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paulabrandon's review against another edition
3.0
Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano must track a serial killer who is staging their crime scenes in abandoned churches in Philadelphia. The book's blurb on the back gives away the details of most of the killings! Meanwhile, Kevin has joined a program to act a "big brother" type to underprivileged boy Gabriel Hightower.
I have always been a long fan of the serial killer thriller, really getting into the genre when I started reading Tess Gerritsen and Karin Slaughter. However, as time has worn on, many of them stopped becoming serial killer thrillers, and instead dry, boring police procedurals. Particularly the British ones! They were all the same! However, American offerings seemed to avoid the usual Britsh tropes: characters only existing to discover a dead body, a lead detective with a haunted past, a subordinate or a boss trying to undermine, and a pesky journalist seeking either fame or obsessively trying to crucify the lead detective in the media.
Unfortunately, The Killing Room decided to go with the pesky journalist subplot BIG TIME. A lot of plot space is wasted on Shane Adams, who is following Kevin Byrne around, and attempts to shame him on the news. And, ultimately, this plot doesn't go anywhere. By the end of the book, I couldn't figure out what Shane was doing in the story. He does not serve any purpose! HE DOES NOT NEED TO BE THERE!
I hate the pesky journalist trope. Hate it, hate it, hate it. When it kept cropping up here, I abandoned the book for several days at a time. I was just NOT interested. And persisting with it didn't even pay off. Shane served no purpose to the plot at all.
This is 2.5 rounded up to 3. It's a credit to the book that it still reads well, and the plot is constructed very cleverly. Aside from bloody Shane Adams, several subplots tie into the main action in surprising and suspenseful ways. The killer has an interesting backstory (although the religious mania angle is getting a bit old, and had already been explored in The Rosary Girls, the first book in this series.) Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are smart, likeable protagonists that don't come with the ridiculous backstories that British crime novel protagonists seem to.
If only all of that stupid pesky journalist subplot rubbish had been excised from this, The Killing Room could have been an above average, memorable serial killer thriller.
I have always been a long fan of the serial killer thriller, really getting into the genre when I started reading Tess Gerritsen and Karin Slaughter. However, as time has worn on, many of them stopped becoming serial killer thrillers, and instead dry, boring police procedurals. Particularly the British ones! They were all the same! However, American offerings seemed to avoid the usual Britsh tropes: characters only existing to discover a dead body, a lead detective with a haunted past, a subordinate or a boss trying to undermine, and a pesky journalist seeking either fame or obsessively trying to crucify the lead detective in the media.
Unfortunately, The Killing Room decided to go with the pesky journalist subplot BIG TIME. A lot of plot space is wasted on Shane Adams, who is following Kevin Byrne around, and attempts to shame him on the news. And, ultimately, this plot doesn't go anywhere. By the end of the book, I couldn't figure out what Shane was doing in the story. He does not serve any purpose! HE DOES NOT NEED TO BE THERE!
I hate the pesky journalist trope. Hate it, hate it, hate it. When it kept cropping up here, I abandoned the book for several days at a time. I was just NOT interested. And persisting with it didn't even pay off. Shane served no purpose to the plot at all.
This is 2.5 rounded up to 3. It's a credit to the book that it still reads well, and the plot is constructed very cleverly. Aside from bloody Shane Adams, several subplots tie into the main action in surprising and suspenseful ways. The killer has an interesting backstory (although the religious mania angle is getting a bit old, and had already been explored in The Rosary Girls, the first book in this series.) Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are smart, likeable protagonists that don't come with the ridiculous backstories that British crime novel protagonists seem to.
If only all of that stupid pesky journalist subplot rubbish had been excised from this, The Killing Room could have been an above average, memorable serial killer thriller.
dnemec's review against another edition
4.0
I always really enjoy this series, and bought this book solely because of that. Another fast-paced, interesting thriller.
rojo25's review against another edition
4.0
This book kept me guessing until the end. Not the best thriller but it moved well and the characters were terrific. Lots going on in this story but it pulled together well. This was my first Balzano and Byrne book. Didn’t realize it was a series until I finished. All in all enjoyable.
martinej's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
soupysammy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Without knowing this book is a part of a series involving the two detectives I still loved it. The chemistry of them made it easy to jump into this book and understand they are work partners and knowing I can find more. is wonderful. I really enjoyed the intense mystery of this one
champke's review against another edition
2.0
It was good. Not a fan of religious items being involved.
mrsbooknerd's review against another edition
2.0
I've read a few novels in this series before and I do like the characters of Jess and Byrne, however I felt that this novel was a little too Jess/Byrne-centric. The plot progressed really slowly, only to have an ending that came super left of field because it was based on character histories of which we had no knowledge. Much of the book detailed Byrne's inner musings or Jess' workouts etc and while they built on the characters for the series, it meant that the plot of this book suffered poor pacing. By the midway point I was actually quite bored.
The plot needed more leads and red herrings instead of just a series of murders studded with pages about Jess and Byrne. The threads of the conclusion needed to start revealing themselves earlier to have kept my interest. I like to try and work out crime novels as I go, thinking it's Doris the gardner but oh no, because of the kippers I now think it's George the tiger groomer. Or whatever. In this book, my participation was zero because there was nothing to work out, it was all revealed and concluded right at the end making the earlier 400 pages a bit of a pointless journey.
The plot needed more leads and red herrings instead of just a series of murders studded with pages about Jess and Byrne. The threads of the conclusion needed to start revealing themselves earlier to have kept my interest. I like to try and work out crime novels as I go, thinking it's Doris the gardner but oh no, because of the kippers I now think it's George the tiger groomer. Or whatever. In this book, my participation was zero because there was nothing to work out, it was all revealed and concluded right at the end making the earlier 400 pages a bit of a pointless journey.