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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
I saw where this was going, but convinced myself I was wrong until I couldn't anymore. This one lost all the points for me by the ending alone.
Sin #1: Over the top protagonist
Robert Hunter is a cop. Not just any cop! A cop on the special homicide team. Did I mention he's a genius? He's so smart he went through school in record time. His PhD thesis was so good it became an FBI handbook. But he doesn't work with the feds, those paper pushers have got nothing on ~real cops~. Hunter reminds you of how smart he is by having random knowledge of everything they need to know, when they need to know it, because "he reads a lot."
Sin #2: Tortured past
Not as big of a sin as it coud have been. But the main cause of his angst is the loss of his previous partner and his cousin (they were married). I might have cared, if these were actual developed characters, but they're just brief reminices that drive Hunter to work harder.
Sin #3: Mish-mash killer
This isn't just a practiced, confident, dangerous serial killer. It's one who is completely sadistic. Each death has to be exceptionally nasty. They are a surgeon, capable of creating devestating diseases by hand (?), a bomb-maker, etc, etc, etc. They do everything perfectly and leave no clues.
Sin #4: Killer motivation
So the killer is actually targeting loved ones of the juror that convincted their (innocent!) brother to jail; said brother committed suicide in jail. That's a cool motive, and I actually like it. It's a bit of a stretch to go from "I'm going to take away their loved ones" to "I'm going to skin someone alive" though... but wait! The killer was abused as a child! Everyone knows people who were abused become sociopathic practically on command. Add in some hand-wavey vague comments implying multiple personalities and it makes perfect sense! Also - this killer spends literally years planning and carrying out these murders, always intending to end by killing Hunter, and at last minute decides to kill themselves when they definitely could have got Hunter first, and gone out as a suicide-by-cop? Not buying it.
Sin #5: The Women Problem
Look, there are only two women mentioned for any length of time in this book. The cousin, who was dead when everything started. The rookie's wife, who we don't meet until the end and who has almost no dialogue because she isn't part of the plot, she's just an extension of the rookie. And the other woman is Isabella/Brenda aka the unforgiveable sin. The killer needs to get close to Hunter. Do they a) befriend them slowly and naturally? b) stalk and hack the info? c) some reasonable pretense for making contact? NO. They go for d) create a fake persona in order to make Hunter fall in love with them (?) because the reveal will hurt more that way (??) which obviously means sleeping with them repeatedly (wtf???). No woman in the history of the world would come up with a plot this stupid. This is supposed to be the genius killer, outsmarting all the cops. And this is her big plan? She blames Hunter for the death of her brother. The other people she blamed got terrifying diseases and skinned alive, and Hunter gets... really good sex? What even is that?
Sin #1: Over the top protagonist
Robert Hunter is a cop. Not just any cop! A cop on the special homicide team. Did I mention he's a genius? He's so smart he went through school in record time. His PhD thesis was so good it became an FBI handbook. But he doesn't work with the feds, those paper pushers have got nothing on ~real cops~. Hunter reminds you of how smart he is by having random knowledge of everything they need to know, when they need to know it, because "he reads a lot."
Sin #2: Tortured past
Not as big of a sin as it coud have been. But the main cause of his angst is the loss of his previous partner and his cousin (they were married). I might have cared, if these were actual developed characters, but they're just brief reminices that drive Hunter to work harder.
Sin #3: Mish-mash killer
This isn't just a practiced, confident, dangerous serial killer. It's one who is completely sadistic. Each death has to be exceptionally nasty. They are a surgeon, capable of creating devestating diseases by hand (?), a bomb-maker, etc, etc, etc. They do everything perfectly and leave no clues.
Sin #4: Killer motivation
So the killer is actually targeting loved ones of the juror that convincted their (innocent!) brother to jail; said brother committed suicide in jail. That's a cool motive, and I actually like it. It's a bit of a stretch to go from "I'm going to take away their loved ones" to "I'm going to skin someone alive" though... but wait! The killer was abused as a child! Everyone knows people who were abused become sociopathic practically on command. Add in some hand-wavey vague comments implying multiple personalities and it makes perfect sense! Also - this killer spends literally years planning and carrying out these murders, always intending to end by killing Hunter, and at last minute decides to kill themselves when they definitely could have got Hunter first, and gone out as a suicide-by-cop? Not buying it.
Sin #5: The Women Problem
Look, there are only two women mentioned for any length of time in this book. The cousin, who was dead when everything started. The rookie's wife, who we don't meet until the end and who has almost no dialogue because she isn't part of the plot, she's just an extension of the rookie. And the other woman is Isabella/Brenda aka the unforgiveable sin. The killer needs to get close to Hunter. Do they a) befriend them slowly and naturally? b) stalk and hack the info? c) some reasonable pretense for making contact? NO. They go for d) create a fake persona in order to make Hunter fall in love with them (?) because the reveal will hurt more that way (??) which obviously means sleeping with them repeatedly (wtf???). No woman in the history of the world would come up with a plot this stupid. This is supposed to be the genius killer, outsmarting all the cops. And this is her big plan? She blames Hunter for the death of her brother. The other people she blamed got terrifying diseases and skinned alive, and Hunter gets... really good sex? What even is that?
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
really fast paced, and short chapters so you don’t get bored.
really good writing and characters. u grow attached to the various characters.
that last chapter fucked me up
really good writing and characters. u grow attached to the various characters.
that last chapter fucked me up
dark
tense
fast-paced
medium-paced
dark
tense
These types of crime thrillers are literally my kryptonite. I wish people would read more of them so we’d get more written by more authors
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No