Judas Kiss

Taylor Jackson #3

by J.T. Ellison

It was a murder made for TV: a trail of tiny bloody footprints. An innocent toddler playing beside her mother’s bludgeoned body. Pretty young Corinne Wolff, seven months pregnant, brutally murdered in her own home.

Cameras and questions don’t usually faze Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson, but the media frenzy surrounding the Wolff case is particularly nasty…and thorough. When the seemingly model mommy is linked to an amateur porn Web site with underage actresses and unwitting players, the sharks begin to circle.

The shock is magnified when an old adversary uses the sexy secret footage to implicate Taylor in a murder — an accusation that threatens her career, her reputation and her relationship.
Both cases hinge on the evidence — real or manufactured — of crimes that go beyond passion, into the realm of obsessive vengeance and shocking betrayal. Just what the networks love.

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

395 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 23, 2008

About the author

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of the literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards They have also been optioned for television, and published in 28 countries.

J.T. lives in Nashville with her husband and twin kittens, one of whom is a ghost, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

Reviews

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My opinion fairly loose thriller compared to other J T Ellison books I have read. Parts of the plot difficult to follow.
Still she is a favourite author of mine.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far behind in this series! Another great read despite the issues with Scribd crashing every 25 mins... grrr!

[Paula Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is terrible! The main plot about who killed Corinne Wolfe is so thin that Taylor Jackson is seemingly given about thirty other antagonists to deal with. Her CIA boyfriend is being stalked by a serial killer. The head of the Office Of Professional Responsibility wants to destroy Taylor's career, presumably just because she can! There's another faceless enemy releasing a sex tape of Taylor, and creating a video that makes it look like Taylor committed a murder. There's also the serial killer from the previous novel (14) that is still on the loose!

Seriously? Is there anybody out there who doesn't want to kill Taylor Jackson?!?

I like a good, strong mystery with one central storyline. Not fifteen different mini ones!

And the bit where Taylor pulls out a gun and THREATENS A SUSPECT?!? Holy freaking crap, how stupid can she be? She actually seems surprised when she gets in trouble for it.

This was awful. Despite the twenty different story strands, it was totally boring and stupid.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an OK book. Main character is a strong female cop who doesn't do what others tell her to, including her fiancé, and declares she doesn't need men protecting her. Meh. A new internal battle began and I imagine will carry into the next book. I found myself skimming over some of the descriptive paragraphs; sometimes less is better.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot in this book is way over the top if you stop to review it rationally but you won't until you finish it because it rattles along at a tremendous pace. I can't mention the plot as it would give away too many twists but it is compulsive. I've deducted one star because, although I didn't know why, I guessed the murderer almost straight away.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best of the series so far. Cannot wait to read more!

[BeccaJBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book in this series - ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS - was one of my favourite reads of the year I read it. Absolutely loved it, so much! When I went into the sequel - 14 - with massive expectations and hope, I was ultimately disappointed. I think, had I gone in with less expectation, then I would've liked it a lot more. SOOO, going into book number three - JUDAS KISS - I settled my hopes and just went in expecting nothing :) It worked - I loved it. This one is just as good as the first.

Taylor is being attacked from every side in this serial killer thriller. If not from a crazy killer stalker who she has been trying to catch for ages, then from her superiors on the force who want to take her down. And then there's the bad guys in this case who have some tech wizadry at their hands and some video tapes Taylor doesn't even know about. All that is before we even get into the main plot - a suburban housewife that has been brutally slain in her home, killing not only her but her unborn child too.

The dead woman has a seemingly perfect life: a child and husband, another baby on the way, a comfortable lifestyle, athletic abilities to match Venus and Serena, and a loving extended family too. So why has she been so brutally murdered in her home? Well you'll have to read to find out.

This one is written really well, it is pulse pounding, always something happening, and you genuinely need to know what is going to happen next because how else will you sleep tonight?? I read it over three days and really need to get the next one ASAP!

I did guess the bad guy in this one - really early on - but I don't think that mattered, because it wasn't the main focus, to me, of the book. And the whole point of this one was more Taylor and her 'problems', in my opinion.

A great instalment in the series, I am discounting my opinion of the second one, perhaps I will re read some time. But for now onto number four :)

www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com

[StarMan]

2+ stars for me; probably much higher for most crime/detective/thriller readers (most GR raters gave it 4 or 5 stars).

IN SHORT: Judas Kiss is adequate and sometimes compelling, with regards to the initial murder. But the subplots push it toward "eye roll" territory.

Will you guess the identity of the murderer, from a growing pool of suspects? Read and see.

[Nat PlainJanetheBookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoying this series!! That car crash 😱 I’m enjoying Taylor’s feisty character, and her and her FBI stud’s relationship growing. I loved the plot of this one, and the pace was really morish as an audiobook 🙌🏼 Gimme more 😍

[J.F. Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full video review here => http://mysterythriller.tv/judas-kiss-...

The book starts with a murder as every good mystery does, a brief perspective from the killer and then away. The victim is Corinne Wolff, discovered by her sister with the baby Hayden in the house, covered in her mother’s blood where she had tried to wake her.

But the main character is Taylor Jackson, a homicide lieutenant in Nashville. She is the reason to read this book as we see her complexities revealed in this story. We see how she relates to the men on her team, how she deals with the murder scene, the family, the husband. The action all takes place in one week which keeps the pace flowing.

At the same time, we learn that Taylor has been filmed having sex with a previous partner and the tapes used in an internet sex site. She is discredited on TV, suspended pending investigation. We see her deal with these issues, while still trying to solve the open case. She is tenacious and even through her fury, she is hunting the killer.

Sub plot is John Baldwin her fiancee who works for the government profiling killers who are actually government assets or assassins gone off the books. One of them has a personal vendetta against Baldwin and we learn he is coming to Nashville.

It’s not too graphic in the death scenes which I like. I don’t read the real torture, gruesome detail so this was enough to give the impression of the scene but not enough to make you sick.

I found the story interesting and the character of Taylor compelling, although I did guess the murderer quite early on. The suspense around the killer kept me reading, as did the sub plot of the sex tapes and how it affected Taylor. Her relationship made her more real, the feelings she has and we share. She is tough, but not too tough so we can relate.

This is one in a series of novels with Taylor as the main character and I would definitely recommend trying them out. Judas Kiss is 3rd in the series and I didn’t find it hard to jump into the story.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was another very good story in this series, although by the end of it I was sick to death of reading about Taylor's bloody ponytail and how many times she tied it up, she pulled it free then retied it, etc....really ?? We don't need to know the state of play with her hair before she interviews or arrests somebody, trust me !!
I was more than surprised that Taylor was happy to head off to work leaving a plumber her keys and in the house alone. Her job alone ought to make her more security-aware !! That didn't jibe for me at all.
It wasn't without mistakes, too. For me daycare is usually one word, threeing was used when three-ring was meant, the and not their, tread and not trod, Sherriff's and not Sheriff's, indiscriminant and not indiscriminate, knee not knees....along with the old e-book staple-misplaced apostrophes. This line lost me altogether; "....rapping her knuckles along the wood for effect, then entered the close room"....probably a misspelling again somewhere in it. This did as well-" He used his gas card to fill up the day before the murder, Sunday, in Crossville. So (he) was definitely in the State of Tennessee at least one day after the murder"...I just read and read that and couldn't make sense of it at all !! I had no idea what Chilhowies were, either, I assumed a weed but even Google can't help me with that one.
I despised the new character of Delores-what a piece of work she is, along with being totally unprofessional. I hope she's not going to split Taylor's team up as she wants to, the witch !! I did like the little passage about the dog walking the train tracks. It made me quite sniffy. There were very shocking moments near the end I certainly hadn't guessed at which were terrific. However, Taylor also did something near the end I wasn't too impressed by as well. Looking forward to the next one.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third installment in the Taylor Jackson series opens with quite a hook! The pacing slows a bit, bogged down a bit with an overload of police procedural details. But once the pacing picks up - compounded with a rather left-field plot twist - the book quickly becomes impossible to set aside! And, like its predecessor in the series, 14, it too ends on a cliffhanger. This is, overall, a solidly exciting series and definitely a lot of fun to read. And though the main plot is not completely unpredictable, the nature of the side plots certainly adds a lot of excitement and surprise.

I am a bit disappointed that the Pretender did not make more than just a cameo appearance - but I hope that means that he will soon be the focus of a main plot soon. Still, this cliffhanger ending has me quite anxious to see where the fourth book in the series, The Cold Room, will go!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judas Kiss is the third book in the Taylor Jackson series. I love that this series takes place in Nashville. I know all the restaurants, sites, neighborhoods, streets, and stores mentioned. It’s pretty obvious that Ellison lives in Nashville and she understands local people and politics. I do hope that there aren’t as many serial killers and murderers running around the Nashville area as her books depict.
In this outing, Taylor has been called out on the murder of a young pregnant mother in a wealthy suburb of Nashville. The only witness was the woman’s 18-month-old daughter. The poor child spent an entire weekend with her dead mother before her mother’s body was discovered. During the investigation Taylor turns up evidence that this seemingly perfect mother is involved with a pornography ring. And there is no shortage of people who may have wanted her dead.
Taylor is still living with her fiancé, John Baldwin, an FBI profiler. He is called out of town in pursuit of a serial killer. They are so perfect for each other, and I anticipate that further into the series that they will marry. Having Baldwin in the book provides additional plot lines as he is usually pursuing serial killers.
I felt like Ellison’s first novel, All the Pretty Girls, had a few issues – especially with dialog. Those problems are gone in Judas Kiss. I hate that I skipped from first to third novel and plan on going back to read the second book and will probably read all the remaining books in this series.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG - great book and a cliff hanger to boot!!! J.T. Ellison is creeping up the list of my favourite authors. And I'm still thinking this after my second read!

This book was great - complex, moved quickly in all directions, can't say enough good about it. Time to read The Cold Room now!

5 Solid Stars and 2 Thumbs Up!

[Sarina Morrhaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

goed derde deel in deze reeks rond Taylor Jackson.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slower start than the previous books in this series but eventually picked up.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still have some problems with clichéd writing, and the narrator mispronounced one or two words, but I thought this was a very strong book. The plot was relatively complex but not difficult to understand, and it all hung together. I think a sense of continuity is achieved when cases from previous books are referenced. Taylor really ended up in a bunch of messes in this book, and while I hate (as the author intended) Dolores Norris, the set up for the conflict between her and Taylor is intriguing.

[Necol or Eli Dickson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really love this book. It had an okay story but it seemed to introduce so many enemies but then take them out really quick and not really leave you knowing who to actually be worried about with regards to the characters. There was also like a ton of other stories going on within the main story which just made it really confusing and convoluted. If you're into like cop books that are super crazy all over the place then this book is for you but if you like a horror book that has a little bit more clarity this is not really the book for you.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic, gripping thriller in the Taylor Jackson series, damn that woman has spunk and omg these guys who surround her need to get over themselves cause the woman can take care of herself...lol but it is nice to see she has ample back-up and thank you, Baldwin, for coming clean on everything I am glad it did drag out

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving this series!

[Wendy Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nashville's homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson is back in a third thrilling novel with a murder that will have your head spinning. Her fiance', FBI profile Baldwin, is hot on the trail of another killer that will connect to the high profile criminal, the Pretender, who we watched like a train-wreck in the previous book, 14.

Just back from a trip to Italy, Lt. Taylor Jackson is soon back on duty in a crime that will break your heart. A suburban housewife is found brutally murdered in her home, the house filled with small red and pink footprints. The victim's toddler had been alone with her mother's body for a few days before found. The victim's sister found the body and doesn't take long before turning the scene into a media circus.

Baldwin is called unexpectedly to headquarters. He is a member of a secret unit that tracks and retrieves assassins from different countries and transports them back to their home country. Unfortunately, one of them was dropped from scrutiny and is back in the states. Baldwin feels he may be tracking himself or Taylor for revenge. Baldwin had killed the assassin's wife years before.

Before long, the two cases speed up and collide into a media frenzy. Taylor soon finds herself on the internet engaging in compromising situations that could jeopardize her reputation, her career, and her relationship with Baldwin. Baldwin soon tracks his escape assassin to his own backyard. But will he be able to stop him before things escalate out of his control?

This is a thrilling roller-coaster ride that you just want to put your hands in the air and enjoy the ride. Very complex but likable characters and a plot that twists and turns, leaving you breathless and stunned at its climax. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. If your looking for an edge-of-your-seat thriller, then pick up a copy today. You won't be disappointed ! I can't wait for the next installation!!

[Dotti Elrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judas Kiss starts out with an horrific murder. A young, pregnant housewife is found beaten to death in her home. Her 18 month old daughter is left alone in the house for two days with her mothers body. This scene was heartbreaking and so well written.
The murder brings in homicide detective Taylor Jackson. After interviewing the family members, and going on the evidence found, the husband is quickly put at the head of the line as suspect number one.
Taylor's fiance, FBI profiler John Baldwin is called back to Quantico on secret FBI business, dealing with a hired assassin who has broken away from his tracker and is now hunting on his own. The assassin, has a history with Baldwin and blames him for the death of his wife. Now he wants revenge, an eye for an eye. He has set his sights on Taylor.
Taylor is also dealing with something from her past that surfaces during her investigation. Something that has the potential to ruin not only her career, but her relationship as well.
There are several different storylines going on at once. They are a little confusing at first but you settle into them rather easily. They are all important on their own but take on a whole different meaning as they start to weave themselves together into one. It is very well written and takes several twists and turns along the way. If you pay close attention, you'll figure out who the murderer is, but the answer is not revealed until the very end. Taylor is also dealing with a supervisor who has it out for her. She suspends Taylor early in the book. And what she does to her at the end of the book is unbelievable. It'll make you say wtf? Really? I'm really anxious to start the next one to see how Taylor deals with her situation.

[Saturnus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jag kom faktiskt in i den här serien i denna bok (nr 3) men herre Gud den var ju sjukt bra! Kan inte vänta på att få läsa dom andra böckerna, både föregångna och kommande.

samanfatning:
Härliga poliskommisarien Taylor Jackson får upp ett nytt fall där en mamma är mördad. Hela alltet flippar ut när en massa sexvideor släpps av mamman... och Taylor själv också!
Efter det blir hon sparkad från sin kommisarie roll, hennes team splitras upp, förhållandet knackar och hon får hotbrev från en gammal fiende...

[February Four · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. The beginning was depraved--the murder pretty horrific, and the touches with the child poignant and well-done. The middle was great (plausible, logical, horrific) and the end expected but still shocking. JT Ellison does not pull punches, and that's fantastic. I'm going to have to find book #2 (missed it, skipped by accident) to catch up on what I missed, and then get to book #4 as soon as possible.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Lt in Nashville investigates a terrible murder. Along the way she is framed, what is worse, her own police department are against her.

Although from the beginning, I knew "who dun it" how the detective finally got there was filled with adventure. I enjoyed this book, and will buy more by this author, as one has to know what happens next. Ends with cliff hanger, and one has to read the next book to find out how our detective fares!

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

JT Ellison takes Taylor on a wild ride through murder, sex tapes, politics and lots of secrets. I liked this book because I like the protagonist a lot. And though a couple times the pace seemed to slow, the twists more than made up for it. I look forward to seeing where she goes in the next book.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great installment of J.T. Ellison's Taylor Jackson series set it Nashville. It ends on quite a bit of a cliff hanger so I am excited to read the next book, although I'm not sure that I have the actual book right now :( so I might have to wait a bit to continue with the series. 4/5 stars! Ellison is definitely a favorite mystery writer of mine!!

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of figured it out about halfway through, but initially I was thinking I'd read this one before - it was somewhat similar to one of her other books, only the one I'd already read involved twin sisters I think....Maybe I'm hallucinating....

At any rate, I liked it enough to keep reading the rest of JT's books...

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have read a couple of books out of order in error, this by far is my favorite JT Ellison book. It is an extremely creepy book which has kept me on the edge of my seat..it is that good.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVE this series. I started w/ “All the Pretty Girls” & I was hooked. I read book 2 “14” right after & now, I just finished “Judas Kiss”. No, I’m not moving onto Book 4, instead I’m going to start the next series by J.T. Ellison; starring Sam Owens, Taylor’s best friend.

Who’s Taylor? Taylor Jackson is the central figure in this series. She’s smart, strong, proud & beautiful & she’s unlike any other character I’ve read. I’ve read a number of books w/ a female central character but they are usually too tough to be in love, they’re made of armour to avoid heartache. Again, Taylor is different. She LOVES “Baldwin” (a behaviour analyst for the FBI) & she’s not afraid to let her team know. She also loves her team, & again, is not afraid to show it.

“Judas Kiss” was an awesome book. Probably my fave out of the first 3 in this series that Ive enjoyed reading so much. Lots just happened at the end of this book & I’m still reeling from it. I’m not going to say ,unchanging cuz I don’t want to give nothing away, but if you like a good character driven book, you need to start w/ any of Taylor & J.T. Ellison’s books now. Right now.