The Heart of a Killer by Jaci Burton - March 2016 BOM

[Sandra]

The winner of our March Book of the Month Poll is The Heart of a Killer by Jaci Burton. This sounds like another excellent choice. All are invited to join in reading & discussing this book in March. Thanks to Cindy for nominating The Heart of a Killer.

Cindy, please feel free to lead the discussion any way you like.

This thread will become a Spoiler Zone on the 15th.


Synopsis:
No one said coming home would be easy. But for Dante Renaldi, it's murder.

Before the Special Forces hero has even unpacked his bags from twelve years of active duty, he's embroiled in murder—corpses bearing the brutal trademark he's seen only once before—on the worst night of his life.

The last time Detective Anna Pallino saw Dante Renaldi, they were in love. Now, he's part of the connection to a string of fresh homicides and a horrible assault that Anna only survived thanks to him.

More than anything, Anna wants to trust Dante. But as the bodies and the coincidences stack up, Anna will have to decide, and fast: Is the man she owes her life to the very same one who wants her dead?

[Tanvi]

Excited to try out another new-to-me author with the group! I'll probably get to this by the 2nd week of March though. :)

[Charlene]

I didn't know she wrote RS. Have ordered it through our state library system. I'm looking forward to this one.

[Sandra]

I didn't realize it either, Charlene. I hope to get to this one by mid-March. I think it sounds good!

[Sheri]

I enjoyed this one....I read last year...Probably won't be rereading but will join in the discussion. I was really disappointed because there was a second book scheduled to come out and then they decided not to release it.

[Sandra]

Oh...that is disappointing, Sheri. This first one doesn't end on a cliffhanger, does it?

[Sheri]

Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Oh...that is disappointing, Sheri. This first one doesn't end on a cliffhanger, does it?"

Luckily it did not but i was really looking forward to the 2nd book. I even had it on pre order. It was when I didn't receive the book that I saw on Goodreads that it was not going to be released.

[Sandra]

Wonder why they decided to not release book 2...the rating on book 1 is good, I think.

[Sheri]

Here is what she said as to why she pulled it.
"Unfortunately, I’ve pulled Killer Decision from my release schedule. I’m focusing all my attention on contemporary romance right now, and less on romantic suspense, so I just don’t feel this book fits in with what I’m writing at the moment. Maybe at some point in the future I’ll decide to publish the book, but not right now."

[Christine]

I can't wait to read this book

[Susan]

this one looks good also. I am in

[Christine]

I agree with you Susan

[Sandra]

Sheri wrote: "Here is what she said as to why she pulled it.
"Unfortunately, I’ve pulled Killer Decision from my release schedule. I’m focusing all my attention on contemporary romance right now, and less on ro..."

She does a great job with contemporary romance so can't blame her for that. I'm interested to see how this book goes...see if she's as good at romance suspense.

[Vera]

This is somewhere in my plan for the month.

[Cindy]

Just started this one and I was thinking that there were enough guys for several books. Too bad she decided to pull the second book from release.

[Christine]

I ordered this book online so I'll be getting this book tomorrow

[Susan]

finished and I thought all along I knew who the killer was. oh well I got it wrong. great book really enjoyed it and cant wait to talk to everyone about it. I would really love to see Gabe get his own book.

[Charlene]

My library copy came today. I'm trying to pace the reading of several books with their discussion dates! Talk with you soon, and looking forward to it.

[Sandra]

I'm trying to work in several books with discussion dates also...hard to do with so many! I'll work this one in as soon as I can.

[Christine]

I'm still waiting for that book to come in the mail so I can read it and Susan you read very fast lol

[Tanvi]

I have this one on my kindle, hope to start it sometime next week but I still have to finish The Search and Immortal In Death for the group read before that.. So many good books to read in March, so little time! :p

[Charlene]

I just finished this one, and I liked the lead characters. I wish there was a Book #2 and #3, at least. Not a cliffhanger, just that I would like to have learned more about others and to read their RS stories. One guy in particular deserved a really good story....doggone.

I'll be looking forward to our discussion next week!

[Sandra]

Oh...that sounds promising, Charlene. Looking forward to reading this one. I wonder if the author will ever consider writing more books for the series...maybe a question we should ask her. :)

[Christine]

I started this book last night and I really like it

[Susan]

Christine wrote: "I'm still waiting for that book to come in the mail so I can read it and Susan you read very fast lol"

that's what happens when you have no life other than work and reading. now that the weather is breaking hopefully will be out and about I enjoyed this book and cant wait for non spoilers to see what everyone thought

[Christine]

I'm reading this book and I really like it and I want to know who the killer is

[Vera]

Just started this. I can see how the author leans towards CR in her writing.

[Sandra]

I've read some of her CR...never realized she had a R/S book. I'm next in line for this one so hopefully will have it soon.

[Christine]

I'm really getting into this book because it's very interesting and I want to see who the killer is and I don't think Dante is the one who's killing everyone

[Tanvi]

I just started reading this an hour ago and I'm really enjoying the pace, the suspense, the heat. :)

[Jonetta]

Reminder: This will become a spoiler zone on the 15th.

[Jonetta]

Cindy, you'll need to use the spoiler feature until the 15th.

[Cindy]

Jonetta wrote: "Cindy, you'll need to use the spoiler feature until the 15th."
I deleted the comment. I thought that it was later but saw someone else's comment and figured I was wrong about the date.

[Jonetta]

I understand! Unfortunately, I had to delete that comment for obvious reasons. Thanks for doing that, Cindy.

[Christine]

I'm sorry that I spoiled it lol

[Jonetta]

No problem, Christine. You can repost your comment on the 15th.

[Christine]

Alright thanks jonetta

[Tanvi]

I just finished reading it...wow. I did not see that coming!

[Christine]

I agree with you tanvi

[Vera]

Finished this. I know this author now says she is focusing on her CR, and pulled publishing more RS and this series. I think I would've liked to see her develop more in this RS series. It was a really good start to stepping into the slightly different genre.
I felt like it was kind of not enough in each part though. Started out great, then the romance part I just couldn't connect with. I felt like being told how much they loved each other and resisted, but didn't quite get the development or felt like I was being shown how they got back to admitting the feeling. The conflict part of the romance felt like "Im so mad Ill never forgive. Oh someone else had something to do with it, I dont care still mad he made the choice." to being totally over it and fine.
The suspense part was good. I really wanted to know what was going on and who the killer was. Though i kind of thought who it was, in the end it just didn't quite make sense. I thought there was something missing to make it... click.
Although those were some major issues for me with the book, I still enjoyed reading it and hoped the author was going to continue. Partly because I loved some of the other characters and partly because I think she could develop more in the genre as she wrote more. Just a few things that made it okay, but not great yet.

[Sandra]

I'm a little over 1/2 way through this book. I have 2 suspects, but am not sure yet who the murderer is.

[Tanvi]

I couldn't even guess, Sandra...it was completely unexpected!

[Sandra]

I finished and while it was a surprise to me that Roman was "insane", it wasn't a surprise that he was the killer. I didn't want him to be the one, but I just had a sinking suspicion. It was becoming obvious that he was in love with Anna. The first time he told her that she shouldn't trust Dante, I thought something was "off". And then all the little things started to add up. I really hate that Anna's father was killed...I thought maybe the author would let him survive.

I really would like to read Gabe's story. Too bad the author decided not to continue the series. :(

[Christine]

I wouldn't think that Roman was the killer

[Loriidae]

I didn't think there were enough clues to make roman a credible villain. The major one was the girlfriend no one has met. I didn't feel that the incidents that showed that he was in love with her were stalkerish enough. His identity as the villain came totally out of left field with not a lot to back it up, even the explanations were brief.

[Tanvi]

Christine, Loriidae - I felt exactly the same way!
But sometimes I wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing, though. Does it make a story good or bad if the reader can't guess who the villain is right till the very end? Is it part of the whole suspense aspect of the story that the villain comes totally out of left field and confounds the reader? When we look back and see why we missed the clues (if any) throughout the story, should we have been able to spot them before?
What do you guys think?

[Sandra]

For me - it can be good & bad. It's all in the way the author writes it. I've read books in which I couldn't guess the winner until near the end and yet after I knew who it was...I could see the clues the author had masterfully woven throughout - sign of a very good author, I think. But likewise, I've read books that were as equally good & well-written in which I figured out the villain early on and yet was still held spellbound throughout the rest of the book. What I dislike is a book where the author just seems to pick a villain out of the blue seemingly just to end the book...making no sense whatsoever.

I clued in to Roman in this one - something just felt "off" about him for me like he just wasn't who he was made out to be. I didn't, however, see him as totally insane until the end.

[Christine]

I would never think that Roman was the killer