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Book Review – A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County, #3)A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a disappointment, for several reasons. First, the story felt forced and fragmented. Some of the plot twists strained credulity and had a bit of a Deus ex machina air. Second, the author made a major gaffe, sustained over many pages, by confusing a shotgun with a rifle. I couldn’t believe this wasn’t caught by an editor in a traditionally published novel by a bestselling author from a major publishing house. The Remington Wingmaster was repeatedly referred to as a rifle and the terms caliber and gauge used interchangeably. The error was sufficiently serious and sustained to significantly detract from my enjoyment of the story. The author even thanked a source at the end of the book for educating her about shotgun terminology! Lastly, the characters’ angst actually became tiresome, mainly because they seemed to do little to overcome it. Reading about self- pity is never pleasurable. Character development was almost nil in this novel. I will read the rest of the books in the Grant County series, but I hope they’re significantly better than this one.

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Book Review – American Predator, by Maureen Callahan

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st CenturyAmerican Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

American Predator is an enlightening and horrifying look at the relatively unknown serial killer, Israel Keyes. His depraved history rivals that of people like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and BTK, but his name has been kept out of the limelight, largely because of agreements made between Keyes and the law enforcement community while the latter were interrogating him to discover just how many people he had killed. Keyes was especially terrifying because he had absolutely no victim preference – he chose his victims indiscriminately because of the god-like feeling such choices gave him. The author succeeds in horrifying the reader with her impartial and objective reporting derived from actual FBI interviews of the debacle that was Keyes’ capture and subsequent interrogation. She makes it clear that it’s very likely that Keyes never would have been identified if he had not made the mistake of hunting in his own backyard.

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Book Review – A Place of Execution by Val McDermid

A Place of ExecutionA Place of Execution by Val McDermid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Place of Execution is the best book I have read in quite a while. After reading the first few pages, I had to check to make sure it was indeed a novel and not a true crime story. It’s journalistic style heightens the suspense. While not a cozy, the author pays similar attention to details of setting and character as you would find in the best cozies. The plot is convoluted but believable, and truly horrifying because it is believable. I will surely have to read the rest of Val McDermid’s books.

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Book Review – Stormy Kind of Love by Tia Lee

Stormy Kind of LoveStormy Kind of Love by Tia Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stormy Kind of Love is a book with potential. Unfortunately, it did not reach its potential, because it’s really unfinished. It’s a story about a young woman who has affairs with two men–one, a handsome bad boy and the other, your all-around good guy. These characters are well-thought out and have some depth, as do the important secondary characters. The plot is somewhat predictable, but this is a romance, so that is to be expected. The book falls down in two areas. It was obviously not professionally edited, as there are numerous typos, grammatical errors and formatting glitches. Also, it has two endings, one of them labeled the alternate ending. The alternate ending actually led to a Hitchcockian plot that could have really rocked, but I got the feeling that at that point, the author wanted to be done with book. I wish she had chosen one ending (the alternate had the best potential) and then spent the time to really polish the story. She could have had a five star book. As it is, I have to give it 2.5 stars, rounded up.

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Book Review – Kisscut, by Karin Slaughter

Kisscut (Grant County, #2)Kisscut by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kisscut is the second entry in Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series, and it is a gem. New depth is added to familiar characters, the action is taut, and the villains are villainous indeed, their actions disgusting and horrifying. The worst pat is the knowledge that people like that actually exist. My only complaint is that sometimes all of the subplots overwhelm the main plot, making the book a tad longer that it ought to be. I also found an egregious error involving someone trying to slip a magazine into a revolver, which should not have gotten past an editor in a traditionally-published book. But all-in-all, I enjoy the author’s work and intend to read the rest of the series.

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Book Review – Penhallow, by Georgette Heyer

PenhallowPenhallow by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Penhallow is a tour de force of psychological suspense. It’s a crime novel but not a mystery–the reader is privy to all details of the crime and its sad denouement. Its strength lies in Heyer’s masterful portrayal of her characters’ inner thoughts and emotions. Its conclusion is logical, unexpected and ironic, leaving one with bittersweet feelings about the Penhallow family members’ respective fates. Its only fault was its excessive length, generally due the repetition of facts that had been previously presented. Penhallow is a masterpiece in the English country house/gothic genre, and should not be neglected by anyone partial to that type of story.

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