Bloody Mary

I read this author\’s first book in the series \”Whiskey Sour\” and found it humorous and entertaining. A refreshing take on the female cop. However, this second offering, as others have said, is beyond disappointing and disgusting. The gratuitous violence and loathsome criminal activity by Fuller is truly beyond the pale. And, to make it even more bizarre, Konrath prefaces this trash by telling us there is NO graphic violence in the book, it\’s off the page and in our imagination!! From what psych ward is he on furlough? I will never read another of his books, and I love murder mystery and suspense.

I am so glad to say, I think I’ve found another really great series. I can’t believe this has been sitting on my kindle for over a year now! I know I have only read one book out of this series but I have high hopes for others in this series. In fact, I have already downloaded “Whiskey Sour”, the first in the series to read next and I\’m so excited about it! Yes, I\’m geeking out about a book. Confession time here…because I have limited time to sit down and read I also went ahead and downloaded this through audible and what a treat that was too! The book itself already has witty dialogue between Jack and her partner Herb, but the narrators who read this book did an outstanding job with their performances as well; they completely brought these characters to life and made their dialogue feel natural; kudos to them! This book had me hooked from the first sentence, “It would be so easy to kill you while you sleep.” Right away Konrath hurtles the smack dab into the mind of a serial killer; personally I thought this guy’s victim was a goner right then and there but I was wrong…this victim lives to see another day. Instead the reader simply gets a peek into how this psychopath’s mind operates; it\’s a great opener! Then we are introduced to Jack and Herb her partner. Jack (aka Jacqueline), is a highly decorated detective with the Chicago Police Department. She’s smart, realistic, quick-witted, fast thinking and down to earth; she’s not exactly jaded but she has pretty much seen it all, so there isn’t much that surprises her either. Herb, her middle-aged partner of several years is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis. These two are the perfect partners for each other and now, when unidentifiable bodies keep popping up it’s up to them to discover who the city’s latest serial killer is. One of the joys I found with this book, if you can call it that is that emotionally I went from one extreme to another…very quickly. One moment I honestly laughed out loud at a situation or dialogue between Jack and Herb and the next I felt disgust at what they had found. Now, that does bring me to something I found brought up in other reviews. There were those who said they were put off by the “gore.” When I first read that I thought “huh?” I honestly wasn’t put off by anything in this book at all, particularly not gore-wise. This is a book about a serial killer. So I have to wonder how some expect the author to describe a crime scene or a mutilated body without going into detail. It is the author’s job to paint that picture for us is it not? I for one, don’t want to be reading along and simply read “the woman’s dead body lay on a pile of trash”, that’s dull as dishwater! How old is the body? Is it fresh, still bleeding, are there maggots….what had been done to it….is a dog gnawing on a limb? Tell me dammit!!! Ahem, sorry…I’ll collect myself. So, I suggest if you are one of those readers that prefer a distinct lack of gore (aka description)…steer clear and stick to Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden or the Hardy Boys. As for me…this \”gore\” helped make the story really come off the page….or out of the speaker….well, you know what I mean. A bonus to this book is that it’s basically two books in one. Just when you think things have been wrapped up all nice and neat Konrath pushes the story forward and you find yourself just as enthralled all over again; even though at this point….yeah, you know whodunit but you won’t care, because it doesn’t matter…the action continues at a really great pace. So now we get to the “would I recommend it” portion of the review….uh duh! Yes, I would….wholeheartedly! This one gets a full 5 stars from me because it entertained, it was engaging, the plot was well constructed, the author painted wonderful pictures for me and well….I just love Mr. Friskers too! The author gets bonus points from me just for coming up with Mr. Friskers. Check this one out; I think you’ll be glad you did. As always tell me what you thought of it too.

I really enjoyed the book, with one caveat which I will get to later. The central character, Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels, is a Chicago police Lieutenant, martial arts expert, and perhaps a little less tough-skinned than she thinks. Aligned with her partner, who doesn\’t confine his love of fattening food to donuts, they are confronting a series of murders that are hitting way too close to home. The book is really two in one; and when you think the story is done, it starts almost all over again. Daniels is the kind of character I most enjoy – not just a smart-ass woman, but genuinely smart; closer to V.I. Warshawski than Stephanie Plum. However her romantic uncertainties would give Plum a run for her money. I did not give five stars because of the really overt gore – not violence, but rather graphic descriptions of its aftermath. I found this a little galling as the author, in the introduction says the book has none – saying \”If you think the books are too descriptive it\’s actually your imagination filling in the nasty parts.\” Uh, no.

I have mixed feelings about this tale, it more than hints at man\’s inhumanity to man. Yet it is a decent thriller. There is a quasi-psychological reason given for the serial killer\’s bestiality involving especially women. It is so easy to pick on \’working girls\’ as suitable victims we readers don\’t really care about, in order to get a decent body count. In real life, they would all have been someone\’s children, someone\’s daughters, sisters, aunts, who probably did not even get offered a decent childhood. On the other hand, we have ourselves a nice \’good cop\’ thriller, where the law and order guys have normalish personal foibles, no extreme drinking. we can understand their weaknesses and see the humanity in them. There is also a new fancy drug-abuse cocktail doing the rounds, one where dangerous people get shot but don\’t fall down and bleed to death. The ending is cheerful in that the bad guy gets his just deserts and our main protagonists survive.

Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Daniels is a tough Chicago cop, she has to be, as the highest ranking female detective on the force. When body parts start showing up in the morgue, she and her partner get on the chase of a deadly serial killer, who, for some reason, has Jack in his sights. The case is complicated by Jack’s personal life—in shambles, and a homicidal cat. Bloody Mary, book 2 in the Jack Daniel’s series by J. A. Konrath, is a fascinating read. A strong, but nearly fatally flawed, female lead, tons of clues, most leading down blind alleys, and spot-on dialogue, will keep you flipping pages, your head spinning, and will completely surprise you when you learn the identity of the killer. I particular like the way the author takes you on a roller coaster ride when the killer is caught, gets off on a technicality, about three-quarters through the book, and then takes our hero on another bloody journey for the rest of it. Trust me; you won’t be able to put this one down. I give it a resounding five stars.

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