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Killer Takes All by Erica Spindler
4★'s
"The White Rabbit beckons you to follow him, down the rabbit hole, into his world. He's a deceiver, a trickster. You won't know what is truth and what is a lie. He aims to best you. Beat you. And when he does, you die."
"A friend's brutal murder turns former homicide detective Stacy Killian's life upside down. Unwilling to trust Spencer Malone, the overconfident New Orleans detective assigned to the case, Stacy is compelled to return to the investigative role she had fled."
From the Book:
The investigation leads Stacy and Spencer to White Rabbit, a cultish fantasy role-playing game. White Rabbit is dark, violent -- and addictive. As the body count mounts, they find themselves trapped in a terrifying game that's more real than life and death. Because anyone can die before the final moment when White Rabbit is over . . . and the killer takes all."
My Thoughts:
For those of us that feed on mysteries the villain will come as no real surprise. What was surprising was how many red herrings Erica Spindler threw us and how many of those red herrings we believed.
Role playing games are the main focus of the plot line and you really need to know or at least have a general idea of exactly how these "games" work. One thing the reader does learn about them from this work is that sometimes they are not a "game" and many times they are even deadly. Anyone can be a victim and anyone can be a murderer.
As for the characters...they were okay. The author would have made Stacey Killian more believable if she had left her as still a member of the Dallas Police Department instead of an ex-member. Maybe the New Orleans Police would have been more grateful for her help and she would have come across more as helping not impeding a murder investigation. I'm amazed she wasn't arrested in spite of her good intentions. Overall...it was an enjoyable read with just enough intrigue to make it interesting.
