Rusty Nail

Rusty Nail was my first introduction to the works of J.A. Konrath. This novel was listed in \”SERIAL KILLER NOVELS: TEN OF THE BEST\” on Crime Fiction Lover.com. It was in fact the third selection that I chose to read from the ten novels listed, the first being Where Serpents Lie by T. Jefferson Parker and the second When She Was Bad written by Jonathan Nasaw. Both of the aforementioned novels were simply outstanding and I was starting to feel pretty comfortable with the list. I still investigated this choice prior to purchase, since J.A. Konrath was a \”new author\” to me. I learned that Rusty Nail is Book #3 in the writer\’s popular Jack Daniels series. The author also disclosed that this third outing was his personal favorite. I might note that 80% of Amazon\’s readers awarded this book 4 or 5 stars. This book (like the two mentioned above) have been out there a good while, so potential readers can check out Amazon and/or goodreads for beaucoup reviews. I\’ll just add my \”2 cents\’ worth\” anyway just for the \”fun\” of it… Speaking of \”funny\” Konrath\’s writing is supposedly humorous. The author rates this novel as 7 out of 10 for \”Funny\”. Many things are \”in the eye of the beholder\”, and what tickles your funny bone would seem to me to be pretty subjective. First of all, is it even possible to be on the edge of your seat reading a serial killer thriller and hit a patch of narrative that makes you literally laugh out loud? Heck yes it is!!!…just not with THIS book. I believe that cops develop a certain degree of cynicism and do deploy gallows humor to act as a pressure relief valve in some cases. I would also concede that caustic wit can be comical at times. This writer relies too much on depicting FBI agents to be morons and smart alek comebacks from Jack and others. Maybe the way to explain it is by allowing an example of an author who DOES succeed in making the reader laugh out loud in harrowing horrible situations. Dennis Lehane ( Patrick Kenzie & Angela Gennaro Series) comes to mind. I just reread all six of them this year. Lee Child has demonstrated his ability to make me LOL albeit Jack Reacher novels are not serial killer thrillers in the strictest sense. But let\’s get real, most of us don\’t read serial killer thrillers for the \”fun\” of it. I didn\’t read the first book in the series which detailed the hunt for the serial killer dubbed \”The Gingerbread Man\”. In Rusty Nail we learn that the hunt for this sadistic psycho spawned a TV Special and then an actual TV Series. The plot for me took its first real \”hit\” (not in a good way) when Jack visits the father of the Gingerbread Man and we learn that he is ALSO a psychotic fruitcake with a basement full of decaying corpses. It just isn\’t realistic in any way for the police, FBI, journalists, crime magazine writers, true crime authors, you get the picture—NOT to have absolutely DISECTED the complete background of the Gingerbread Man, i.e., all family members, known associates, kindergarten playmates, etc. This plot line felt like a magic trick of some kind, as in \”Say What???\” I felt disgruntled about the plot but then it seemed that it was necessary to suspend disbelief at almost every turn. BTW who wouldn\’t have expected \”Alex\” NOT to be a woman? When the character of Holly was introduced I immediately knew that Alex was Holly. It followed that in the end Jack would have the proverbial \”face off\” with Alex AKA Holly. I fancied that maybe they would \”shoot it out\”, Jack cleverly wear a Kevlar vest and make a clean head shot while Holly delivered a tight cluster of bullets to center mass. If ONLY that had been the case…the character of Jack Daniels…how do I say this? Well, was not sympathetic, and was certainly not sharp, clever, or courageous. She went into the final showdown…or should I say showdowns plural…with a self-defeated attitude. Jack made so many incredibly stupid moves that I stopped counting. The most infuriating had to be doing things with no back up and being bullied by Holly into breaking police procedure and adopting her as a sidekick. Only an idiot would not have recognized that Holly was a sociopath. SO—Jack came across as incompetent and somewhat pathetic, not at all believable as a seasoned cop capable of tracking a killer. The plot had holes big enough to drive a semi through, and the gore and torture elements were gratuitous violence at best. I have a habit of sharing tidbits of what I am reading with my partner. For instance a few of the methods used to inflict self-torture and pain used by Bud Kork, the patriarch of the family of religious psychopaths central to this book. My partner asked me \”What kind of $#@#! are you reading? …And what kind of a person would write anything like that? Let\’s put this in the proper context, okay? My partner LOVED Jack Ketchum\’s Off Season. Having said that, I never once entertained the notion of putting the book down, and the author\’s narrative kept me interested enough to finish the book in record time. In retrospect I am not real sure about what that says about me as a reader.

4.5 out of 5 stars. RUSTY NAIL is my first book by J.A. Konrath, and I now consider myself a fan. This is the third book in a series, and it builds upon characters and events in the first two books, but the author weaves in just enough information that I wasn’t lost without recapping everything. Part thriller, part mystery, Detective Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels is faced with a cruel serial killer who has ties to previous cases of hers. As she attempts to track down this new killer, she must determine if it was an accomplice or a copycat of the original. She works with her partner, Herb, a handful of FBI agents, and a collection of officers in various jurisdictions. Interspersed with this is the marriage of her former partner, Harry, a romance with an ex, and coping with her feelings surrounding her mother who is in a coma in a skilled nursing facility. Plot The main plot is the mystery, told in first-person POV from Jack’s perspective, as well as various third-person POVs, including the killer. The story moves at a steady pace, building to a pulse-pounding climax. Humor is woven throughout to keep it from getting too dark, and this really helps an otherwise gruesome story from getting too morbid. I prided myself on figuring out who the killer was only to be floored when I was wrong. But in retrospect, everything I needed to know was skillfully placed throughout the story. Characters I had some difficulty connecting with Jack at first. She’s rough, tough, and really hard around the edges, but as the story unfolded, I saw softer sides of her, including her visits with her unconscious mother, the way she cares for her mother’s cat, who clearly can’t stand Jack, and even her broken heart. Herb, Harry, and even Harry’s fiancee, Holly, were all fascinating characters that helped make Jack that much more human when she tried her best to be inhuman. What I Enjoyed About RUSTY NAIL 1. Plotting. Great plot with lots of twists and unexpected surprises. 2. The Ending. I love the way the author wound up the story in a way I didn’t expect. 3. Jack. It took me a bit to warm up to her, but once I did, I loved her more than just about any detective I’ve read in a long time. 4. Harry. Jack’s former partner, Harry McGlade, is a soft, pasty, gross mess of a man, but he has some of the best lines in the book. 5. Evil. The villains on Criminal Minds ain’t got nothin on Konrath’s bad guys. Bottom Line Gripping thriller/mystery with great characters and a plot that never lets up.

“Jack” Jacqueline Daniels (or at least her character) shares a leading role with Harry McGlade on a TV SERIES. She actually hates what Harry, the co-producer, has done with her character. But wait, I digress…. This is the third book in the Jack Daniels series. In this tale, Jack is trying to locate a detail killer who not only kills but brutally violates the victim’s. For example, skins them alive, etc. Jack is actually asked to stand down on this case but in threat if loosing her badge she continues to pursue the prep. Little dies she know the Oreo is actually someone close to her. In the middle of all of this, Jack’s mother remains in a coma, and her ex-husband has driven her current boyfriend away. This novel is a bit more violent that the first two, which to me implies that future books in the series might follow suit. Grab this on, and perhaps a stiff drink, and enjoy.

J.A. Konrath\’s Jack Daniels Mystery formula is a fine contribution to the crime thriller / police procedural genre with plenty of laugh-out-loud humor blended, much of it gallows-esque. I loved Konrath\’s Bloody Mary, and liked Whiskey Sour immensely. Rusty Nail did not disappoint, although I did find many twists and turns predictable, namely, things the heroine Lt. Jacqueline Daniels should have sensed and identified but did not, causing me as a suspicious and skeptical reader to lose faith in her police instincts. The violence and gore and Rusty Nail\’s straddling of the horror genre with all its elements were not what caused this one to slip off from Konrath\’s usual high standard, but rather the naivety of the protagonists as they too often allowed the hidden antagonists to push them around socially, intellectually and strategically. Recommended but in this reviewer\’s opinion, not the best in the series so far.

I\’m enjoying the Jack Daniels series very much and this is no different. The formula that has developed over these books is getting a little stale, however, which keeps this one from getting that fifth star, enjoyable as it is. Every character has the same snarky humour and bite-back in conversation. There\’s little variety beyond the \”Feebies\”. You just know that Jack is going to come to harm and that harm will spread to her nearest and dearest. While comforting and familiar, it\’s starting to lack a little texture. Also, the twist towards the end is less a twist than a long curve which you can see on the sat nav many miles in advance. The fun isn\’t the twist, it\’s watching how nobody in the book can see it. Fun if you like the series. I hope the next one shakes up the formula a bit.

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