Book Review of "Compulsion"

TITLE: " Compulsion "
AUTHOR: Jennifer Chase's
GENRE: police drama
Paperback: 308 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 13: 978-1432734169
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.8 inches
Also available in Kindle Format

Review Written by Molly at empinions.com


Product Rating: **** 4 Stars
Pros: well written
Cons: not a con just caveat: do not read when you are home alone
The Bottom Line: Filled with red herrings, twists and turns and lots of horrifying and frightening murderous behavior set in Arizona and California


Jennifer Chase's - "Compulsion" opens on Wednesday 0900 hours. A man strolls down the gravel driveway to his makeshift torture trap. It is disguised as a late model Chevy suburban. He has already stalked and taken children between the ages of four and ten. Captured from the safety of their homes and yards they were never seen alive again.

Emily Stone armed with a high tech Canon digital SLR camera with a 500 millimeter telephoto lens documents every action of the child murderer.

A Glock 09 mm and Beretta 21 Bobcat Pistol are within reach. Emily hopes the killer will lead her to the gravesites where the remains are buried.

0530 Hours Thursday and Detective Sergeant Ray Rivas is alone in the Yuma Police Department Homicide unit. The day shift arrives at 0800 hours. A series of emails will cause Rivas to rush for the stairwell on his way to the basement where the forensic identification division is located.

A hit and run, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, an adult victim with a severed arm, the arm laying beside her body is not hers, a killer sitting in a Pick up truck, Emily chafes at having to stay in hospital, are all part of the tale that rushes onward in horrifying fashion. Three dedicated officers, a dog named Sergeant, and a funeral wrap up the narrative.

Emily Stone is not a police officer, she does not wear a badge, on the other has she more than a superficial commitment for tracking down serial killers, especially those who prey on children. With a Beretta strapped to her angle, her Explorer filled with high tech camera, computer and files Emily uses her skill to locate, and identify the perpetrators before anonymously emailing evidence to the police.

Jennifer Chase's "Compulsion" is a - can't put it down - police thriller of a read. Writer Chase taps into her understanding of criminology and forensic science to create a spell binding chronicle sure to keep the reader on the edge of the seat.

Emily Stone has learned that the live of a vigilante is neither thrilling nor romantic, it involves hours of sitting alone, making notes, taking pictures and amassing a body of evidence that cannot be overturned.

Perhaps the most unnerving aspect of this chronicle is the realization that the characters Stone portrays might well typify that shadowy periphery of the social mainstream where living serial killers locate, stalk, take and begin to destroy their victims.

Writer Stone uses language and writing skills to draw the reader into the action, this is not a fun little read. It is a work which holds reader interest and plants notions, thoughts and ponderings for who it is passing us as we leave the grocery store, or walk into our yard, drive our car or sit and dream.

Because I am from California and know well many of the venues Stone depicts in her narrative I felt a special kinship with the settings and the people who populate them.

Characters are fully developed, right to the frightening diabolical inner workings of the mind of the unbalanced murderers. Settings are detailed to provide readers ample understanding of the topography, the heat, birds over head and scents and textures found in the venue. The brutality wrought by the frightening murderers is presented not when it takes place, but is found in the notes made by the officers who investigate the crime scenes.

Filled with red herrings, twists and turns and lots of horrifying and frightening murderous behavior set in part in Arizona but mostly in the coastal area of California, "Compulsion" is sure to astonish with surprise developments in the tale and an ending which may be totally unexpected.

Not a book for a dark and stormy night when you are home alone. Especially for those who enjoy CSI and Law and Order, this police drama is highly readable.

Happy to recommend Jennifer Chase's - "Compulsion".