The 7th Victim

Karen Vail #1

by Alan Jacobson

Introducing FBI profiler Karen Vail, who crosses paths with a Virginia serial killer in the first in the bestselling series.   Special Agent Karen Vail “is a knockout, tough and brilliant” (Tess Gerritsen). As lead profiler for the FBI, Vail is spearheading the task force investigation into a serial killer known as “Dead Eyes,” who’s been terrorizing Fairfax County, Virginia.   What separates this psychopath from the others is a peculiar savagery, and an intimate knowledge of the FBI’s detailed strategy of pursuit. What separates Vail from her peers is a life that has made her hard and uncompromising. Recently divorced from an abusive husband, and in the throes of an ugly custody battle, she’s also helpless against her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s. But little by little, as Vail’s personal baggage begins to consume her, the investigation threatens to derail.   Now she’s weighing her last hope on a controversial profile. It suggests that the one key to solving the case lies with the seventh victim. But that key will also unlock secrets that could destroy Vail’s career, and expose a truth that even she might not be strong enough to survive.   In compiling his research for The 7th Victim, Alan Jacobson was allowed wide-ranging access to the FBI’s behavioral profiling unit over several years. Named one of the top five books of the year by Library Journal, it’s “a quantum leap in terror and suspense . . . A masterpiece” (New York Times–bestselling author James Rollins).  

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Audiobook

433 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2008

About the author

ALAN JACOBSON is the USA Today bestselling author of a dozen critically acclaimed, award-winning thrillers. His 20 years of research and training with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, DEA, US Marshals Service, ATF, Scotland Yard, SWAT, and the US military bring unparalleled realism to his stories and characters—prompting the San Francisco Chronicle to write that “Alan Jacobson researches his books like a good newspaper reporter and then pushes the envelope into reality more thoroughly than the typical crime novel could ever allow.”

Jacobson's series protagonist, FBI profiler Karen Vail, has resonated with both female and male readers and inspired Nelson DeMille, James Patterson, and Michael Connelly to call Vail one of the most compelling heroes in suspense fiction. Likewise, his OPSIG Team Black series has been lauded by real-life Navy SEALs.

Jacobson’s thrillers have been published internationally and several have been optioned by Hollywood.

Web: www.AlanJacobson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/AlanJacobsonFans Instagram: alan.jacobson
Twitter: @JacobsonAlan

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Eyes on the Prize

Special Agent Karen Vail works with the FBI profiling unit. Although she is currently under investigation for assaulting her abusive ex-husband, that doesn’t stop her from working on the case of The Dead Eyes Killer.

This book is overloaded with action. The Seventh Victim is filled with enough suspense and energy that you would have to be a Scrooge not to love this book.

Four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Jason Edwards · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know how this book ended up on my e-reader, but I think it was free. I mean I hope it was free. I mean I hope I didn't pay money for it. This book was an eye-roller on so many levels. I kept looking up to see if there was a secret camera on me, filming my reaction for some hilarious reality-TV show about people reading truly horrible fiction.

Don't let me stop you if you like this sort of thing. I'd never want to keep someone from enjoying themselves... but this book doesn't even qualify as "so bad it's good." The author allegedly did all kinds of research into FBI profiling and police procedures-- if only he'd done research into verisimilitude and the inanity of coincidence. The plot rides the Deus Ex Machina express from beginning to end, with characters getting killed, jailed, or tossed in a coma when their existence was no longer convenient.

Damn it, why did I read this? I'll tell you why, because I was trapped in a car for three hours with no wifi access and it was the only book I had. Should have listened to the radio. And once I was in a few hundred pages, I had to find out "whodunit," didn't I. Even though I was able to guess-- merely by asking myself, "what would be the cheesiest way for this to end."

Who shouldn't read this? Everyone shouldn't read this. Who should? Aspiring writers, so that they can see the truth about publishing: talent has NOTHING to do with it.

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book on CD read by Lila Wellesley

One thing I can’t stand in a thriller/mystery is a hero or heroine who behaves stupidly. The reader is supposed to believe that Karen Vail, FBI profiler, will: 1) marry a total scumbag despite her training in psychology; 2) talk to the cops when she knows she should keep her mouth shut and ask for an attorney; 3) stay on the task force despite the threat of domestic violence case against her; 4) continue working when her child lies comatose in an ICU (even going out of town a couple of times). Also, Jacobson did some shameless stealing from Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs. And then there are the subplots that go nowhere. As for the narration – Wellesley mostly has just one voice; except for one “Southern black” character, everyone sounds the same, making it difficult to distinguish who is speaking when there is a two-(or even three-)way conversation.

Still, it’s fast-paced (a must for this genre); there is a somewhat plausible love interest; and Vail does work hard to get herself out of most the messes she puts herself in, vs relying on a nearby strong male. So I still give it 2 stars.

[Scott A. Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally found my BAU series. Vail is an incredibly layered character, one I’ve never seen have so many horrible things happen to in a book. The fact that this was the first in a series makes me wonder how she can possibly survive going forward. What could Jacobson possibly put her through next?

This was a great mystery. I never figured it out until Jacobson wanted me to. That’s fantastic. The bad guy was pure evil. Jacobson inserted just enough real background to really make things interesting. Looking forward to what comes next.

[Jennifer Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite possibley the worst book featuring a serial killer I have ever read. It was as if the author chewed up Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon then vomitted them up and added some crap like a multiple personality secret twin sister, and several irrelevant sub-plots, like my aunt is really my mom who now has Alzheimers and my kid is in a coma caused by my abusive ex-husband and a blossoming romance with an cop who had a big ass.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a great plot and was actually very well researched and informative about FBI profiling. Since the plot excelled I was able to continue reading the book. However, the characterization is horrible. The main character, Karen Veil, is the only female FBI profiler and is really intelligent, however her character is beyond annoying. She came off as excessively pushy and unwilling to listen to her comrades on anything. I could not have cared less what happened to her in the book, and that is sad. Another badly developed character was Veil's nemesis - whose name I forget. He is supposed to be a dick and unduly angry at Karen but we rarely see this anger. It's not until he nominates her as the killer that his "angry tendencies" seem to come out. Otherwise, Veil is always the one pushing him. On the task force with Veil are also a few cops. One of whom is another female - Man...something. Her character also comes off as annoying and generally useless to the group. Actually, most of the task force characters come off that way. Even though they would be necessary in a real life situation of this type, in the book they just take up space.

Random relationships is another point from the author. One develops between Veil and police officer Robby. However, they seem to fall for each other without any prior indication and far too quickly for a 400-page novel. There are also familial relationships that come out about Veil throughout the course of the story that are also unnecessary. And again, since I didn't care about her character, these "surprises" were more annoying than anything else. There are other ways to "shock" the readers with the identity of the killer than the way Jacobson goes about it.

Overall, this story was wonderfully researched but not exactly entertaining. However, I may give him another shot. There is potential.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent read this book was and Alan Jacobson had my attention from the first paragraph. Very likeable and dis-likeable characters in a captivating and fluid storyline. Some twists and turns, a red herring or two added to keep the reader guessing. You have an idea of who the serial killer is but it's not a given :)

There is a bit of romance, but that really isn't the focus of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the "Karen Vail, FBI series" - highly recommend it to those that love police procedurals.

2 thumbs up and 5 stars!

[Madelon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading THE 7th VICTIM; it's the middle of the day, which is unusual as I am mostly a late-night reader. This is the first time, here at goodreads that I am reviewing a book so immediately upon completion.

I am torn between a 3 and 4 star rating. There is just something about this book that I didn't like. I read every word and found that the story didn't flow. The story is good but a bit too convoluted in its presentation. There were almost too many plot lines to follow. It felt like some of these plot lines would never be resolved, and when they were, the story still felt off. I do wish I could be more specific, but it is very like pouring a glass of milk and finding it isn't spoiled yet isn't really fresh either.

The main characters are pretty well developed, but some of the auxiliary characters are just annoying. Detective Mandisa Manette adds nothing to the plot except repetitious negative comments.

As the players are presented, and identified, I like to have a single name associated with a set of characteristics so that I can remember who's who. Tell me right off the bat that Roberto Hernandez is Robby. Don't introduce Roberto, move onto another character, or three, and then start calling him Robby.

Many people today iterate the sentiment that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and I would like to expand this to say that the English language is following in its footsteps. Writers, and more importantly editors, need to be aware of the rules of English grammar. You do not end a sentence with a preposition. I understand that this rule can, and probably should be broken when writing dialog, but when writing expository prose, stick to the rules. I also have no problem with colloquialisms.

The most offensive prepositions used at the end of a sentence are the little ones: of and to being the worst. I might not have brought up the preposition issue here except I read books in their entirety. I read the dedication, and I read the acknowledgements. Alan Jacobson makes of point of thanking his editor for "tweaking and refining" and his copyeditor for her "keen eye and attention to detail," however, I came across these glaring violations of the rules of English grammar, and when I do, it's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

I've come to the end of my comments, and still feel torn between 3 and 4 stars. What is a reader to do? I would happily give THE 7th VICTIM three and a half stars if I could.

["Avonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character of Karen Vail ia a great idea and was well done, except for the fact that so much was happening to her in such a short period, I don't think anyone would have kept it together, fictional or non. I will say I liked this start to a new series to at least give this 3 stars and more like a 3 and a half and will try the next book in the series.

[Jessie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimmed this one. I didn't feel like Jacobsen had a great handle on writing for a female main character.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as a free download, and it was worth the price. :-) SPOILER ALERT--Had it not been for two issues that I could not seem to overcome, I might have rated this book higher. In general, I liked the character of Karen Vail. She's tough, smart, a loving mother and dedicated to to her job. The thing I could not wrap my head around was this devoted mother leaving her son in a coma in the hospital to go on an overnighter to visit her mom with her would-be love interest (but don't worry, the hospital promised to call her if anything changed). Really???? The second major issue was the ending. Unless you are in the third grade, you could probably figure out that the killer was related to Vail about halfway into the book, and I did not take issue with that; however, in the persuit of differntiation at the expense of beliveability, Jacobson not only makes the killer out to be her sibling, but her SISTER (in contradiction to Vail's definitely male profile). But wait, there's more- not only is the perp her sister but her TWIN sister (come on!), and just when you thought it could not get any more more ridiculous, we find that Jacobson has found an unbelievably silly way to reconcile her criminal's gender to magically reconcile with Vail's originial analysis (we couldn't have our heroine be wrong about anything , now could we?). Her evil twin has developed a split personality and the MALE persona she created was the one up to all the mischief while the "sweet sis" personality was blissfully unaware somewhere inside her subconscious. It was beyond contrived and took away far more than it added. Aside from these two issues, it was not a bad book.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the most convincing of books.

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

The 7th Victim was filled with enough suspense and energy that you would have to be a Scrooge not to love this book.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Karen Vail. I like a story where there isn't some crime savant where they have all the answers without any struggle or challenge in reaching that point. I like an earned discovery and this was a turn and twist as it went. I found the ending refreshing and surprising. I liked my first of this author and will very likely read another in the series. Despite the volume of omg what surprises, I hold some level of hope that the next in the series will maintain a level of enjoyment close to this one. I hope the author didn't empty his bag of surprises in the first novel.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kind of book. Not sure what took me so long to read this one. Main character is an FBI profiler. I love profilers and books where there is a team searching for a serial killer. Great start to the series. Will surely be reading more. 4 stars

[Soo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Notes:

Yay for libraries!

Narration was fine, but the story was not good. Flat characters, WTF is with the killer, melodramatic scenes and shoddy procedures. No clue why the library rating is 3.5 stars for this book...

To Future Me: Don't bother reading more of the series.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had so much potential but was awful. Pretty sure my middle school students could write a better story.

[Misty Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of you who have been keeping track, you know its been a while since I’ve read a novel like this, (The last being a Temperance Brennan Novel) after reading the genre for 4 straight months, book after book, my mind/sanity thought it was necessary to take a break from serial killers and their maniacal crime scenes, so I did… , and in turn wrapped myself in the more mellow reads of the paranormal. (Ok…not all of them were tame…but trust me when I say they are a damn site less descriptive)

It’s hard to pinpoint, in my cynical mind, exactly what I expected to find when first deciding to read “The 7th Victim”, an ok novel with an interesting plot maybe? or maybe a decent copy cat of the greats I have already read? Who knows…but what I didn’t expect to find actually shocked me more than I could have anticipated.

#1 I didn’t expect to find a fantastic new author.
#2 I didn’t expect to find that I missed the chase so much.

Now, while most of y’all are cringing at the fact that I just confessed to missing the company of fictional serial killers, let me assure you that it’s nothing more than my love for the game of “Clue”

I love a good mystery, the who-did-it-where-did-it-happen-who’s-going-to-be-next kind, and while most books will have snippets of the unknown, psychological thrillers ARE the unknown.

“Karen Vail” works for the FBI. As a profiler she surrounds herself with the seedy underground of ax murders and psychopaths on a daily basis.

After months of seemingly dormant action her world suddenly turns into a whirlpool of chaos, when a previously un-captured crazy known to the media as “Dead Eyes” returns to the scene with several more grizzly murders.

While trying in vain to capture a killer who decides to personally taunt her through break-ins and creepy self-destructive emails, Vail’s personal life takes a hit as well. Her ex…an abusive waste of space… throws her under the bus and charges her with assault.

Struggling to keep herself, her son, and her career alive she spends every waking minute building her own walls of protection while trying to break down everyone else’s.

“Alan Jacobson’s” writing was masterful, artfully inserting twists and turns that not even and avid thriller reader, like myself, could see coming. The plot flowed freely and his attention to detail was undeniable, and he is now, without question, a new found force to be reckoned with in my world of “who did it?”

There were fake badges, egotistical has-been agents, missing limbs, peep holes, moments of self realization, and several OMG! moments ending in one hell of an underground chase.

If you are like me, don’t mind gruesome descriptives in your quest to peg the killer, this one is worth every cent, but if you like the softer side of things and prefer a safer less bloody world, steer clear cause this one is covered in it.

Happy reading my fellow Agents, and remember: Even the biggest of us still need barf bags sometimes.

[Alex Telander · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE 7TH VICTIM BY ALAN JACOBSON: In Alan Jacobson’s third novel, The 7th Victim, he presents a well-defined and fascinating new character in Karen Vail, one of the very few female FBI profilers. As a member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, joining with a crack team of experienced detectives, it’s up to her to create the solid profile that will lead them to the identity and locate of the Dead Eyes killer. The murders are garish and gruesome, as Vail investigates the crime scene of each victim, until an important person of stature is horrifically murdered changing the whole profile of the killer, but also presenting some terrifying links to Vail herself.

Jacobson has spent seven years researching The 7th Victim, working with the FBI’s renowned profiling unit, as well as one of the few female FBI profilers. Karen Vail is a well rounded character who has plenty of personal issues going on in her life with an abusive soon to be ex-husband and a young child who she cares for more than anything in the world. She also teaches future FBI agents, and fights to maintain her profile as a high-ranking and well respected profiler.

The 7th Victim is an entertaining, fast-paced read in the style of Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta series, but adding a further grittiness and realism with the killings and the harsh everyday fights Vail must go through as an FBI profiler and mother. It is hopefully the first of more to come in the world of Karen Vail.

For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lets see...I read this book after my daughter prodded me for about a year to do so. I finally got it on my Kindle and read it.

Okay...the story was good. I enjoyed the plot and the look into FBI profiliers but I thought the main character Karen Vail left a bit to be desired. I think it's evident that a man is writing this woman. For instance, her young son is attacked by his father, pushed down the stairs and is in a coma, but she works instead of stays at the hosptial. She checks in on him via phone and a few stops at the hospital while her ex husband is at large... this to me doesn't seem like something any mother (other than a negligent one) would ever do. I understand work is important, heck, I'm a working mother but still, this is her child.

There were other instances through out the book that I felt like I was reading a mans perspective rather than a womans.

I enjoy Karen and her brashness and intellect but I didn't enjoy the side of her Jacobson was trying to write as a mother. I just felt it was inadequate.

I am reading through the rest of the series and hoping his insight to the female mind gets better.

I will say this...Jacobson is a master at writing around the obvious. This is the first book where I really had NO IDEA "who dun it" I didn't see "it" coming. It was masterfully written and kept you guessing the whole time with twists you didn't see and turns that came upon you quickly and quitely.

[Brian Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the equivalent of a popcorn-muchin' Hollywood blockbuster. Not that THAT is always necessarily a bad thing. A wonderful psycho villain, tons of bloody violence, multiple flawed heroes, and lots of twists. I read it in one sitting, quite engrossed by the story line. And oh, how I love my FBI plots! The whole BAU/BSU bit is a plus.

However...

There were a few too many characters, and let's be honest - I don't care what gender, what training, what experiences you've had; if YOU went through half of what our protagonist did, you'd be a gibbering mess. Maybe only 2 or 3 life-changing, gut-wrenching incidents for our plucky heroine next time, huh?

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the way Jacobson writes. As much as I can dig a Patterson 'Alex Cross' book, you always have to suspend belief a good amount. Not here. The realism, cynicism, and politics of law enforcement sucks... another reason those folks are heroes.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I was going to like this when I started it, but after about 300 pages I was pretty much done. Unfortunately there were another 100 pages to go before the incredibly far-fetched reveal of the killer.

There were just too many "tragedies" happening to the main character, Karen. Her ex-husband becomes abusive, she gets arrested for punching him, ex then pushes their son down the stairs and puts him in a coma. She goes to visit her mom and discovers (for the first time! no one has mentioned this to her despite being an only child) that her mom has pretty advanced alzheimers. Karen's mom mistakes her for an estranged sister and Karen realizes her mom is really her aunt and her bio-mom is a state senator. Then her bio-mom becomes a victim of the serial killer! IT'S ALL TOO MUCH.

And it needed editing so badly. There was tons of unnecessary description. Thrillers need to be faster paced than this. Too many characters, too many coincidences, and too much extraneous detail.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

If there was one thriller where I neither felt the thrill nor liked the main character it would be this book. I didn't feel any sympathy towards the main character and to put it straight I just downright hated her. I had a feeling that she just doesn't care about anyone but her n she came off as a rude n snobbish n someone with nil emotions or feelings. I can't see her emote towards her sick mother or comatose son or her so called love towards Robby. Alan Jacobson says he has done extensive research on FBI profiling for 12 years. May be he should ve spent some time in those 12 years researching on how to make the reader feel and emote with the principal character. Tried this author for the 1st time and I think its gonna be my last time reading ts author's work. Diasppointed.

[Suvi Tartia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book seemed like an experiment on how many plot twists you can cram into a single novel.

One of the reviews on the cover stated something about how the main character is believable, when in fact she was quite the opposite in so many ways.

This was one of those books that I had hard time finishing, and now that I finished it I wonder why I bothered. The good thing was that the identity of the killer was not too obvious, but in the end it did not really matter. It was really difficult to care for any of the characters.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uggh. Where to begin on this one? Every cliched, over-the-top serial killer/murder mystery trope thrown into one novel that isn't supposed to be farcical, with poor character development. I had the plot pretty much figured out by the first few chapters, with only a couple of things that were mildly surprising. Too many 'surprise' entanglements to make it even remotely believable and killing all hope for suspense. I'm not sure why I finished it, but I did.

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts of this book are pretty good. I liked the profiling part.
However the main character has way too much going on to make her likeable or believable. I mean come on! Every chapter turns out to be something new going on in her life. It's like the author wanted to cram in 5 books in one.

[PJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

how many coincidental happenings can one put in one book?

[Di · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, very interesting. I read this for #MarchMysteryMadness

I've had this book on Kindle for a very long time. I picked it up free but never read it, so March Mystery Madness was the perfect time to dust it off. There were a couple twists in this book that I didn't see coming and the twist at the end was super surprising. You learn a lot about Karen throughout this book too.

This book does contain more gruesome crime scenes and violence than I'm used to reading, but it's not unfamiliar for me as I do watch shows like Criminal Minds which contain similar themes. I listened to a majority of this on audiobook and thought the narrator did a good job. I'll definitely be checking out other books in this series in the future.

[Raine Bittner · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, this book starts with a bank heist, where our protagonist sees fellow officers gunned down and injured. Wanting a safer job she joins the FBI. Then we get a chapter from the killers perspective, creepy and eerie, and honestly engaging. Then chapter 3 we are at another bank robbery years later, our protagonist clears things up and gets a call The Dead Eyes Killer has struck again. Did we really need two prologues? Start with the killer as prologue, and jump into the second bank heist gone wrong.

Then as the story gets going we find out protagonist might be a little mentally warped or drained, as she is having dreams of herself as the killer.
The killer’s sections elude to the perp being a child, locking himself in a secret room as his abusive father beats on hookers. Then hints that maybe the killer is a grown man, which would fit our profiler’s assumptions about him.

Each of these killer chapters slowly peel back the layers of who this mystery killer is. It is actually the only thing that kept me engaged with the novel. It creates wonderful mystery, and as things are revealed about him, suspense. I went from thinking it was the protagonist’s boss, to the professional colleague she had snubbed at the academy, to her abusive ex-husband and even her abused son. I finally settled pretty early on though that it must be her boyfriend, a rough past with parents, right age, I think the race was off according to her profile but I would be okay with her not being 100% perfect on that.

Ultimately, though it’s the lost twin sister of our protagonist and the twin has DID (dissociative identity disorder, or multiple personalities) and that is why the protagonist had strange dreams and feelings on knowing the killer or being the killer. Even though she didn’t know she was a twin!

Let’s retrace here a bit. Karen gets put on the Dead Eyes case, as she is the best there is at what she does. Profiling killers. In the end her whole profile is wrong and instead of admitting it she says “technically, the profile is right because she WAS a 32 year old man when her identity slipped. WHAT?!?

Next, she deals with her abusive husband, but in all the wrong ways. I liked this actually. I saw how it was going to go, how it was going to create greater conflict for her and her son. Basically, hubby tricks her into assaulting him, so that she can’t call a lawyer to have custody revisited by a judge. Then this makes her get taken off the Dead Eyes case. All decent ways to show this character’s life and create struggles for her. Her son is taken to the husband who promptly beats him and throws him down the stairs putting her son in a coma.

How is this a good idea? Am I supposed to care about a stupid serial killer when my point of view character almost loses her son? I didn’t. However, even with her son in a coma she is leaving the hospital and investigating dead eyes killer when NO MOTHER WORTH HER SALT WOULD LEAVER HER TEENAGE SON ON HIS DEATH BED! Doctors told her he had a chance but it wasn’t likely he would recover. Guess she should just get back to work and flirt with her younger protégé.

Then she goes to stay with her mother with dementia while her son is in the hospital. Idr if there was mention of a nurse being around for her mom or if she lives alone, but I’m pretty sure the way it reads is our protagonist lets her mom stay in her childhood home by herself slowly losing her mind. Ik it was a bit of a drive from where she lived and worked and where her son was hospitalized. But she needed to go there in order to find out she was actually displaced as a baby. Her mother is not her mother but her aunt. A secret aunt that our protagonist never met or knew about.
Fun… what the hell does that have to do with our killer? Oh, we are still getting chapters and sections from the killer throughout all this, she never stops looking for the killer. But it seems like there is plenty on her plate.

Well without telling us how she does it, our protagonist shows up at her real mother’s doorstep. Shockingly, it is the governor or some political personality that we had some insight on previously. Her mother is the same person who had hired her old arch enemy from the FBI Academy as a body guard and made the locals and the FBI let him in on the Dead Eyes case at the start in chapter 3. Coincidence? GOD, I HOPE NOT! Then the same night our protagonist confronts her senator mother or whatever her mom rejects her before being murdered by Dead Eyes. Suspicions fall on our protagonist now from the arch enemy and other members of her team.

Well then they slowly discover Dead Eyes is her long lost biological father. That is why Dead Eyes killed the senator. All the victims look like her too, but she is out of the age gap of the typical victim pool. So it stands that dead eyes modeled his victims after the senator. Okay, I can buy that I suppose, but the rest of it is just poor character and poor action. It happens to our protagonist and not because our protagonist makes something happen. She is literally wrong at nearly every turn. Yet, all her team and superiors say, she is the best of the best. 🙄

To shorten it up, they find dear old dad with his brains blown out and go, “yup! Definitely a suicide. Good police work everybody.” Turns out another victim is taken. Wasn’t dad! An injured Karen can’t go to the scene but her boyfriend/protégé can. Then she is taken when boy-toy leaves, and we cycle back and forth between boy-toy and Karen.

I really locked in on this. I really enjoyed the pace of this ending. Despite her being a shite mother, and mediocre detective special agent or whatever, I was ready for the epic ending to unfold. I mean, it started to make sense. She was assigned dead eyes, then her son go for a spill, and ex-husband goes on the run. Her protégé becomes her boy friend and goes to her mother’s telling her she needs to get away. They discover a secret about Karen even she didn’t know, then (although it was sudden) real mom is dead, two people that could possibly kill her knowing she is Karen’s mom is therefore Karen and boy-toy.

“What if he knew before they found out her mother was the senator?” I thought. “What if he is her brother?” I wondered. “What if he pushed all the seemingly random pieces of this puzzle together and cunningly evaded detection right under the noses of his colleagues and the FBI?” I desperately thought as Karen revealed the killer to be… a fucking sister she had no idea existed and for whatever reason ended up with their abusive father instead of with Karen and their aunt causing her to develop DID and become a woman serial killer which is rare.

No silence of the lambs misdirect ending here! Just plain ole unrealistic and unrelatable characters, plots where the driving force isn’t action from our protagonist, but random occurrences that happen due to our antagonist’s actions.

The best possible ending was right there, boyfriend is brother, brother is serial killer. He should have known it all along. He was behind all her recent misfortunes even pushing her son down the stairs and putting him in a coma and possibly killing her ex-husband, allowing him to take the blame for his injuries. He lured her over to her mother’s and had her dementia riddle mom spill it. He followed her to the real mother’s house and killed her setting up her bodyguard lover as the main killer, if only to lure everyone off his scent, then allows dear ole dad to be found face blown off and pushes suicide. Then another body turns up, killer takes an injured Karen captive, goes to the scene and misdirects an accomplice who is again the arch enemy who was sleeping with Karen’s senator mother and then final battle and everything makes sense. Nope, just random. That’s it. Everything is random.

Two stars because the content, and writing style/voice was halfway decent, but the substance was just abismal.

[Tqwana · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, more a 3.5 than a 3. I was conflicted about this book. Loved the suspense and tension. I just knew something wasn't right about that scene with the dead bio father at the ranch! Came too early in the book and was too nicely wrapped up. But, the revelation of a twin was both a good twist, but also a bit dues ex machina. I mean, isn't it a rule of mysteries and thrillers that we have to know who the killer is, but not know it? I don't know. I guess there were a lot of clues, but she seemed to come out of nowhere. Karen's dreams just didn't make me buy it. But, more important than that, I was impressed how the writer made me feel sorry for Samantha Farwell in the end. Poor thing. And on that note, thank God he didn't go into much detail about the type of abuse she suffered. Speculation was enough. Poor girl.
I feel like I'm nitpicking the rest, but like I said, conflicted. Some of the more emotional scenes fell flat, like the scenes with Emma and Jonathan. Maybe they were just rushed and glossed over too much. And I found it weird that she was still referred to as Vail, and not Karen in those scenes. It was off-putting. And where this did love for Robby come from. It was like one minute she was cautious about even dating him, and a few pages later, she was thinking he knows her so well and all. Seemed to come out of nowhere. Didn't really like some of the attempts at humor either.
Overall, I enjoyed the thrill. Gonna add the others in the series to my Nook. Despite some of my issues with it, he's pretty great at building suspense and thrill.