives to a lake to step out of the car and get his temper under control, Olivia reveals to Zack that she was five when her sister Missy died. And from that moment on, her parents forgot her.
But Brennan never forgets the investigation. Doug calls Zack to interrupt their conversation to let him know that the Austin and Colorado lab directors remembered the marks left by The Slayer on the victims in their jurisdictions. The Slayer was signing his victims.
Brennan closes out the chapter by introducing the memories The Slayer was experiencing. She painted a picture of what life had been like for an eleven year old boy who was moving for the eighth time in his short life. His dead mother's boyfriend was taking him and his beautiful sister, Angel, to Los Angeles. He loved Angel and told her he wouldn't let Bruce hurt her, but seven year old Angel said, "It's too late."
Chapter Thirteen
Very short chapter. Zack, Olivia, Boyd, Cohn and Jan O'Neal are working in the conference room, recapping their next steps to take on the case. Although Olivia wanted to be there when Missy's killer was caught, she had no choice but to face exposure as she told Zack to contact the Seattle FBI office and have them research the twelve marks The Slayer was leaving on the girls.
Brennan continued to paint a picture of what life must have been like for five year old Olivia when Missy died. Little Amanda is determined to set out to find Heaven and bring Michelle back so her mother and father will quit crying and her mother will hug her again.
Chapter Fourteen
Brennan puts so many layers into the story. Brenda Davidson is given a point of view voice, detailing how she is left to carry on after being unable to save her daughter from death. As she bangs pops and pans making breakfast, she watches Peter flinch at her response to his news that Amanda is missing. Brenda gathers Peter into her arms and tells him that she loves him. She goes upstairs and finally sees the pain in Andy's eyes. Then they see the note left by little Amanda.
After Greg wakes Olivia at 6:34 a.m to let her know that the Seattle DNA is a match to Missy's, she feels guilty because she was such a horrible wife to him -- distant and silent. Olivia knows that Grey is risking a reprimand from Rick but he continues to help her on the case because he still loves her. Loved Olivia's thoughts when it came to her role in catching Missy's killer.
She had helped, even if she had broken the rules to do it. And whose damn rules were they anyway? (Olivia, page 168)Zack comes knocking on Olivia's door (wonder why) and the lust and awareness almost shoots from the pages when Olivia answers the door in a wet robe, straight from the shower. Brennan wrote a powerfully moving scene as Olivia and Zack answer the call of desire and share a scorching kiss.
Chapter Fifteen
Brennan shows her skill at research as she continues to paint a painful but believable picture of what a family suffers when a child is lost to murder. You can't help but wonder if Brennan attended some group meetings of survivors and really listened to what those family members had to say -- and then shared it with readers in this moving chapter where Brenda not only hugs her remaining daughter, Amanda, but hugs the little girl inside Olivia when she confesses about her invisibility to her own mother when her sister died.
Chapter Sixteen
The investigation is getting exciting. Sean Miller couldn't describe The Slayer but he could describe the blue tattoo. Zack and Olivia threw out ideas about Brian Harrison Hall having the same tattoo as the killer and that they served together in Vietnam. Zack called Chief Pierson and asked him invite the FBI into the investigation in an official capacity to get military records on Hall. Zack suggested that Olivia contact the district attorney and see if he could get Hall to come in for an interview. Olivia learned from Gary Porter that Hamilton Craig had been killed but he would contact the D.A.'s office to see if he could set up the interview with Hall. Olivia is sure that she is going to be sent back to Virginia as soon as her fraud comes to light.
Chapter Seventeen
The Seattle Police Department investigation team has grown as Zack, Olivia, Boyd, O'Neal, Randy, Deb and Chief Pierson gather in the lab for Doug Cohn to explain what the marks on the arms of the victims mean. After Boyd details his search for the vehicles The Slayer uses and his intention to contact rental agencies and long-term parking lots, Doug explains that the marks on the arms of the girls is Morse Code for Angel.
The Slayer is currently using the alias of Steve Williams and he learned that two of his regular customers, Karl and Flo Burgess, who drove a Ford-150, were flying out of town to visit their daughter. The Slayer has already picked out his final angel and has now found a vehicle to use. The Slayer likes living in the Pacific Northwest and is sad that he must soon leave. As he looks at a sunset that Angel would have loved, he remembers when she begged him to run away with her because Bruce Carmichael's nightly visits were too painful to endure.
Chapter Eighteen
Brennan is a master at escalating the tension as the story progresses. Since we know that Brian Harrison Hall is gunning for Gary, when he arrives home from Harrison's funeral and his lights go out, it is no surprise that Brian Harrison Hall is the culprit and that he shoots Gary. But it was the last sentence Gary heard that was a surprise.
"You made me a killer." (Brian Harrison Hall, page 200)The many pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit into place as Chief Pierson sticks his head into the conference room to tell Zack, Olivia and Doug that the FBI is assigning Quincy Peterson to their case. Olivia has still not told Zack that she is not an FBI Agent and wants to talk to Quinn before he finds out what she has done. When Zack gets a call from the San Mateo County Assistant D.A. asking Zack and Olivia to fly to California for an interview with Brian Harrison Hal, Olivia wants to stay behind, but Zack insists that she go because of her familiarity with the case.
Chapter Nineteen
Although it is a very effective and much-used tool to keep from losing a reader's interest during the telling of a story, sometimes it is so frustrating to read about the hero or heroine's background in a piecemeal fashion. Brennan is halfway through the telling of Zack and Olivia's story, and she just revealed another tidbit of information about Zack's past and that of his sister, Amy -- but not enough to know what actually happened to her. Thus, Brennan has succeeded in grabbing the reader's undivided attention for two reasons: {1} to find out what happens to Zack and Olivia as they solve their case and {2} to find out what happened to Amy and how Kirby is tied to Zack. Olivia is amazingly perceptive when Zack reveals that his mother dumped him at his grandmother's house when he was nine and then three years later came home pregnant with Amy and left shortly after she was born.
Olivia didn't know what was worse, to be abandoned by your mother physically like Zack, or emotionally like she'd been after Missy died. (Olivia, page 203)Brennan increases the tension as she continues to delve into the conflicted psyche of Brian Harrison Hall. Brian is uneasy about meeting with a Seattle cop, afraid that somehow his guilt is written all over his face. But now, Brian is wondering if he'd killed two people for no reason after Miles, his lawyer, convinced him that one of his friends or acquaintances had set him up all those years ago.
Chapter Twenty
Brennan does an excellent job of balancing the emotional and romantic aspects of the story with the suspenseful investigation that drives the sequence of events taking place. Zack began questioning Olivia about her past as they were driving through her old hometown and Brennan took the opportunity to reveal more psychological details that survivors suffer in the aftermath of murder. She wrote a very emotional scene detailing the anger and blame that Olivia had suffered and stuffed since she was five and then detailed the horror and guilt a parent faces when losing one child instead of another. The more Zack learns about Olivia, the more he wants to know her. When Zack kisses Olivia in understanding, the passion between them ignites.
She brought out the passion in him, a deep longing that he hadn't felt for a long, long time. An intense need to connect with her on every level he could. To know her mind, her body, her soul. (Zack, page 215)The investigation takes another leap forward as Olivia watches Zack interview Brian Harrison Hall. Olivia still feels fear when she sees Hall and Zack is astute enough to recognize that while Hall may not have killed Missy (and all the other girls), he was guilty of something. As the interview progressed, Hall revealed the name and a few background details of Chris Driscoll, the man Zack believes is The Slayer.
Chapter Twenty-One
After Zack's interview with Hall, he called Chief Pierson so they could begin gathering data on Chris Driscoll and to get a picture of him so they could put out an APB. As Zack was waiting on his Chief to set up an interview with Bruce Carmichael in San Quentin, he drove Olivia to the Melissa Anne St. Martin Memorial Park so she could purge some of the pain from her childhood.
At the park, Zack shared Amy's story. Amy grew up troubled because she had no mother and fought with Mae. Mae died when Amy was fourteen and Zack was a young rookie struggling to be her guardian. Amy rebelled when Zack was too strict and turned to drugs. Amy turned her life around when a friend died of a drug overdose. Zack didn't like Amy dating Kirby, who was already a cocky reporter on the crime scene, but they dated for two years. Amy was killed in a drive-by shooting the day after she helped play a major role in a big drug bust by the police department.
Brennan keeps the suspense level always present, even as she writes an emotional chapter like this one. She describes a picture of Brian Harrison Hall as he leaves San Mateo County Courthouse in Redwood City engaged in his usual negative and blameful thinking when he spots Olivia being embraced by Zack. While Brian now blames Driscoll for sending him to prison, he still cannot forget Olivia's role and decides he needs to drive to Seattle to kill her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Just as Brennan revealed the story of Amy's life and death in a piecemeal fashion, so too does she continue to increase the suspense factor and need to keep reading this book as she told Christopher Adam Driscoll's (The Seattle Slayer's) story in like manner. When Zack and Olivia went to San Quentin, they read Bruce Carmichael's file and learned about the death of Angel Lee Carmichael at the hands of her father. However, Bruce told authorities that Chris had killed Angel.
Brennan then took readers back to Seattle where Chris has gone to the long-term airport parking lot to get the Burgess's truck so he can get his next angel. As Chris waits for his angel to arrive, he remembers when he was fourteen and Angel planned to betray him -- to tell Mrs. Thompson, their neighbor, about her father's abuse because she could no longer stand the pain. So, now you can't help but wonder if perhaps Chris had killed his sister after all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The story is heading towards that intense finale as Brennan begins lining up all the pieces of the puzzle so they can come together into a cohesive picture. First, Chief Pierson calls Zack to let him know that Nina Markow has been taken by Driscoll. Second, Quinn is at the police station when Zack and Olivia arrive and has a one-on-one emotional discussion with Olivia about her fraud jeopardizing the case . . . but he doesn't reveal her secret. Third, Brennan continues to address the conflicts and issues that survivors encounter when Mr. and Mrs. Vail bring their ten year old daughter, Abby, Nina's best friend and neighbor, to the station to give a tear-inducing account of Abby's actions that led up to her being an eyewitness to Nina's abduction.
Next, Brennan inspires a bit of hope that Nina is going to come out of this event alive because she gives Nina a point of view voice as she wakes up in a camper shell in the back of a pickup, bound, blindfolded and in pain. Nina thinks of her mom, her struggles to be an Olympic gymnast, and tries to escape and run (as her mother taught her.)
Finally, Redwood City's Chief of Police, Bill Tuttle, approaches Assistant District Attorney Ross Perdue, who is considering the wrongness of Hamilton Craig's untimely murder, to tell him about Gary Porter's death. Both men believe Brian Harrison Hall to be responsible. Bill asks Ross for help in getting him a warrant to search Hall's apartment.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Love the way Brennan makes statements about attitudes, events and people in real life as she continues to enthrall readers with this suspenseful tale. As in the two previous books of this trilogy, Brennan continues to try to explain the unexplainable -- what makes a serial killer.
Not all kids raised by abusive fathers turned into killing machines. She imagined that it was something in his internal make-up, something that turned him into a killer when exposed to the rage of another. (Olivia, page 268)Brennan then smoothly interjects emotional scenes into the story as the tension mounts. After the composite sketch of Driscoll is completed and assignments are handed out to the team, Olivia sits with Nina's mother, Lydia Markow, who brings readers to tears as she talks about her daughter. Then when Zack and Olivia take the ferry from Flauteroy to Vashon Island to begin canvassing the area, Zack questions the security crew and finds just one competent worker, Stan Macker.
What good was security if they didn't see anything? (Zack, page 272)Stan, who was nearing retirement, had worked ferries for forty-two years and remembered vehicles. Stan told Zack what car Driscoll drove, what time he left the Island that day and revealed Driscoll's idiosyncracies which made him memorable. Once on the island, Olivia meets Denise Tam, the manager of the Crab Shack and learns that Driscoll has been working as a server there for two years. As a result, Zack and four deputies entered Driscoll's sterile home to find no sign of Driscoll.
Brennan continues to keep the romance ever evident as well. When Olivia finds the shrine Driscoll made to Angel, she realizes that she has not been living her own life and decides to no longer let her past control her future. For the first time in her life, Olivia reaches out to somebody -- to Zack.
She had never accepted anyone's love because she'd been trapped in the past, her heart dead.Chapter Twenty-Five
No longer would she be a prisoner to her regret and guilt. (Olivia, page 278)
The tension escalates. Driscoll drove into the Cascade Mountains and set up camp. Quinn called Zack and told him that the Amber Alert revealed two sightings of the truck Driscoll was driving. Quinn was sending a helicopter and a search and rescue expert, Miranda, his wife, to collect them and head to the mountains. Meanwhile Nina has escaped her captor and is filled with terror as she runs through the woods.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Miranda met Zack and Olivia at the helicopter and gave them instructions as they traveled up the mountains. Miranda could not help but notice the connection between Olivia and Zack and teased her. The tension continued to escalate as the team found the white truck wrecked near a dead deer with Driscoll and Nina nowhere to be found. The search continued and Nina was found in a crevice that was endangered by sliding rocks. Naturally, Olivia went down to free Nina's stuck foot. You could not help but worry with Zack when the ground gave way.
During the rescue efforts Zack could not help but notice the respectful, teasing and loving relationship between Quinn and Miranda and wanted that kind of relationship for himself. He could not help but pull Olivia into him arms for a kiss when they pulled her to the top of the crevice.
To the exciting rescue and the romance that was evident between the two couples, Brennan added more suspense and fear. Driscoll was furious that Nina escaped and believed her to be a devil to trap him instead of an angel to be released from her pain. Driscoll, however, had a backup plan, so the chase is not yet over.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The manhunt was at a standstill because fog had rolled in so the team went to the North Fork Lodge to get some rest before starting another long day. Zack was not sure he understood the subtle nuances when Quinn told him that he and Miranda cared for Olivia, that she'd taken the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she deserved some happiness. Zack knew he couldn't sleep so he went to Olivia's room. Brennan wrote a powerfully moving, passionate love scene between Zack and Olivia that was full of heat, sensuality and emotion.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Don't you just love the way that an author can create a situation to lead the heroine into danger. The first hint that something is about to happen is that Driscoll was timing the deputies patrolling the house he was watching. Everyday, ordinary little things happen that lands Olivia in the hands of Driscoll. Olivia wakes in Zack's bed, happy with sex the way Zack does it, but heads out to the kitchen to get her clothes from Kristy Krause who took them last night to clean. In the kitchen, Olivia offers to take coffee to the patrolling Deputy, Will Jeffries, so Kristy can take care of the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Crenshaw.
Meanwhile, Quinn finds Zack in Olivia's room and lets him know that the sheriff called and said Driscoll's trail leads to this lodge. Zack, Quinn, Miranda and Doug join the Krause sisters and the helicopter pilot, Josh Fields in the kitchen, only to go on full alert when they learn Olivia took coffee out to Deputy Jeffries.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A very exciting and tense chapter as Zack and Quinn gave chase when Driscoll forced Olivia to drive him down the mountain. Olivia calmed down enough to get Driscoll to talk to her before she escaped the car and Zack caught up with Driscoll.
Chapter Thirty
This part didn't exactly make sense. When Zack and Olivia went back to the lodge and left Quinn to take care of Driscoll, Olivia immediately told Zack about her fraud as an FBI Agent after the EMT treated her wounds and Zack proclaimed his love for her. Zack's reaction was explosive. He felt betrayed that Olivia hadn't trusted him. Naturally, there is no good time to tell the man that you love that you've been lying to him all along, but why did Olivia tell Zack before all the loose ends of the case were tied up and they went away together?
Zack was not only angry at Olivia but he was angry at Quinn for upholding the lie. Zack headed to the substation where the deputies took Driscoll so he and Quinn could interview him. Basically, the interview was almost anti-climatic since all the details that were revealed had already been discovered during the investigation. Except for one -- Driscoll explained why he had killed his sister, Angel. (As if we hadn't already figured it out!)
Chapter Thirty-One
Now for the consequences. First, Olivia is sitting in the Peterson's kitchen and Miranda tells her to give Zack time to deal with her fraud, but Olivia believes Zack will have nothing to do with her. Second, Rick called and told Olivia he knew about her actions and would deal with them later, right now she needed to be aware that Hall had killed Hamilton and Gary and the profiler, Vigo, thought Olivia was his next target. Third, Olivia called Zack to tell him that she had to do what she did, that she was not sorry for that but she was sorry for hurting him. Olivia ended by letting Zack know she, too, had fallen in love.
Clearly the ball was in his court. He just didn't know if he wanted to play anymore. (Zack, page 364)Chapter Thirty-Two
Loved the opening sentence of this chapter. "Freedom comes at a price." Although this sentence means so much to so many, what did it have to do with Paul Benedict waiting on the steps of the Seattle Justice Center with a nine-millimeter to end the life of the man who killed his daughter. And while you can't help but understand a father's grief, it seems Driscoll would have suffered more in prison than with a quick bullet to end his life.
Then we find out why Vince Kirby had been introduced into the story. In turmoil, Zack went to the cemetery to talk to Amy and he was not happy to find Kirby there. Surprisingly, this scene was so moving that it brought forth tears. Kirby took the time to explain to Zack why Amy had done what she felt she had to do and that she could not tell Zack because he was so protective, saw everything in black and white, and was so unwilling to give second chances that she was afraid he would stop her. As a parting shot Kirby told Zack he quit his job and that everything that appeared in the paper was not his. Naturally, we understand the parallel between Amy and Olivia and Zack's quick judgments.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Brennan explained why she opened the previous chapter with "Freedom comes at a price." Olivia watched the news and thought about Paul Benedict's actions:
perhaps his freedom meant nothing with his only child dead. (page 373)Brennan does know how to write emotional, sensual, sizzling love scenes. Zack came to the Peterson home to reach an understanding with Olivia. They make love and Zack decided he would travel with Olivia to Virginia when she went to face the consequences of her actions and to speak to the board on Greg's behalf.
Brian is waiting for Olivia to come home to Virginia. He's not sad that Driscoll was dead, although he did wonder how he would have fared in prison. Brian thinks of where he will go after killing Olivia and of all the mistakes he had made as he snuck into Olivia's house.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Zack went to Virginia with Olivia when learned she was under federal protection because Hall had killed Hamilton and Gary. There was a tiny moment of suspense before Hall's appearance at Olivia's home. When Olivia finally had her confrontation with Hall, it was easy to understand her sympathy for Hall because of his simplistic nature and his inability to function outside prison walls. Obviously the exciting finale is over and done with and Brennan is just tying up loose ends.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zack and Olivia's wedding interrupted.
❀ . Top . ❀ . Review . ❀ . Synopsis . ❀ . Series . ❀ . Characters . ❀ . Quotes . ❀ . Comments . ❀ . Links . ❀ . End . ❀
Books In The Series: "The Predator Trilogy"
| # | Date | Title | Hero | Heroine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | 01-2006 | The Prey | John Flynn: ex-Delta Force, ex-DEA, bodyguard for family security business | Rowan Smith: ex-FBI, best-selling crime novelist |
| 02. | 02-2006 | The Hunt | Quincy "Quinn" Peterson: FBI Special Agent | Miranda "Randy" Moore: director of Bozeman Sheriff Department's Search and Rescue division |
| 03. | 03-2006 | The Kill | Zack Travis: Seattle Homicide Detective | Olivia "Liv" St. Martin: director of Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis |
❀ . Top . ❀ . Review . ❀ . Synopsis . ❀ . Series . ❀ . Characters . ❀ . Quotes . ❀ . Comments . ❀ . Links . ❀ . End . ❀
Characters Found In "The Kill"
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| Zack Travis | [Hero] Seattle Detective (12) worked Vice for 3 years (13) hated being a Field Training Officer; 39-y-o; vigorous morning workouts (14) a big guy; Homicide (16) hated politics (47) a hot head; passion to help those who couldn't defend themselves (50) looked like football player; a man who enjoyed working out (51) divorced (59) preferred his Harley (78) knew women, when, where and how to touch them (79) imposing frame; good foot taller than Olivia; big like a lumberjack, all chest and hard muscle; assessing gaze (82) scent of raw soap and leather; dark, intelligent, probing eyes (85) tough edge about him; entire body on the verge of movement even when standing still; square jaw covered with stubble; hard lines of his face made him look formidable; dark eyes held warmth and concern (92) dockers and black t-shirt was his uniform (118) sexy in dark, arrogant cop kind of way; filled the room with the power of his personality; raw appeal; compassion for victims (124) surprisingly soft, sensitive touch; gruff demeanor (125) strong, all-encompassing presence; deep, probing, bottomless eyes (125) mother left him with Mae when he was 9-y-o (203) said good-bye to bad influences; went to community college (204) |
| Olivia "Liv" St. Martin | [Heroine]"Livie" (1) 5 ½-y-o (2) // promoted to director of Trace Evidence and Materials Analysis at FBI's Virginia-based laboratory last year (6) rarely allowed her emotions to surface, in public or private (7) calm; composed; professional (8) testified against Hall 35-y-a (9) married to Greg 3 years, friend with him for 10; makes decisions based on hard science (30) not a field agent; a scientist (37) gave up field word 9-y-a to work in lab (39) didn't like touching people; sore point in her marriage; loved Greg; loved science; had faith in facts; workaholic; relished problem solving (40) hated giving up her personal space; didn't like sharing house with someone; never gave herself completely over during sex; not willing to bring children into such evil world (40) slender; golden hair; beauty; classic, elegant profile; perfectly carved features; luscious red lips; expensive pale gray suit; blue silk blouse (48) classy; smart (49) voice as smooth as 20-y-o Scotch; cool; collected (50) hazel eyes; not quite 5'3" (51) petite; trim; hourglass figure under an expensive suit (53) didn't know to listen to gut instincts; needed facts, numbers, statistics, probabilities (57) golden chin-length hair; elegant face; all feminine softness under a spine of steel; a sharp mind; a hot body (79) fiery woman under icy exterior (80) didn't like being touched; kept herself contained and controlled (80) not a good liar (84) painstakingly built layers of control over the years; as field agent assigned to Evidence Response Team in San Francisco field office (92) Ph.D.; didn't work well in a team unit (93) mother committed suicide (100) pent-up energy in petite body; constantly tucked hair behind ears; pulled on her lobes; fidgeted with single ring on right hand (110) soft, delicate skin; shinny hair; slender, curvy frame; fine wrinkles around her eyes; slight weariness in her expression (112) 39-y-o; sterile home (165) graduated from Stanford; majored in criminal justice, psychology and biology (211) small, perfect printing (251) loved Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (286) |
| . . . | . . . |
| The Seattle Slayer | [Villain] acquaintance of Brian Harrison Hall; Vietnam Vet; student of discipline, cleanliness, and order (26) obsessive nature; job at beachside restaurant (27) lessons learned: "Be careful. Don't leave any evidence of yourself anywhere. Keep moving. Be patient. Don't rush. Let the sweet anticipation build, but control it. Don't let the need control you. Be smarter than the cops. Know when to move on."; had been taught discipline well (27) MO: {1} blonde girls between 9-12; {2} sexually assaulted; {3} underpants taken; {4} dumped facedown in relatively public location (28) {5} missing lock of hair (29) {6} can wait years between attacks; {7} kills 2, 3, or 4 girls in short period of time before leaving the area; excellent self control and discipline; methodical; patient (31) waiter (76) profile: single; disciplined; doesn't indulge in luxuries; clean; meticulous in his appearance; honest face (118) good with people, particularly women; sounds educated; manipulative, but not obviously so (119) patient (190) |
| . . . | . . . |
| Dina Adams | [One Appearance] house where Zack, Olivia went to interview Laura and Tanya; Laura's mother (127) |
| Laura Adams | [One Appearance] Zack and Olivia interviewed; Jenny Benedict's best friend; witnessed her abduction; pretty girl; about 10-y-o; short brunette bob; large blue eyes (127) |
| Will Adams | [One Appearance] house where Zack, Olivia went to interview Laura and Tanya; Laura's father (127) |
| Barry | [No Appearance] Brian's boyhood friend (63) had the brains; gone off to college (64) |
| Jennifer "Jenny" Benedict | [Victim] 9-y-o victim of murder (13) missing for 3 days; abducted late Tuesday afternoon while playing with friends in the neighborhood park (20) a good inch of her hair had been cut, right up against the scalp; a dozen small puncture marks on forearm (21) Jennifer (35) only child of divorced parents; abducted in afternoon; dumped in marginally public area (54) lived in Sahalee (122) |
| Paul Benedict | [Rare Appearances] Jenny's father; divorced; working in steel mill in Pennsylvania (22) |
| Rachel [Benedict] | [No Appearance] Paul's wife; Jenny's mother (365) |
| Paul Bernardo | [Actual Person / No Appearance] an attractive serial killer (45) |
| Miles Bledsoe | [Rare Appearances] Brian Harrison Hall's lawyer (23) latest in long line of public defenders (24) |
| Kyle Bolks | [No Appearance] Sean's friend; with him at Brown Park (137) |
| Bozeman Butcher | [Book 2 / The Hunt] twelve-year long investigation (186) |
| Nelson Boyd | [Secondary Character] Seattle Detective; Zack's partner; a rookie; a green as they came; sparkly blue eyes; 5 years in uniform in quiet suburbia (13) bouncing; fidgeting (14) skill with all things electronic; whiz on the computer (44) second-guessed himself; over-eager puppy demeanor (115) |
| Mr. Bristow | [One Appearance] Vince Kirby's senior editor; always in the building; smoked in non-smoking building (73) |
| Ted Bundy | [Actual Person / No Appearance] a charming serial killer (45) |
| Flo Burgess | [One Appearance] Karl's wife; regular patron at restaurant where The Slayer worked; going on vacation; owned Ford-150 (191) |
| Karl Burgess | [One Appearance] Flo's husband; regular patron at restaurant where The Slayer worked; going on vacation; owned Ford-150 (191) |
| Ms. Burgess | [One Appearance] Tanya's mother; at interview (128) |
| Tanya Burgess | [One Appearance] Zack and Olivia interviewed; witnessed Jenny Benedict's abduction (128) |
| Angel Lee Carmichael | [No Appearance] The Slayer's sister; beautiful; blonde hair darkened to shimmering gold; 7-y-o; already hurt by Bruce; dead at ten (155) daughter to Bruce and Mariam; raped, killed and assaulted by Bruce when 9-y-o (241) |
| Bruce Carmichael | [No Appearance] boyfriend to The Slayer's mother (155) in San Quentin (225) died of prostrate cancer 3-y-a (240) big; mean (282) |
| Clark | [No Appearance] Bureau Chief (383) |
| Doug Cohn | [Major Secondary Character] head of the crime tech unit (19) 50; almost completely bald; youthful face; calm disposition (2) sensitive and capable hands (22) no pushover (69) |
| Mr. Cohn | [No Appearance] Doug's father; 85-y-o; served in WWII; knows everything about the military (188) |
| Hamilton Craig | [No Appearance] man who prosecuted Hall // district attorney; growing old; announced retirement at end of current term (8) San Mateo County District Attorney's Office (180) 69-y-o (361) |
| Mr. Crenshaw | [One Appearance] tall; elderly man; guest at North Fork Lodge (326) |
| Mrs. Crenshaw | [One Appearance] guest at North Fork Lodge (326) |
| Tim Daly | [One Appearance] FBI Agent; took over Olivia's protection detail (388) |
| Amanda Lynne Davidson | [Secondary Character] Michelle's little sister; petite blonde child (143) large round eyes like Michelle's |
| Andy Davidson | [No Appearance] Michelle's father (161) |
| Brenda Davidson | [Secondary Character] tall; slender; Michelle's mother; walked as if each step sent a bolt of pain up her spine (141) dark circles framed large blue eyes; eyes bright with thinly concealed pain (142) |
| Michelle Davidson | [Victim] second victim in Seattle (35) 11-y-o (43) riding her bike ahead of her friends; her bike found in next-door neighbor's yard; found dead 3 days later (44) two siblings; parents married; abducted in afternoon; dumped in marginally public area (54) looked like Missy; long curly blonde hair; big green eyes (142) dancer; lead in spring recital (143) |
| Peter Davidson | [Rare Appearances] Michelle's brother (145) |
| Deb | [One Appearance] member of Doug Cohn's staff (184) |
| Christopher "Chris"Adam Driscoll | [Major Secondary Character] Hall got him a job at the warehouse; served in same unit as Hall for 6 months; a machine; a neat freak; wound real tight; 3 years in Vietnam (223) cool most of the time, until something set him off; in foster system (224) son to Mariam Driscoll (241) smart; wily; methodical; disciplined (250) very pale eyes that didn't look real; didn't show any feelings (258) looked normal, almost kind, except for bland, blank, emotionless eyes; lean face; mildly chiseled features; slight cleft chin (268) stays in his truck on ferry, no music (273) doesn't read, stares straight ahead (274) drives dark green Ford Ranger (275) well modulated, intelligent voice (338) looked like an average, physically middle-aged guy; clear icy blue eyes (353) |
| Mariam Driscoll | [No Appearance] Bruce Carmichael's common law wife; mother to Christopher and Angel; cocktail waitress in New Jersey; killed by Bruce in 1960 (241) |
| Clive Dunn | [No Appearance] judge that presided over Brian Harrison Hall's case; died years ago (265) |
| Josh Fields | [One Appearance] helicopter pilot (326) |
| Amy Elizabeth Forster | [No Appearance] Zack's sister (43) secretive smile; dark eyes lit with humor and a touch of mischief (73) got involved with wrong people; 22-y-o; college student (86) 12 years young then Zack; mother left her with Mae 4 weeks after her birth (203) killed in a drug busy; recovering drug addict; Mae died when she was 14-y-o; Zack her guardian, overly strict (234) took classes at community college (237) dead for six years (368) became a certified counselor to help kids get off drugs (369) took mother's maiden name (371) |
| George Franz | [No Appearance] bomb tech (276) |
| Kip Granger | [No Appearance] Zack's first partner; old, wise, black cop (148) |
| Green River Killer | [Actual Historical Character / No Appearance] Zack worked the case in Seattle; Olivia consulted on the case long distance (81) |
| Brian Harrison Hall | [Major Secondary Character] convicted of killing Missy; California Supreme Court tossed out death penalty shortly after his conviction; up for parole every 3-5 years; attorney petitioned for DNA test; no match (8) blue eagle tattoo on his arm; blond hair; drove black truck (9) hated his middle name; always used in press (23) good at blocking things out (24) "Harry" (25) lied to police; blow hard; lazy; jerk; Vietnam Vet (26) not all that bright (30) 54-y-o (65) looked old and tired; blue eyes too pale; buzz cut to hide receding hairline; mouth turned in a perpetual scowl (97) 04-10-1972 discharged (178) born in Palo Alto (220) too stupid to have committed these crimes (250) |
| Vi Hall | [One Appearance] Brian's mother (65) didn't believe Brian was innocent; 81-y-o (66) dyed blond hair now snow white; skinny and wrinkled; blue eyes, sharp and clear, full of disapproval (67) |
| Faith Hayes | [No Appearance] judge; has night docket; will issue Bill Tuttle limited warrant to search Brian Harrison Hall's apartment (265) |
| Pete Hoge | [One Appearance] FBI Agent; took over Olivia's protection detail (392) |
| Deputy Will Jeffries | [One Appearance] one of deputies assigned to watch over North Fork Lodge (326) |
| Ned Jergens | [No Appearance] head of ferry security; stationed on Flauteroy; former comp (274) |
| Joe | [No Appearance] Zack asked him to make travel arrangements (199) |
| Henry Jorge | [One Appearance] Nina's neighbor; witness to Nina's kidnapping; at police station with FBI sketch artist (247) 83-y-o (248) |
| Vince Kirby | [Important Secondary Character] reporter who portrayed the Seattle P.D. as incompetent and overpaid (42) short-cropped hair (72) loved Amy; covered crime beat for 8 years (73) long narrow face (94) Amy's boyfriend (95) worked for Times; quit job, leaving Seattle (371) |
| Beth Krause | [Rare Appearances] middle-aged sister who owned North Fork Lodge (311) |
| Kristy Krause | [Rare Appearances] middle-aged sister who owned North Fork Lodge (311) |
| George Levin | [No Appearance] manager of warehouse where Brian Harrison Hall worked before his conviction; had eagle tattoo (222) |
| Chief Lewiston | [No Appearance] Zack's boss when Amy died (238) |
| Stan Macker | [One Appearance] member of ferry security crew; nearing retirement; bald; (272) leathery face of man who'd worked outdoors most of his life; worked ferries 42 years; remembered cars (273) |
| Margaret "Mae" | [No Appearance] Zack's grandmother; tall, elderly matron (202) died 16-y-a; a hoot; couldn't have been raised by a better woman (203) |
| Marge | [No Appearance] employee of Clark and Swanson Electronics |
| Lydia Markow | [One Appearance] Nina's mother; world revolves around Nina (257) looked just like her daughter; same blonde hair; attractive; wearing simple, inexpensive navy business suit; two think gold bands on left hand (269) |
| Nina Markow | [Secondary Character] taken by Slayer; 10-y-o (246) gymnastics (244) father died when she was 2-y-o (261) beautiful girl, small-boned; delicate-looking; wide, engaging grin; white-blonde hair; life and energy radiated from her (269) |
| Betsy Miller | [One Appearance] third grader (132) |
| Sean Miller | [One Appearance] one of the older boys at Brown Park; Betsy's older brother (132) brown eyes held defiant wariness of many teenaged boys with something to hide; scrawny teen (133) chip on his shoulder (204) |
| Viggo Mortensen | [Actual Person / No Appearance] Miranda greeted Olivia at helicopter, understood, compared Zack to Viggo Mortensen |
| Jan O'Neal | [Secondary Character] good cop; meticulous (115) Detective (156) |
| Debbie Palmer | [No Appearance] had sex with Tom in her dad's pickup (64) |
| Ned Palmer | [No Appearance] assistant district attorney; familiar with the Melissa St. Martin case (196) |
| Officer Tim Paul | [One Appearance] responding officer to Jenny Benedict's crime scene (14) Tim (15) |
| Ross Perdue | [Rare Appearances] present when Zack interviewed Hall; Redwood City Assistant District Attorney; young, slick-looking lawyer; about 30; expensive suit; Rolex watch (219) no wife; no children; lived for his job (262) 8-y-a, when he was a law student, his pregnant wife gunned down; changed from corporate law to criminal law (263) |
| Pete | [No Appearance] Brian's boyhood friend (63) had gone to Vietnam (64) |
| Miranda Peterson | [Secondary Character] [Heroine of Book 2] [The Hunt] married last June to Quinn; Olivia's best friend (106) intensely loyal (107) search and rescue expert (283) attended FBI Academy with Olivia; director of Search and Rescue in Montana until got married (289) dark ponytail hanging down her back (308) |
| Quincy "Quinn" Peterson | [Secondary Character] [Hero of Book 2] [The Hunt] assigned to Seattle's FBI office (106) FBI Agent (107) Quincy (198) played by the book but knew when to bend the rules (199) impeccably dressed (247) |
| Chief Lance Pierson | [Important Secondary Character] nicknamed Chief Princeton; Zack's boss; strutted around like God's gift to women; Ivy League master's degree; in charge 2 years; Zack respected; good at schmoozing with the politicos; backed up blues in blue 110%; acted like extra year in college and some Latin award made him smarter than his men; good working relationship with Zack (47) liked to date hot, flashy bimbos (48) |
| Gary Porter | [Important Secondary Character] cop who arrested Brian; retired (99) investigated Missy's case; supported Olivia each time she testified against Hall's parole; Olivia's father figure during original trial (181) no desire to travel; liked being home, having a routine (195) missed the job; predominately gray whiskers (196) 60-y-o (361) |
| Janet Porter | [No Appearance] Gary's wife; European history major in college; a docent for a major travel company; leading a senior-citizen tour through France (195) |
| Randy | [One Appearance] member of Doug Cohn's staff (184) |
| Jillian Reynolds | [Victim] 9-y-o; blonde; missing 3 months; missing hunk of hair; body badly decomposed; dead 3 months (71) family on weekend trip to Vashon Island; couldn't swim (90) |
| Andrew Richardson | The Slayer's alias when worked in restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts (189) |
| Reggie Richman | [One Appearance] found Jenny Benedict's body; young skinny guy; long face (14) 20-y-o; employee of Clark and Swanson Electronics; been with company 2 years; goes to Seattle Central Community College part time; no driver's license; couldn't sit still; nervous energy; Washington State ID (15) the IT Department (18) |
| Sheriff Jim Rodgers | [Rare Appearances] meet Zack at Vashon Island (71) not as tall as Zack (90) |
| Rowan [Smith] | [Heroine of Book 1] [The Prey] [No Appearance] Olivia's friend; her other roommate from FBI Academy; in Colorado; at peace for first time in her life (165) |
| Gil Sparks | [Rare Appearances] coroner (21) Doctor; rotund; white-haired main who looked like a short Santa Clause; looked jovial, even without smiling (102) |
| Melissa "Missy" Anne St. Martin | [Major Secondary Character / One Appearance] Livie's sister; fourth grade; straight A's; was going to be a teacher (1) Melissa (4) long curly blonde hair; big green eyes (142) Melissa Anne St. Martin (233) |
| Mr. St. Martin | [No Appearance] Olivia's father; sold the house and moved as soon as Olivia left for college (211) spent 3 hours a day tending his yard (232) |
| Rick Stockton | [Rare Appearances] Olivia and Greg's boss; director of FBI Laboratory Services; Olivia's friend (30) most of the women in the building talked about him; good-looking; sexy; smart; warm smile brightened his eyes; designer watch (32) |
| Mr. Swanson | [No Appearance] owner of Clark and Swanson Electronics (18) |
| Denise Tam | [One Appearance] Crab Shack manager; Asian girl (275) |
| Mrs. Thompson | [No Appearance] Chris and Angel's neighbor; Angel wanted to tell her what her daddy did to her (244) |
| Toby | [One Appearance] Brian's cousin; looked just like Uncle Glen; full head of light gray hair; watery blue eyes; fat nose, too big to be on skinny face; 6 years younger than Brian; 48-y-o (65) |
| Tom | [No Appearance] Brian's boyhood friend (63) always walking that line; ripped off Old Man Duncan's soda shop on El Camino Real; stole for Debbie Palmer (64) |
| Trent | [One Appearance] EMT who treated Olivia; burly guy (347) |
| Bill Tuttle | [One Appearance] Redwood City Chief of Police; told Ross Perdue about Gary Porter's death (263) |
| Tom Ullman | The Slayer's alias when worked as bartender in Atlanta (189) |
| Officer Urbanski | [One Appearance] responding officer to Jenny Benedict's crime scene (15) |
| Abby Vail | [Rare Appearances] Nina's friend; witnessed the abduction (248) 10-y-o (251) small for a 10-y-o; skinny; short blonde hair; big brown eyes; dimples deepened when she talked (252) |
| Mr. Vail | [One Appearance] Abby's father; 6'2" (255) |
| Mrs. Vail | [One Appearance] Abby's mother; larger version of Abby (252) |
| Greg van Buren | [Major Secondary Character] Olivia's ex-husband; generally amused or thoughtful; wire-rimmed glasses; blue eyes (6) aristocratic profile; long face; chiseled nose; deep-set eyes; a distant relative of the former president; attractive in a quiet, preppy way; familiar; soothing (7) short-cropped hair (8) married to Olivia for 3 years, friends for 10 (30) Rick's friend; assistant director of CODIS; well respected (31) very smart; attractive; light brown hair peppered with gray; intelligent blue eyes; physically fit; nearly 10 years older than Olivia; loved science; had faith in facts; workaholic; relished problem solving; Olivia married because {1} safe; [2} never pried; {3} never questioned; {4} never challenged her quirky ways (40) |
| Vigo | [No Appearance] FBI profiler (361) |
| Ann Wells | [No Appearance] employee at industrial paint supply store at end of industrial row; left work at 7:00 p.m.; didn't see body (55) |
| Steve Williams | The Slayer's current alias (191) worked at restaurant 2 years (275) |
Locations, Organizations Found In "The Kill"
| Location / Organization | Description |
|---|---|
| Prologue | Redwood City, California // October 30 / Day before Halloween (1) |
| Chapter One | thirty-five years later // FBI Laboratory in Virginia (5) |
| Chapter Two | Seattle (12) |
| . . . | . . . |
| Anchor River | half mile from where Driscoll wrecked the truck (292) |
| Atlanta | villain killed 4 girls (28) |
| Austin Texas | 4 dead girls (55) |
| Brown Park | where Jenny, Laura, Tanya were playing (130) |
| Camero murder | case Olivia was working on (5) |
| Cascade Mountains | 90 minutes east of Seattle; where Chris taking Nina (281) |
| Clark and Swanson Electronics | employs Reggie Richman as their IT Department (15) business of refurbishing printers (18) Swanson and Clark Electronics (transposed names (55)) |
| CODIS | one of largest departments in the FBI Laboratory (31) |
| Crab Shack | restaurant where Driscoll worked (276) |
| Eucalyptus Street | street where Olivia's parent's house located (231) |
| Flauteroy | where people caught the ferry across to Vashon Island (273) |
| Folsom Prison | where Brian Harrison Hall had been imprisoned (24) |
| Grand Junction, Colorado | where Bruce, Chris, and Angel once lived in a trailer park (324) |
| Lawrence, Kansas | villain raped and killed 2 girls; blamed on known sex offender (28) |
| Los Angeles | Bruce took The Slayer and Angel to Los Angeles when mother died (155) |
| Melissa Anne St. Martin Memorial Park | park renamed after Missy's death (233) description (234) |
| Menlo Park | where Brian Harrison Hall's mother lived; big, opulent, well-kept homes (63) |
| Montana | Olivia attended friend's wedding (37) |
| Nashville | villain killed 4 girls (28) |
| New York | villain raped and killed four blonde girls in Albany suburbs (28) |
| North Fork Lodge | in Cascade Mountains; owned by Krause sisters; location where team staying to conduct search for Driscoll (311) more like an over-sized house than a commercial hotel (326) |
| Pennsylvania | Paul Benedict working in steel mill in Pennsylvania (22) |
| Redwood City | the St. Martin's home town (28) |
| Sahalee | where Jenny Benedict lived; an upper-middle-class neighborhood (122) |
| San Francisco | where Olivia used to live (6) |
| San Mateo County Courthouse | in Redwood City (227) |
| San Mateo County District Attorney's Office | where Hamilton Craig was the D.A. (180) |
| Seattle Central Community College | Reggie Richman attends part time (15) |
| Seattle Justice Center | where The Slayer being taken for arraignment (366) |
| Seattle Police Department | Zack's employer (42) |
| Vashon Island | Slayer renting cottage on island for last year (26) 12 miles long, 8 miles wide; popular getaway spot; artisans and crafters ran the place (88) |
❀ . Top . ❀ . Review . ❀ . Synopsis . ❀ . Series . ❀ . Characters . ❀ . Quotes . ❀ . Comments . ❀ . Links . ❀ . End . ❀
"The Kill" Quotations
| 4 | It was the last hug she would ever receive from her mother. (Livie) |
| 12 | Nothing was worse than the murder of a child. (Zack) |
| 53 | "Do you have a first name? Or should I just call you Superagent? (Zack) ☺ |
| 91 | Everyone expects evil to be obvious at first sight. (Olivia) |
| 146 | It would be worth losing everything she had, everything she was, if she could stop Michelle's little sister from growing up like she had. (Olivia) |
| 168 | She had helped, even if she had broken the rules to do it. And whose damn rules were they anyway? (Olivia) |
| 171 | While Olivia had never run away, she'd been lost her entire life. (Olivia) |
| 203 | Olivia didn't know what was worse, to be abandoned by your mother physically like Zack, or emotionally like she'd been after Missy died. (Olivia) |
| 215 | She brought out the passion in him, a deep longing that he hadn't felt for a long, long time. An intense need to connect with her on every level he could. To know her mind, her body, her soul. (Zack) |
| 218 | the child inside Olivia just wanted to be loved completely, without reservation, because of who she was inside. (Olivia) |
| 313 | "You know when you're on a tough case and you're faced with an ultimatum and no decision is perfect? That no matter what you choose to do, there are consequences?" (Quinn) "There are always consequences, Peterson. You have to do what is the most right." (Zack) |
| 364 | Clearly the ball was in his court. He just didn't know if he wanted to play anymore. (Zack) |
| 365 | Freedom comes at a price. (Brennan) |
❀ . Top . ❀ . Review . ❀ . Synopsis . ❀ . Series . ❀ . Characters . ❀ . Quotes . ❀ . Comments . ❀ . Links . ❀ . End . ❀
Comments, Snarky Remarks, and Politically Incorrect Responses to Reviews Encountered Online
"Allison Brennan -- The Kill"
So many times I want to respond to a reviewer's comments about a book . . . but common courtesy and the rules of the site prevent me from spouting off. But here on my own site, I'm doing so.
"Allison Brennan -- The Kill"
So many times I want to respond to a reviewer's comments about a book . . . but common courtesy and the rules of the site prevent me from spouting off. But here on my own site, I'm doing so.
| Reviewer | Link / Brief Synopsis | Response Wanted To Make |
|---|---|---|
| Good Reads ★★★☆☆ Lyndi | "I didn't read it. I skimmed the hell out of this book" | Being a slow, plodding reader, this kind of statement just doesn't make sense to me. How can you determine what the book is really about, the plotting, the characters if you're not reading the words? |
| Good Reads ★☆☆☆☆ Angela | . . . Healing sex and the magical power of love are not my cup of tea . . . | This review was too harsh. Okay, so you like true crime novels. Don't pick up a Romantic Suspense novel and not expect for the book to have romance and relationship issues woven into the plot. Thank goodness you are not going to pick up another of Allison Brennan's books -- because fans don't want you trashing a good author because she doesn't write your genre. |
| Good Reads ★★★☆☆ mirta | . . . hardcore porn descriptions . . . | Can you say "Judgmental Prude!" This review was overly harsh. . . as well as grammatically incorrect with horrible punctuation and run-on disjointed thoughts. Mirta is definitely out of the loop regarding the current century's romance novels if she considers the sex scenes in this book hardcore porn. She should stick with authors that refrain from including sensuality in their books or inspirational romance if she doesn't like sex scenes in her romance novels. |
❀ . Top . ❀ . Review . ❀ . Synopsis . ❀ . Series . ❀ . Characters . ❀ . Quotes . ❀ . Comments . ❀ . Links . ❀ . End . ❀
"Allison Brennan -- The Kill" Review and Information Links
| Rated | Posted | Site | Notes, Comments, Etc. |
|---|---|---|---|
| -- | -- | Allison Brennan's Website | Author |
| -- | -- | Allison Brennan's Facebook | Author |
| -- | -- | Allison Brennan's Twitter | Author |
| -- | -- | You Tube | The Prey trailer |
| . . . | . . . | . . . | . . . |
| 5.00 | 04-....-2006 | A Romance Review | --Barbara // very good |
| 4.35 average | {30 reviews} | Amazon | as of: August 5, 2013 |
| -- | -- | American Author's Association | Biography |
| 4.00 | 03-10-2006 | Armchair Interviews | --Andrea Sisco {a30} // great synopsis |
| 4.16 average | {31 ratings} | Barnes & Noble | as of: August 5, 2013 |
| Article | 02-08-2010 | Barnes and Noble | Allison Brennan Article |
| Article | 01-04-2011 | Janet Gable Bashman | Writing Powerful and Evocative Settings by Allison Brennan |
| -- | -- | Books n Bytes | List of Allison Brennan's Books |
| Thread | 06-13-2010 | Coffee Time Romance | A.B.'s detailed response about "Series, Trilogies, Stand-Alones" |
| Article | 08-24-2012 | Criminal Element | Allison Brennan's article on what makes a Romantic Thriller // excellent |
| 4.00 | 02-....-2006 | Curled Up With A Good Book | --Rashmi Srinivas // excellent synopsis, great review |
| Article | 10-06-2008 | Dear Author | --Mary-Frances Makichen // If You Like Allison Brennan // awesome |
| -- | -- | Fantastic Fiction | List of Allison Brennan's Books |
| -- | -- | Fict Fact | List of Books In The Predator Series |
| -- | -- | Fiction DB | List of Allison Brennan's Books |
| positive | 02-15-2006 | Fresh Fiction | --Paula Myers / PR review |
| 4.15 average | {1,580 ratings} | Good Reads | as of: August 4, 2013 |
| 3.90 average | {41 ratings} | Library Thing | as of: August 5, 2013 |
| positive | 03-07-2006 | Milady Insanity | brief review of entire Predator Trilogy books |
| Interview | 11-20-2012 | Mysterious Writers | Allison Brennan Interview (tied to Kiss Me, Kill Me) // very interesting |
| -- | -- | Order of Books . com | List of Allison Brennan's Books |
| 3.90 average | {217 ratings} | Paperback Swap | as of: August 5, 2013 |
| -- | -- | Publisher's Marketplace | details about Allison Brennan's books, PR quotes, awards, etc. |
| A Keeper | 03-06-2006 | Romance Reader At Heart | --Debbie Jett // great |
| Article | 03-30-2010 | RT {Romantic Times} Book Reviews | Message From The Author // excellent |
| 4.50 / Top Pick | 03-30-2010 | RT {Romantic Times} Book Reviews | --Jill M. Smith // 2006 Suspense Award Winner |
| 4.25 average | {12 reviews} | Shelfari | as of: August 5, 2013 |
| 3.00 | 04-17-2013 | South African Vampyre News | --Octarine Valur {gr29} // pretty good |
| -- | -- | Stop, You're Killing Me | List of Allison Brennan's Books |
| Interview | -- | Suspense Magazine | Allison Brennan / March 2008 Author of the Month |
| -- | 12-27-2005 | To Be Read | Allison Brennan's feelings about the day of first publication |
| Article | 02-28-2008 | Wow! Women On Writing! | Suzanne Pitner Interview of Allison Brennan / so impressive |
| Interview | 05-19-2006 | Writer Unboxed | Therese Walsh Interview of Allison Brennan / excellent detail |
| 4.85 | 08-08-2013 | Wolf Bear Does Books | shorter post on Amazon, Fiction DB, Good Reads, Library Thing, Shelfari |
❀ . Top . ❀ . Review . ❀ . Synopsis . ❀ . Series . ❀ . Characters . ❀ . Quotes . ❀ . Comments . ❀ . Links . ❀ . End . ❀
♥ Disclaimer: I Purchased This Book
♥ Very Subjective Rating
♣ Will add your review link of The Kill to table, just ask
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