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suzze's review against another edition
4.0
In this harrowing sequel to Bones, Irene Kelly finds serial killer Nick Parrish, who nearly killed her before being paralyzed himself, walking again, and escaped from prison, Is he going to come after her again? When a dead young girl turns up near her house, it looks like Irene will have to be vigilant in order to stay out of the clutches of Parrish. Action packed, yet with many touching moments, Disturbance will keep you on the edge of your seat.
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
1.0
Stories about sociopathic and apparently invincible serial killers who love to torture their victims are not my cup of tea. Thus, I am still trying to remember how this book came to be on my to-be-read shelf. I believe it was given to me by someone who knows I read a lot of mysteries with tough women as the protagonists and probably thought I would enjoy it. Wrong. I just found it irritating, frankly.
Perhaps it would have made a difference if I had ever read any of the other Irene Kelly books. This was the eleventh in the series, apparently a successful series with a lot of fans. If I had read any of the other books, it's possible I would have had a greater appreciation of the characters. There was little character development or explication in this book. I guess the assumption was that the reader would have already read those earlier books.
So, the reader meets Irene Kelly here as an investigative reporter for a failing newspaper, the Las Piernas News Express. She is married to Frank, a homicide detective with the local police department. She had had a horrific encounter (in the last book, I guess) with the aforementioned sociopath, Nick Parrish, who had kidnapped and tortured her. The sociopath was ultimately captured and Irene was rescued, but Parrish was seriously injured and, as a result, paralyzed.
However, after being sentenced to life without parole, Parrish received excellent medical treatment and, as a result, his paralysis was reversed. He has sworn vengeance on Irene Kelly.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, Parrish has a devoted online fan club, the Moths. (Why "Moths"? Who knows? Maybe because they circle around Parrish's bright flame.) It turns out that these Moths are sons of Parrish. Literally. Apparently he had planted his seed all over the place and now the crop has matured and is ready for harvest.
Strange things start happening around Irene. Not-so-funny pranks are being played, and, for a woman still suffering from PTSD, they may be enough to send her over the edge.
Then her newspaper closes and her job is gone.
Then the dead bodies of women start turning up. Bodies with pictures of moths drawn on them.
Then Nick Parrish escapes from prison.
Then Irene Kelly is kidnapped once again.
Yep, even though I hadn't read the other books, I definitely felt like I had been down this road before and I didn't really want to travel it again.
I very, very rarely, as in almost never, give up on any book. If I make the commitment to read it, then I stick with it to the bitter end. My husband laughs at me for this. If a book doesn't grab him in the first twenty pages, he tosses it. Perhaps I should have adopted his philosophy with this book, but I soldiered on. However, I won't pretend that I read every word. Indeed, I quickly scanned most of it, but enough to get the gist of the thing. Enough to know that I really didn't like it.
Jan Burke is a successful, award-winning writer. This book seemed tightly plotted and written to elicit the maximum in suspense. To paraphrase a famous quote, for those who like this sort of thing, no doubt this is the sort of thing they would like. Not me.
Perhaps it would have made a difference if I had ever read any of the other Irene Kelly books. This was the eleventh in the series, apparently a successful series with a lot of fans. If I had read any of the other books, it's possible I would have had a greater appreciation of the characters. There was little character development or explication in this book. I guess the assumption was that the reader would have already read those earlier books.
So, the reader meets Irene Kelly here as an investigative reporter for a failing newspaper, the Las Piernas News Express. She is married to Frank, a homicide detective with the local police department. She had had a horrific encounter (in the last book, I guess) with the aforementioned sociopath, Nick Parrish, who had kidnapped and tortured her. The sociopath was ultimately captured and Irene was rescued, but Parrish was seriously injured and, as a result, paralyzed.
However, after being sentenced to life without parole, Parrish received excellent medical treatment and, as a result, his paralysis was reversed. He has sworn vengeance on Irene Kelly.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, Parrish has a devoted online fan club, the Moths. (Why "Moths"? Who knows? Maybe because they circle around Parrish's bright flame.) It turns out that these Moths are sons of Parrish. Literally. Apparently he had planted his seed all over the place and now the crop has matured and is ready for harvest.
Strange things start happening around Irene. Not-so-funny pranks are being played, and, for a woman still suffering from PTSD, they may be enough to send her over the edge.
Then her newspaper closes and her job is gone.
Then the dead bodies of women start turning up. Bodies with pictures of moths drawn on them.
Then Nick Parrish escapes from prison.
Then Irene Kelly is kidnapped once again.
Yep, even though I hadn't read the other books, I definitely felt like I had been down this road before and I didn't really want to travel it again.
I very, very rarely, as in almost never, give up on any book. If I make the commitment to read it, then I stick with it to the bitter end. My husband laughs at me for this. If a book doesn't grab him in the first twenty pages, he tosses it. Perhaps I should have adopted his philosophy with this book, but I soldiered on. However, I won't pretend that I read every word. Indeed, I quickly scanned most of it, but enough to get the gist of the thing. Enough to know that I really didn't like it.
Jan Burke is a successful, award-winning writer. This book seemed tightly plotted and written to elicit the maximum in suspense. To paraphrase a famous quote, for those who like this sort of thing, no doubt this is the sort of thing they would like. Not me.
laurla's review against another edition
"no need to schedule an ass kicking for that remark. my wife is going to take care of that for you."
"even winning a brutal fight does not, it turns out, give a person a mental erase button. in fact, sometimes the replay goes haywire, and where you won in real life, imagination shows you a convincing picture of a different denouement. you pull the trigger and the gun doesnt fire. the garrote breaks in two. a corpse rises and grabs you by the throat. you are held down by someone younger and stronger, who is reaching between you, and nothing you do stops him. you wake or snap out of it, but not without moments of being unsure of the true outcome."
"even winning a brutal fight does not, it turns out, give a person a mental erase button. in fact, sometimes the replay goes haywire, and where you won in real life, imagination shows you a convincing picture of a different denouement. you pull the trigger and the gun doesnt fire. the garrote breaks in two. a corpse rises and grabs you by the throat. you are held down by someone younger and stronger, who is reaching between you, and nothing you do stops him. you wake or snap out of it, but not without moments of being unsure of the true outcome."
essentiallymeagan's review
4.0
I always enjoy Jan Burke's Irene Kelly novels. I hadn't read one in a long time so I found myself trying to remember the details of previous books as I read this one. This book reminded me of Fox's The Following- it has a lot of the creepy elements of that TV show.
sunnid's review
3.0
This was a fast read, but I did not enjoy this book or the one previous as much as I did her earlier novels. I feel like Burke's been influenced by the popularity of the TV show "Dexter," as she has become more focused on the thinking and gruesome details of serial killers; and a lot more violence witnessed and experienced by her heroine Irene.
As a former newspaper journalist, I did enjoy how she described what is happening to the world of journalism and the collapse of in-depth news reporting. But all-in-all, if I had read this book first, I would never have picked up her other mysteries. Is this another case of pleasing the publisher instead of being true to what you know as a writer?
As a former newspaper journalist, I did enjoy how she described what is happening to the world of journalism and the collapse of in-depth news reporting. But all-in-all, if I had read this book first, I would never have picked up her other mysteries. Is this another case of pleasing the publisher instead of being true to what you know as a writer?
vkemp's review
4.0
Irene Kelly is recovering from her PTSD caused by being kidnapped by Nick Parrish. He is is jail, paralyzed as a result of actions happening in Bones, so she feels safer. Then she gets the news, Parrish is walking again. The Las Piernas News Express closes and Irene is out of a job, too. When Parrish escapes from prison, aided and abetted by The Moths, his online fan club, Irene knows he is coming for her. Another well-written, suspenseful book from Jan Burke. I love Frank and Irene's relationship; they love each other, but give each other space and each understands the other well. The ending seemed a little pat, but satisfying, with lots of ends tied up. I got the feeling this may be the end of Irene and Frank's adventures which would be too bad.
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