Cherry Bomb

I don\’t often give 5 stars … but this book rated it. WOW … Jack Daniels emerges as part Rambo and part Stephanie Plum. Very entertaining and captivating story line … alternates in first person (Jack) and third person (Alex). Alex is the devil personified; and her soulless disregard for human life is shocking. This story will make your blood boil, non-stop action and crazy supporting characters. Not for the weak of stomach … this book will light up your evening.

I bought this book based on reputation…I had read the other Jack Daniels novels and just downloaded it without reading the description. I was kinda bummed to learn it was yet another story with Alex Kork, but once I started reading I knew I would not be disappointed. Alternating between Jack\’s and Alex\’s POV, the story takes off quickly and is everything you\’d expect between the hardened detective and the psychopathic murderer taunting her. Numerous tense situations abound as Alex utilizes the latest technology to aid her in her lavish killing schemes, while poor old Jack only has Harry McGlade (and later Phin) helping her out. But as it turns out, Harry is quite the techno-wizard, and his skills not only help Jack immeasurably, and we the readers are rewarded with his classic one-liners and insults that always make me laugh. On the serious side, this one delves deeper into Jack\’s inner persona, as she is numb after the funeral yet still must press on, revealing more internal conflict, turmoil, and fear than in the earlier books. Great story, full of imaginative and elaborate ways to kill people, and although Alex appears impossibly indestructible, it only adds to the fear and loathing toward her. Love this series…I\’m sad that I only have one or two left yet to read.

This book had lots of things I liked and a few I didn\’\’t. In the previous books I was impressed over how well a man writer did the character of Jack Daniels. Konrath blew it in this one. The most obvious flaw is before her murdered fiance is buried she\’s in bed with another guy – a friend, possibly twice. Then, a week or so after his funeral she decides she\’s in love with this guy. Women don\’t usually roll that way – men, yeah. I\’ve seen two followed home from their wives funeral by widows who just move in, cook, clean and get that \”I do\”, but women don\’t usually jump right in bed with another guy. The amount of violence in this book went up as well. Jack is after Alex who is working her way through killing Jack\’s friends and family as fast as she can. Jack is after her and racing to save them. Alex gives her clues and a time line. Jack does not share with police what is going on – which is not a good call, in my opinion. Alex coldly murders innocent by-standers and people who Jack care about until finally they have a show down. There were a couple of laughs as her ex-partner is involved and he is a trip. He also is waiting for a DNA test which he and Jack\’s mother believe will prove he\’s Jack\’s brother. He\’s the comic relief sometimes, the dummy sometimes, and the most real character sometimes. Without him this would have been a 3 or less. I liked the end and will read the next one. Hope the level of violence goes back down a bit.

For those like myself accustomed to this series (posted my first review of the second book in the series \”Bloody Mary\” back in May 2013), it was another in a long line of entertaining books where our favorite protagonist, Jaqueline \”Jack\” Daniels pits her skill and wits against the long-time nemesis, Alexandra as she brings her brand of gruesome acts and torture on the way to making this a personal vendetta. For those less familar with this book in particular, expect a lot of graphic violence (not surprising as this book is about the hunt for a sociapathic serial killer) and explicit sexual situations with a touch of off-beat humor. The book was fast-paced as always with plenty of suspense, but left me with mixed emotions as to how it ended (good in one case, not so much in the other). Will have to wait and see whether I will enjoy more of the same as I feel like the series might have had a long enough run…

I love this series. But this book disappointed me just a little bit. I still think it deserves 4 stars, but I didn\’t love this one like I have the others in this series. I feel like the cops working with Jack, even knowing she had gone rogue, was a bit over the top. Surely that is not realistic, and I just can\’t stretch my imagination that far. Plus, every time she evaded capture by the Feds and police just made me even more skeptical. Nobody could do all the things they do in this book and just get away with it. It just was too far beyond the boundaries of my imagination. I did like all the action with Alex. Mr. Konrath really knows how to write a bad guy (or gal) that you can really hate! And boy do I hate Alex even more after this book! The action was definitely there, and I love that. I\’m feeling a little bit anxious that he said that this was the last book in the current story arc, so I don\’t really know what that means for future books. I hope my feelings about this book are not indicative of things to come…

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