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Eve Duncan #5
Blind Alley
The New York Times bestselling author of Firestorm, Iris Johansen, returns with a psychological thriller so terrifying, so relentlessly paced, it won’t leave you time to catch your breath before the next shock comes. A forensic sculptor is locked in a deadly duel with a serial killer determined to destroy her—one life at a time.
Eve Duncan’s job is to put a face on the faceless victims of violent crimes. Her work not only comforts their survivors—but helps catch their killers. But there is another, more personal reason that Eve Duncan is driven to do the kind of work she does—a dark nightmare from a past she can never bury. And as she works on the skull of a newly discovered victim, that past is about to return all over again.
The victim is a Jane Doe found murdered, her face erased beyond recognition. But whoever killed her wasn’t just trying to hide her identity. The plan was far more horrifying. For as the face forms under Eve’s skilled hands, she is about to get the shock of her life. The victim is someone she knows all too well. Someone who isn’t dead. Yet.
Instantly Eve’s peaceful life is shattered. The sanctuary of the lakeside cottage she shares with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn and their adopted daughter Jane has been invaded by a killer who’s sent the grimmest of threats: the face of his next victim. To stop him, Eve must put her own life in the balance and question everything and everyone she trusts. Not even Quinn can go where Eve must go this time.
As the trail of faceless bodies leads to a chilling revelation, Eve finds herself trying to catch a master murderer whose grisly work is a testament to a mind warped by perversion and revenge. Now she must pit her skills against his in a showdown where the stakes are life itself—and where the unbearable cost of failure will make Eve’s own murder seem like a mercy killing.
From the Hardcover edition.
Eve Duncan’s job is to put a face on the faceless victims of violent crimes. Her work not only comforts their survivors—but helps catch their killers. But there is another, more personal reason that Eve Duncan is driven to do the kind of work she does—a dark nightmare from a past she can never bury. And as she works on the skull of a newly discovered victim, that past is about to return all over again.
The victim is a Jane Doe found murdered, her face erased beyond recognition. But whoever killed her wasn’t just trying to hide her identity. The plan was far more horrifying. For as the face forms under Eve’s skilled hands, she is about to get the shock of her life. The victim is someone she knows all too well. Someone who isn’t dead. Yet.
Instantly Eve’s peaceful life is shattered. The sanctuary of the lakeside cottage she shares with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn and their adopted daughter Jane has been invaded by a killer who’s sent the grimmest of threats: the face of his next victim. To stop him, Eve must put her own life in the balance and question everything and everyone she trusts. Not even Quinn can go where Eve must go this time.
As the trail of faceless bodies leads to a chilling revelation, Eve finds herself trying to catch a master murderer whose grisly work is a testament to a mind warped by perversion and revenge. Now she must pit her skills against his in a showdown where the stakes are life itself—and where the unbearable cost of failure will make Eve’s own murder seem like a mercy killing.
From the Hardcover edition.
370 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
607 people are currently reading
5021 people want to read
About the author
Iris Johansen
226 books7,334 followersIris Johansen is a New York Times bestselling author. She began her writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success.
She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.
IRIS JOHANSEN is The New York Times bestselling author of Night and Day, Hide Away, Shadow Play, Your Next Breath, The Perfect Witness, Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn't Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing The Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora's Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On The Run, and more. And with her son, Roy Johansen, she has coauthored Night Watch, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder.
http://www.irisjohansen.com
She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.
IRIS JOHANSEN is The New York Times bestselling author of Night and Day, Hide Away, Shadow Play, Your Next Breath, The Perfect Witness, Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn't Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing The Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora's Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On The Run, and more. And with her son, Roy Johansen, she has coauthored Night Watch, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder.
http://www.irisjohansen.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 444 reviews
October 27, 2023
This does more than just hurt! It's truly painful!
BLIND ALLEY is the fifth novel in the continuing story of Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor, Joe Quinn, Atlanta police detective and Jane MacGuire, their precocious seventeen year old adopted daughter rescued from the streets. Be warned that much of this review might be construed as spoilers but I'm betting that it's not going to matter much since you'll likely be giving the book a pass anyway!
I used to treat Iris Johansen as a sure thing! You know what I mean - the kind of author whose new title you'd add to your reading list without even caring what the plot line was or you'd pick up a copy at the store without even bothering to flip open the dust jacket for a peek! BLIND ALLEY buried that thought - cold, deep and fast! It was a great deal more than just bad - it was truly painful!
A shadowy serial killer named Aldo is on the loose slaughtering women in a most unseemly, gruesome fashion. Carving their living faces right off their skulls, Aldo imagines himself responsible for the systematic elimination of all women who resemble Cira, a courtesan/actress/prostitute killed two thousand years ago in the town of Herculaneum when Vesuvius erupted. It would seem that Aldo is a little upset at having lost the love and attention of his father, an archeologist who became obsessed with Cira when he discovered her statue and some details of her life.
As if that isn't deep enough in left field as the premise for a thriller, imagine the eyebrows you'll raise when you read that Jane MacGuire, Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn's adopted 17 year old daughter is a ringer for Cira. Not only does she find herself stalked by Aldo but some inexplicable psychological attachment to Cira plagues Jane with regular nightmares in which she is trapped in caves or tunnels fleeing for her life from the eruption of Vesuvius.
It doesn't end there - Johansen tosses Mark Trevor into the mix. He's a con and an antiquities smuggler (picture Lovejoy with a nasty streak!) who had a run-in with Aldo and is intent on killing him. To that end he intrudes himself into Eve Duncan's and Joe Quinn's life and sets himself up as Jane's protector. Now, I'm no prude but the scene in which Trevor, a grown man at least as old as Joe, has a near sexual encounter with Jane, a typical seventeen year old teenager with respect to her hormones and sexuality, is just plain distasteful and, frankly, scored well into the red zone on the "yuk" meter!
There is just so much wrong with this novel, it's difficult to know where to begin and where to stop - nightmares that start, happen and end with no explanation or psychological development at all; unlike any previous Johansen novel I've read, the characters and dialogue seem trite, wooden and completely contrived; the outcome of Mark Trevor as a character is left spectacularly un-resolved; Eve Duncan's obsession with her murdered daughter, Bonnie, continues unabated and is definitely becoming downright irritating; a wonderful sub-plot concerning Eve's forensic reconstruction of a real skull from the Vesuvius eruption was simply deep-sixed!
I still own a few Johansen titles that I haven't read so there is perhaps hope. But she'll have to prove to me that she hasn't jumped the shark before I'll spend another cent on a new title!
Paul Weiss
BLIND ALLEY is the fifth novel in the continuing story of Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor, Joe Quinn, Atlanta police detective and Jane MacGuire, their precocious seventeen year old adopted daughter rescued from the streets. Be warned that much of this review might be construed as spoilers but I'm betting that it's not going to matter much since you'll likely be giving the book a pass anyway!
I used to treat Iris Johansen as a sure thing! You know what I mean - the kind of author whose new title you'd add to your reading list without even caring what the plot line was or you'd pick up a copy at the store without even bothering to flip open the dust jacket for a peek! BLIND ALLEY buried that thought - cold, deep and fast! It was a great deal more than just bad - it was truly painful!
A shadowy serial killer named Aldo is on the loose slaughtering women in a most unseemly, gruesome fashion. Carving their living faces right off their skulls, Aldo imagines himself responsible for the systematic elimination of all women who resemble Cira, a courtesan/actress/prostitute killed two thousand years ago in the town of Herculaneum when Vesuvius erupted. It would seem that Aldo is a little upset at having lost the love and attention of his father, an archeologist who became obsessed with Cira when he discovered her statue and some details of her life.
As if that isn't deep enough in left field as the premise for a thriller, imagine the eyebrows you'll raise when you read that Jane MacGuire, Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn's adopted 17 year old daughter is a ringer for Cira. Not only does she find herself stalked by Aldo but some inexplicable psychological attachment to Cira plagues Jane with regular nightmares in which she is trapped in caves or tunnels fleeing for her life from the eruption of Vesuvius.
It doesn't end there - Johansen tosses Mark Trevor into the mix. He's a con and an antiquities smuggler (picture Lovejoy with a nasty streak!) who had a run-in with Aldo and is intent on killing him. To that end he intrudes himself into Eve Duncan's and Joe Quinn's life and sets himself up as Jane's protector. Now, I'm no prude but the scene in which Trevor, a grown man at least as old as Joe, has a near sexual encounter with Jane, a typical seventeen year old teenager with respect to her hormones and sexuality, is just plain distasteful and, frankly, scored well into the red zone on the "yuk" meter!
There is just so much wrong with this novel, it's difficult to know where to begin and where to stop - nightmares that start, happen and end with no explanation or psychological development at all; unlike any previous Johansen novel I've read, the characters and dialogue seem trite, wooden and completely contrived; the outcome of Mark Trevor as a character is left spectacularly un-resolved; Eve Duncan's obsession with her murdered daughter, Bonnie, continues unabated and is definitely becoming downright irritating; a wonderful sub-plot concerning Eve's forensic reconstruction of a real skull from the Vesuvius eruption was simply deep-sixed!
I still own a few Johansen titles that I haven't read so there is perhaps hope. But she'll have to prove to me that she hasn't jumped the shark before I'll spend another cent on a new title!
Paul Weiss
January 14, 2009
Characters are completely unrealistic. The plot is full of holes and also completely unrealistic. And the most annoying part of this is that the author seems to think, or pretends, that the story and characters are perfectly plausible.
I would not recommend this book.
I would not recommend this book.
September 6, 2018
ترجمه ی فاجعه ی نشر بوتیمار.. انقدر بد که حتی نمیتونم توصیفش کنم..
December 28, 2012
Iris Johansen's "Blind Alley" is the 24th book in her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, but it's the first one I've read. Duncan basically works for the police, who bring her bodies that are unrecognizable due to decay. Her job is to "reconstruct" the faces of the victims, so that the police can have a picture to work with. Apparently, this is an actual forensic science. In "Blind Alley", Eve's husband (a cop, of course) recruits her to reconstruct a body in a case he's working on. She does, only to find that the face is an exact match to her adopted daughter, Jane. A serial killer is terrorizing the East Coast, killing young women with eerily similar features, and Eve knows that Jane is somehow the key. This book was entertaining, although I was not very impressed with Johansen's writing abilities. Johansen is extremely heavy on the dialogue, much of it not ringing true or natural. She tells a lot without a lot of showing. Some more detailed description (characters, settings, objects) would have been helpful. The whole novel feels rushed, as if she was in a hurry to write it. (Considering this is her 24th book in the series, with more being published, that assessment seems plausible.) Incidents happen at break-neck speed, too quickly for the reader to catch a breath. Characters are introduced too quickly, without giving adequate time to describe them or figure out what their place within the plot is. Johansen apparently has a big following, but I can't determine why based on this novel. It could be that this is simply not Johansen at her best, but I am willing to give her another try.
June 6, 2016
I have read a lot of this series and for the most part, have enjoyed it. I looked forward to reading more about Eve's adopted daughter, Jane. However, this book was difficult to finish. The only reason I did was to figure out some of the historical references mentioned in the books later in the series.
Jane was portrayed as vacillating between a whiny brat and a manipulative b*tch. I understand that Cira played a part in this portrayal, but it made me wish that Eve and Joe would act like her freaking parents and put their foot down instead of allowing her to run roughshod over them. I get it; her upbringing allows her more adult traits, but she's not an adult yet and her actions reeked of childish disrespect. Also, the so-called sexual tension between her and Trevor made me want to vomit. I don't care how mature she is; she's still 17 years old. Ew.
Jane was portrayed as vacillating between a whiny brat and a manipulative b*tch. I understand that Cira played a part in this portrayal, but it made me wish that Eve and Joe would act like her freaking parents and put their foot down instead of allowing her to run roughshod over them. I get it; her upbringing allows her more adult traits, but she's not an adult yet and her actions reeked of childish disrespect. Also, the so-called sexual tension between her and Trevor made me want to vomit. I don't care how mature she is; she's still 17 years old. Ew.
abandoned
June 30, 2013Slowly working my way through all the random books I've acquired. This one has been on my bookshelf for years, and don't remember the circumstances under which I acquired it. I usually give every book 50 pages (bound) or 20 minutes (audio), but gave it up when I started skipping paragraphs on p. 30. This is an example of why I try to stay away from endless romance/mystery/thriller series that feature a main character. The 30 pages I read were almost entirely exposition, catching the reader up on everyone's backstories while trying to introduce the new elements of the current story. It's mind numbing, and not at all entertaining. And even after 30 pages of explanations, I don't care about Joe, or Eve, or Jane, or Ruth, or why the killer is doing... whatever.
April 17, 2021
I always love Iris Johansen book. My problem is I have to jump books since I don't have a copy of her other books and they are kind of hard to find. 😄😄
Though I had to jump books I was able to understand this book completely. There are little details where I have no idea about since I guess they happened in the other books. Still this book is good.
First chapter is already a suspense with women being brutally killed and have their face peeled off! The interesting part about the killings is that they all look similar or they have some features that are the same. Not to mention, Joe found the data of the women's faces which force him to take action in solving it because they look like Jane!!!
The idea of dreaming someone who is dead for two thousand years is insane! Most especially people who are obssess of those ancient people.
Aldo is truly a maniac. He is so discreet and extremely good in hiding his traces. He is indeed very hard to catch!
Trevor is an interesting man. I wonder if Jane and him have stories in the following books. It would be great!!!!
The ending is fast paced. I didn't expect that Aldo will be killed that fast, no extreme suspense just that. Dead easily. I am kind of disappointed on how the ending turned out. I thought it will suspense and thrilling.
Overall this book is good. The concept is unique, indeed. I recommend this book to those who love mystery/thriller. 😊😊
Though I had to jump books I was able to understand this book completely. There are little details where I have no idea about since I guess they happened in the other books. Still this book is good.
First chapter is already a suspense with women being brutally killed and have their face peeled off! The interesting part about the killings is that they all look similar or they have some features that are the same. Not to mention, Joe found the data of the women's faces which force him to take action in solving it because they look like Jane!!!
The idea of dreaming someone who is dead for two thousand years is insane! Most especially people who are obssess of those ancient people.
Aldo is truly a maniac. He is so discreet and extremely good in hiding his traces. He is indeed very hard to catch!
Trevor is an interesting man. I wonder if Jane and him have stories in the following books. It would be great!!!!
The ending is fast paced. I didn't expect that Aldo will be killed that fast, no extreme suspense just that. Dead easily. I am kind of disappointed on how the ending turned out. I thought it will suspense and thrilling.
Overall this book is good. The concept is unique, indeed. I recommend this book to those who love mystery/thriller. 😊😊
September 17, 2024
3 stars.
This was kind of a miss for me, which is sad, because I love the Eve Duncan series. Alas, with all series, I feel like sometimes the target is bound to be missed.
She focused more on Jane’s character development here, and while there is an element of the supernatural here that I didn’t mind, the villain fell flat for me.
The ending confrontation just felt so rushed in the last 30 pages but not in a good way. It felt like tying up the loose ends, but the actual encounter was meh at best.
Overall, Jane’s development I felt was good, but the plot made this the weakest book in the series so far.
This was kind of a miss for me, which is sad, because I love the Eve Duncan series. Alas, with all series, I feel like sometimes the target is bound to be missed.
She focused more on Jane’s character development here, and while there is an element of the supernatural here that I didn’t mind, the villain fell flat for me.
The ending confrontation just felt so rushed in the last 30 pages but not in a good way. It felt like tying up the loose ends, but the actual encounter was meh at best.
Overall, Jane’s development I felt was good, but the plot made this the weakest book in the series so far.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2021
Easier to get through the first half than the others have been. Jane is now 17 and ready to roll. She has always been a great character, but really comes into her own in this one. I am wondering where these Eve and Jane dream states are going to lead. I could understand Eve's dreams, or are they dreams? I am having a bit more trouble with Jane's. Great new characters in Trevor and Bartlett, although I was afraid all the way through the book that Bartlett was too nice to live. I don't trust authors with nice characters to let them live. On to the next in this series.
July 27, 2022
This is my favorite book in the series so far. I enjoyed that Jane was the focus. And as always, things are unexpected and exciting but believable just the same. Looking forward to the next one.
August 12, 2011
This is the third Eve Duncan book I've read. While I read it just as fast as the others I didn't think I enjoyed it quite as much.
I don't think the problem was entirely that the focus was on her adopted daughter Jane, but it just didn't captivate me I the same way. I liked it okay - not saying I didn't; it was just different.
This one was set several years after the others; Jane is 17, a licensed driver, thinking about the direction her life will take - and having nightmares that may or may not be some sort of psychic link to a 2000-year-old actress who may or may not have died when Vesuvius erupted and whom Jane resembles. Add to it that a crazed serial killer (redundant, I know) has it in for anyone who looks like the actress because his father's infatuation with her caused dear old dad to neglect his boy. It wasn't that I don't like serial killer stories - HUGE Criminal minds fan. But the psychic link thing - just...meh.
A running thread / concept of an older man finding a young gal attractive / appealing (not just on looks), and her feeling feelings she's not used to, that just...sort of...well, meh to that also.
I have one other big gripe: Toward the end a main character says OMG about something ****which then IS NOT resolved in the book**** We are left hanging. *growls* That sort of thing just chaps my hide. A book shouldn't be like every dramatic TV show that seems to think they HAVE to end every season with a cliffhanger.
That all said, the story moves along at a decent pace, the characters are frequently imperiled and other than the minor details above, the story has a satisfying payoff / resolution.
I don't think the problem was entirely that the focus was on her adopted daughter Jane, but it just didn't captivate me I the same way. I liked it okay - not saying I didn't; it was just different.
This one was set several years after the others; Jane is 17, a licensed driver, thinking about the direction her life will take - and having nightmares that may or may not be some sort of psychic link to a 2000-year-old actress who may or may not have died when Vesuvius erupted and whom Jane resembles. Add to it that a crazed serial killer (redundant, I know) has it in for anyone who looks like the actress because his father's infatuation with her caused dear old dad to neglect his boy. It wasn't that I don't like serial killer stories - HUGE Criminal minds fan. But the psychic link thing - just...meh.
A running thread / concept of an older man finding a young gal attractive / appealing (not just on looks), and her feeling feelings she's not used to, that just...sort of...well, meh to that also.
I have one other big gripe: Toward the end a main character says OMG about something ****which then IS NOT resolved in the book**** We are left hanging. *growls* That sort of thing just chaps my hide. A book shouldn't be like every dramatic TV show that seems to think they HAVE to end every season with a cliffhanger.
That all said, the story moves along at a decent pace, the characters are frequently imperiled and other than the minor details above, the story has a satisfying payoff / resolution.
May 9, 2011
A 17 year old who is worse risk taker than a pro-gambler, and is yet mature than both her around-30 yr old foster parents. A mature teenager is fine, but a super-teen?? This is more in the Hardy boys/Nancy Drew lines. And why even call it a "forensic" mystery? All the forensics that was seen in the entire story is just two facial reconstructions, which could have been just anything else, maybe photos dropped at the crime scene would have served as well, the forensic part was kind of forced into the story.
Reincarnation is ok, but what does the author mean to convey by whatever her "Villain" was thinking? He's clever enough for the entire European police forces, and falls for a 17 yr kid? Would anybody believe it?
Finally, I really wish to know what these breathe, drink and eat? They come up on top from the most impossibles childhood, resurrect themselves from the most damaging situations, and find time to excel in everything - EVERYTHING - sports, education, history, grades, work, love, adventure and what not. And that is the most important reason why one should never write about who are more intelligent than oneself, unless its a biography, because then unable to think at their levels of intelligence, we just end up making them unreal - exactly as the characters in this book are, except for Joe Quinn and Bartlett.
Reincarnation is ok, but what does the author mean to convey by whatever her "Villain" was thinking? He's clever enough for the entire European police forces, and falls for a 17 yr kid? Would anybody believe it?
Finally, I really wish to know what these breathe, drink and eat? They come up on top from the most impossibles childhood, resurrect themselves from the most damaging situations, and find time to excel in everything - EVERYTHING - sports, education, history, grades, work, love, adventure and what not. And that is the most important reason why one should never write about who are more intelligent than oneself, unless its a biography, because then unable to think at their levels of intelligence, we just end up making them unreal - exactly as the characters in this book are, except for Joe Quinn and Bartlett.
December 27, 2011
Eve Duncan. She's lost a child. Not just lost, but the daughter was taken from her, kidnapped. And has never been found, and for any Mother, that is the most horrifying thing to ever imagine.
She finds ways to deal with her pain.
She becomes a forensic artist.
Using clay and skill to give faceless victims, their faces back. Giving hope to the victims survivors, and bringing the wrongdoer to justice.
She also has taken in a teenager. One who's past is fraught with despair and neglect. She has come to love her pseudo daughter, and the feeling is returned.
her name is Jane.
Jane's face is the reason for her demise though, in a very curious murder-thriller from Iris Johansen.
It's fairly fast paced, and it's pretty well written.
The idea of WHY the murderer is going after all of these women, with this particular face and facial features, is absolutely intriguing.
They psychosis of childhoods and traumatic events are never less than wicked awesome.
- CJ
She finds ways to deal with her pain.
She becomes a forensic artist.
Using clay and skill to give faceless victims, their faces back. Giving hope to the victims survivors, and bringing the wrongdoer to justice.
She also has taken in a teenager. One who's past is fraught with despair and neglect. She has come to love her pseudo daughter, and the feeling is returned.
her name is Jane.
Jane's face is the reason for her demise though, in a very curious murder-thriller from Iris Johansen.
It's fairly fast paced, and it's pretty well written.
The idea of WHY the murderer is going after all of these women, with this particular face and facial features, is absolutely intriguing.
They psychosis of childhoods and traumatic events are never less than wicked awesome.
- CJ
June 15, 2020
Terrible book! I have read all the previous Eve Duncan books, and thought they were all pretty decent. Until I read this one. The story line is so unrealistic, it’s laughable. The plot & all the random historical bits of trivia were pointless and added nothing to the story. NONE of the characters in this book were like-able. Even the main characters that we’ve met in previous book were so surface-level in this book, I honestly didn’t care if they lived or died. The flashback dreams/memories were so unbelievable that they completely undermined the credibility of the story. The author also kept going on & on about the “sexual tension” between Jane & a career conman. She’s 17 and he’s a grown ass man......gross! I wanted to quit less than two chapters into this book, but forced myself to finish. Now I’m wishing I had cut my losses & just skipped this book all together. In a one word nutshell, this book flat out SUCKED! Hopefully the series gets better after this book, or I am done!
May 30, 2020
I gave this book 2 stars originally, which means "it was ok". It wasn't ok, it was awful. The plot was beyond ridiculous and not the least bit interesting. She really had to stretch to come up with her normal serial killer plot that would revolve around Jane, and she found one that is boring and unbelievable. She did a disservice to Jane with this book; Jane used to be interesting. Not sure that is the case any more.
December 9, 2015
3.5 stars. I liked the plot but it was extremely unrealistic - not that I am looking for true crime but this was not plausible and I had a hard time linking the characters together.
And Jane and Trevor - That's not something I'm interested in. Yikes.
And Jane and Trevor - That's not something I'm interested in. Yikes.
July 16, 2020
Blind Alley
The Eve Duncan series, Book 5
Iris Johansen, author
Mesmerizing, engaging, and action packed thriller, that will definitely keep you glued to your seat......
Forensic sculpturist Eve Duncan and former Navy Seal Joe Quinn's adopted teenaged daughter, Jane MacGuire is caught up in a serial killer's trap, as she resembles a woman he is consumed with. She is to be his next victim, but Jane will not be anyone's victim or will she? Will she retreat as Joe begins his skillful investigation or will she fight alongside of him? Will Eve allow another one of her daughter's lives to be put into jeopardy? But wait, there's another party that seems to be interfering with the investigation. Is this man another antagonist or is he a friend?
Read this thrill seeking storyline for yourself. It will definitely hold your attention as the story unfolds. I most highly recommend this book.
The Eve Duncan series, Book 5
Iris Johansen, author
Mesmerizing, engaging, and action packed thriller, that will definitely keep you glued to your seat......
Forensic sculpturist Eve Duncan and former Navy Seal Joe Quinn's adopted teenaged daughter, Jane MacGuire is caught up in a serial killer's trap, as she resembles a woman he is consumed with. She is to be his next victim, but Jane will not be anyone's victim or will she? Will she retreat as Joe begins his skillful investigation or will she fight alongside of him? Will Eve allow another one of her daughter's lives to be put into jeopardy? But wait, there's another party that seems to be interfering with the investigation. Is this man another antagonist or is he a friend?
Read this thrill seeking storyline for yourself. It will definitely hold your attention as the story unfolds. I most highly recommend this book.
August 14, 2022
Johansson seems to have wandered far from the original series which focused on Eve Duncan's occupation as a forensic sculptor and into a realm of fantastical government conspiracies.
April 8, 2023
Pues estos librinos están entretenidos. No son muy densos, se leen rápido y tienen un final de thriller que mejora libro a libro. 7/10 Destripadoras
June 9, 2020
I really really liked this! I listened to the audio book needed something to get me up and walking and this did the trick. Action packed audio book.
August 4, 2011
I liked this book a lot better than previous one as this one actually has Eve involved a little bit as the previous one was all about Sarah and no mention of Eve. I am an Iris Johansen fan though.
This story gives the reader more insight to Jane MacGuire, Eve and Joe 17yo adopted daughter. I enjoyed the fact that you got to know more about Jane and how she thinks and acts. She is devoted to Toby, the dog Sarah gave to her and Jane is very independent and stubborn and comes across as more mature than her age due to early childhood.
The story is actually centered around Jane mainly. Aldo is obsessed with anyone who has the face that looks like Cira, a woman from 2000 years ago, and will kill anyone who looks like her. Jane looks very much like her and Aldo decides that she must die.
Introduced in this story is Bartlett and Trevor (who if I remember correctly is in later books also.) Trevor is a bit of a con man who is trying to 'save' Jane from Aldo but, Trevor and Aldo know each other from years ago.
The story ends up taking all the characters to a place far away from Atlanta where they have lured Aldo into a trap to stop him from killing more women. In between all of this, Jane is having dreams that she is Cira and is trying to escape from a volucano that is erupting. Jane also is having a love interest with Trevor who is much older than her.
With the help of Sontag, an archelogist, they plant false stories in newspapers and magazine to lure Aldo to Herculaneum where Cira lived. They also concoct a false story that Eve will being doing a reconstruction of what they believe is Cira. Joe and Jane follow Eve here in order to set the trap for Aldo.
Thankfully, the love interest between the two did not develope into anything yet due to mainly Jane's age. One does have to wonder though how Jane managed to get everyone on board to let her lure Aldo to Cira's old ciry, and to let herself being used as bait. The only thing that I did not believe/like is the ending where Jane is hurt due to the stabbing from Aldo and she will not go and get medical attention as she feels that she needs to help Joe dig Eve from a cave-in. Eve is not injured and yet she does not tell Jane to get herself taken care of. I would have thought that any parent who is ok would tell there kids to get themself taken care of before trying to help dig a cave-out.
This story gives the reader more insight to Jane MacGuire, Eve and Joe 17yo adopted daughter. I enjoyed the fact that you got to know more about Jane and how she thinks and acts. She is devoted to Toby, the dog Sarah gave to her and Jane is very independent and stubborn and comes across as more mature than her age due to early childhood.
The story is actually centered around Jane mainly. Aldo is obsessed with anyone who has the face that looks like Cira, a woman from 2000 years ago, and will kill anyone who looks like her. Jane looks very much like her and Aldo decides that she must die.
Introduced in this story is Bartlett and Trevor (who if I remember correctly is in later books also.) Trevor is a bit of a con man who is trying to 'save' Jane from Aldo but, Trevor and Aldo know each other from years ago.
The story ends up taking all the characters to a place far away from Atlanta where they have lured Aldo into a trap to stop him from killing more women. In between all of this, Jane is having dreams that she is Cira and is trying to escape from a volucano that is erupting. Jane also is having a love interest with Trevor who is much older than her.
With the help of Sontag, an archelogist, they plant false stories in newspapers and magazine to lure Aldo to Herculaneum where Cira lived. They also concoct a false story that Eve will being doing a reconstruction of what they believe is Cira. Joe and Jane follow Eve here in order to set the trap for Aldo.
Thankfully, the love interest between the two did not develope into anything yet due to mainly Jane's age. One does have to wonder though how Jane managed to get everyone on board to let her lure Aldo to Cira's old ciry, and to let herself being used as bait. The only thing that I did not believe/like is the ending where Jane is hurt due to the stabbing from Aldo and she will not go and get medical attention as she feels that she needs to help Joe dig Eve from a cave-in. Eve is not injured and yet she does not tell Jane to get herself taken care of. I would have thought that any parent who is ok would tell there kids to get themself taken care of before trying to help dig a cave-out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 19, 2019
This is an Eve Duncan novel. I have read so many of these, I actually thought I had read them all; recently I learned I was wrong, so I decided to catch up via audio books.
This actually starts the Eve’s foster daughter Jane’s series of nightmares concerning a famous woman, who lived in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in the town of Herculaneum during the volcanic eruption that covered the town and Pompeii in ashes in 79 CE. The woman, Cira begins to invade Jane’s dreams with her attempted escape from the volcanic eruption.
At the same time, a man introducing himself as Mark Trevor of Scotland Yard makes his debut on the scene. The reader will soon learn that Mark, although not affiliated with Scotland Yard and with a checkered past is actually one of the good guys; well, at least where Jane McGuire is concerned.
Mark has provided Atlanta PD with files concerning a serial killer who has struck in Europe, the British Isles and now, it appears in the United States. In each case, the woman who is killed has a distinctive look; in fact, at a quick glance one could swear they were looking at Jane. The killer also cuts off the face of the victim, leaving them with a pile of volcanic ash resting next to the corpse.
In order to assure himself that the information he has received is correct; Joe brings the skull of a recent victim to Eve for reconstruction. When she completes the task, she is shocked to see the resemblance to Jane. The peaceful existence that Eve Duncan has been basking in of late has been shattered!
Now, Eve and Joe team up with Trevor to learn everything they can about the madman and his compulsion with Cira and beat him before he gets to Jane!
This actually starts the Eve’s foster daughter Jane’s series of nightmares concerning a famous woman, who lived in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in the town of Herculaneum during the volcanic eruption that covered the town and Pompeii in ashes in 79 CE. The woman, Cira begins to invade Jane’s dreams with her attempted escape from the volcanic eruption.
At the same time, a man introducing himself as Mark Trevor of Scotland Yard makes his debut on the scene. The reader will soon learn that Mark, although not affiliated with Scotland Yard and with a checkered past is actually one of the good guys; well, at least where Jane McGuire is concerned.
Mark has provided Atlanta PD with files concerning a serial killer who has struck in Europe, the British Isles and now, it appears in the United States. In each case, the woman who is killed has a distinctive look; in fact, at a quick glance one could swear they were looking at Jane. The killer also cuts off the face of the victim, leaving them with a pile of volcanic ash resting next to the corpse.
In order to assure himself that the information he has received is correct; Joe brings the skull of a recent victim to Eve for reconstruction. When she completes the task, she is shocked to see the resemblance to Jane. The peaceful existence that Eve Duncan has been basking in of late has been shattered!
Now, Eve and Joe team up with Trevor to learn everything they can about the madman and his compulsion with Cira and beat him before he gets to Jane!
July 25, 2011
I was very entranced with this book. It kept me drug in and was better then the last two Eve Duncan books. I enjoy Iris Johansen and she kept me in this book from early on. I thought when I first started it "oh no another dud" but after a few more pages i was hooked. It deals a lot more with Jane and a new man and a maniac killer... What more could you ask for? I was grossed out by the new man (Trevor) having an interest in Jane, but then I realized that most young women in real life have romances with older men before they're 18. I'm happy that Johansen did not let it become a sexual relationship even though Jane's age mentally is far beyond her 17 physical years most of the time it would have made me lose respect for Johansen. However my one big fault with this story is one that I'm finding common now days is with Eve herself. She comes off as to weak to be a heroine in any book, even though of course she isn't meant to be one in this book. My also small disturbance was with how Joe and Quinne allowed Jane to do as she please with not much fuss. My last big disturbance that I honestly didn't think about until I started writing this is that the dreams that i thought might lead to Jane being an incarnation or psychic were left unexplained.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2016
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I read Blind Alley, which is the fifth book in the Eve Duncan series after reading book six, Countdown. Of course that was a fantastic idea . Either way, I wouldn't recommend it as this leaves you with a lot of spoilers for Blind Alley.
If you can set aside the complete unrealism that surrounds the story, it is actually quite an entertaining read. I read it a few years ago when I went to one of my suspense-phases in which I would read a lot of those book. (At the moment I'm not really in such a phase).
The characters were not the best or most sympathetic that I've encountered and the same goes for the story. Like I said, if you are looking for realistic or believable crime stories, keep looking, because you won't find it here. But if you don't mind from time to time, these aren't so bad.
I read Blind Alley, which is the fifth book in the Eve Duncan series after reading book six, Countdown. Of course that was a fantastic idea . Either way, I wouldn't recommend it as this leaves you with a lot of spoilers for Blind Alley.
If you can set aside the complete unrealism that surrounds the story, it is actually quite an entertaining read. I read it a few years ago when I went to one of my suspense-phases in which I would read a lot of those book. (At the moment I'm not really in such a phase).
The characters were not the best or most sympathetic that I've encountered and the same goes for the story. Like I said, if you are looking for realistic or believable crime stories, keep looking, because you won't find it here. But if you don't mind from time to time, these aren't so bad.
April 29, 2021
This is the first time I’ve read an Iris Johansen book. I think it will be my last time as well. This is just an awful story with unlikable characters.
Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor. I thought well this sounds good.
Jane is Eve’s adopted daughter. Ok but I have to confess the way it was written had me thinking something else for the first few pages.
There’s a killer (of course there is) who’s targeting people who look like Cira from Pompeii (don’t ask) and Jane looks like Cira so you can put two and two together.
The reader is treated to nightmares that hint at Vesuvius erupting… and the cherry on top is the 30 year old guy hitting on a 17 year old.
Think of it this way I saved you from having to read 380 pages of it.
https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...
Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor. I thought well this sounds good.
Jane is Eve’s adopted daughter. Ok but I have to confess the way it was written had me thinking something else for the first few pages.
There’s a killer (of course there is) who’s targeting people who look like Cira from Pompeii (don’t ask) and Jane looks like Cira so you can put two and two together.
The reader is treated to nightmares that hint at Vesuvius erupting… and the cherry on top is the 30 year old guy hitting on a 17 year old.
Think of it this way I saved you from having to read 380 pages of it.
https://theworldisabookandiamitsreade...
May 6, 2014
Honestly I didn't think this book in the series was one of the best. I didn't think it really measured up to the others I've read before it. However, it was a pretty good mystery just the same and I did have to finish it to find out what happened. One thing I have noticed in my journey through this series is that some of the phrases Johansen uses annoy me a little. They seem dated. But the stories are generally great and the twist at the end is what I love in a good mystery, so I've made it my mission to read the whole series all the way through. Unless of course this last book is an indication of a turn for the worst, which judging by the ratings the books get isn't the case.
I also kinda wish Joe would calm down the "Butch" demeanor a little. Someone give that guy a Valium.
I also kinda wish Joe would calm down the "Butch" demeanor a little. Someone give that guy a Valium.
March 21, 2023
It's been a minute since I've read others in the Eve Duncan series.. BUT WHAT THE FUCK. This was sooo unbelievable and I'm a person that usually doesn't mind scenarios that are unrealistic, but this one was just too far out there. Jane's personality was all over the place, even for a teenager going through a lot of things. And the "romance" between her and Trevor made me want to vomit. He is a grown ass man going after a 17 year old. Gross.
.
Also, the description is super misleading as Eve barely plays a part in this as a secondary character in this book.
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Also, the description is super misleading as Eve barely plays a part in this as a secondary character in this book.
March 29, 2022
I gave up…I was almost 250 pages in, and I just couldn’t. This is the 2nd Eve Duncan book I’ve read, and I had to force myself through the first one, too (Stalemate). They were both given to me, so, thankfully, it’s the last of these books I have.
Finding out the killer so early on makes the story less interesting. Plus, the story is preposterous. I gave up before they decided to stage this whole “catch him if you can” scenario in Italy. I was already hanging on the story by a thread, and that whole scheme completely lost me.
Finding out the killer so early on makes the story less interesting. Plus, the story is preposterous. I gave up before they decided to stage this whole “catch him if you can” scenario in Italy. I was already hanging on the story by a thread, and that whole scheme completely lost me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2010
i didn't like this book until trevor stepped into the picture, i found the relationship between jane and her adoptive parents very.. mellow, boring.. old-fashioned i guess. i dont like it when authors make teenagers so mature because it makes it seem as if they don't know how to write a character of that age properly.. anyway, the book needed a spark and that spark was trevor. it was actually a pretty good book and i recommend it.
September 27, 2010
I thought this book was just okay.
It was definitely not my favorite in this series.
I give it a C.
Here is how I rate my books:
A+ - Awesome book - couldn't put it down.
A - Really good book - would read it again and again.
B+ - Good book - would maybe read it again.
B - Good book - wouldn't read it again.
C - Okay book - would definitely never read it again.
F - Worst book EVER.
It was definitely not my favorite in this series.
I give it a C.
Here is how I rate my books:
A+ - Awesome book - couldn't put it down.
A - Really good book - would read it again and again.
B+ - Good book - would maybe read it again.
B - Good book - wouldn't read it again.
C - Okay book - would definitely never read it again.
F - Worst book EVER.
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