Whiskey Sour

I really wish I could give this book 4 stars instead of 3 because it isn’t a 3-star book but there are so many items that bothered that I couldn’t bring myself to rate it higher. Most of this I think rests with the description that got me to want to read the book. I felt kind of betrayed by the book. This isn’t light hearted at all and most of the humor is stupid jokes at the expense of overweight people. The main character is my biggest issue and that doesn’t bode well for me wanting to continue reading the series. She seems to just exist to make smart ass comments and insult everyone. The reveal of the killer is a little too easy which lead to a finale between cop and killer that is not well written and drags on way too long. There are so many problems with the final confrontation but it would be giving too much of the story away to discuss more. The only reason I will probably continue the series is because of Harry Benedict who is by far one of the best supporting characters ever written. I loved it every time he was part of the story and wanted Jack to show him a little more respect. Also, the mystery was so captivating I was hooked from the first body. The murderer is an excellent adversary for Jack and you can sense his intelligence and understand why he would be so hard to catch. I loved how the book rotated points of view between cop and killer. The only issue I have with the killer is that his is a little too omnipotent. I also really enjoyed the duel narration of Susie Breck and Dick Hill. They really brought the book to life with the dual point of views of cop and killer. Not only did they do good a great job of the two main point of views but also brought all the other characters life with such talent that you never doubt who is speaking.

Book 1 of Jacqueline \”Jack\” Daniels series I kind of went all-in on Konrath before really reading anything beyond his short stories. While I currently have fourteen of his novels already purchased and on my To Be Read list, this is really the first one I read. Yes, technically I did read AFRAID but he wrote that as Jack Kilborn, his not-so-secret pen name. Kilborn is supposed to author the scarier novels while Konrath writes everything else. Or at least that\’s how I understand it. Anyway, WHISKEY SOUR is a great start to what is obviously a fun yet at-times gruesome series. Jacqueline \”Jack\” Daniels is a Chicago police detective with a limited personal life and a serious bout of insomnia. She\’s dedicated to her job and not just because she has been assigned a major case on \”The Gingerbread Man\” killer. And while her partner, the F.B.I., and others are trying to help, Jack won\’t be able to rest until the case is solved. After reading this book, I understand why Konrath and Jeff Strand are so often compared and grouped together. Humor is used extensively through the book to lighten some of the graphic and intense scenes. I\’ve seen multiple reviews talking about how funny the book is; while I enjoyed the humor, it wasn\’t THAT funny. Which is also fine. I really enjoyed the mystery and suspense and graphic nature of the book. To be honest, the death scenes will stick with me longer than the bad but funny puns. I did find myself wishing that Konrath hadn\’t made the F.B.I. so inept. They are there to add some humor but not too much more. Hopefully the same agents will be present in future books but will be accurate in their profile. Or at least helpful instead of window dressing. I\’m looking forward to reading the rest of the Jack Daniels series.

Like someone who orders a new cocktail and takes a couple of small sips to be sure it tastes good before gulping it down, I first encountered J.A. Konrath\’s series heroine Jacqueline \”Jack\” Daniels in a few short stories, often paired up with other authors\’ series characters, before deciding to read the first Daniels novel, \”Whiskey Sour.\” When I finished \”Whiskey Sour,\” I found it was quite strong, like the main character\’s namesake, but also smooth and enjoyable. \”Jack\” Daniels is a 40-something Chicago police detective with a virtually non-existent personal life, a messy love life, a very large partner, and an even larger case. She\’s on the trail of the Gingerbread Man, a clever, organized serial killer with a set agenda who kidnaps, tortures, mutilates, and murders women. The case rapidly becomes a media sensation, and she\’s got to figure out why he\’s targeting specific women and put an end to his spree. Her interest isn\’t merely professional, though. The Gingerbread Man takes an interest in Jack as well and starts to terrorize her, first by hiring some goons to do her harm and then by going after her personally. \”Whiskey Sour,\” like some mixed drinks, is a combination of two separate kinds of mysteries. In part, it\’s a police procedural, as Jack and her overweight partner Herb put the pieces together and follow the trail of the killer. Other parts are a mano-a-mano (or more precisely womano-a-mano) suspense thriller when the killer targets Jack (and she later tracks him down). Konrath\’s language is quite descriptive, and the novel is a fast paced read, with good action sequences and a particularly exciting ending in some underground sewers. \”Whiskey Sour\” isn\’t just a hard nosed thriller however. Konrath (and Jack as well) have quite a sense of humor, and there\’s plenty of lively banter in the book. This rather breezy, light language at times is reminiscent of some comic mysteries, and, to keep it from clashing too much with the at times gruesome tone of the primary storyline, Konrath adopts a rather effective narrative convention. Most of the chapters are written in the first person and narrated by Jack. However, some chapters, those in which the killings and torture are described, are written in the third person, from the viewpoint of the killer. This allows Konrath to credibly shift the narration from light to heavy and give insight into the killer\’s extremely twisted psyche. The only aspect of the book that really doesn\’t work is the introduction of two FBI agents who are complete morons, even by the standards of mystery novels that typically portray FBI agents as bureaucratic, self-important meddlers who always get things wrong. These two, who construct a completely ridiculous computer profile of the killer (after one killing, they \”deduce\” that he likes line dancing and wearing his mother\’s underwear) and devote all their resources to tracking down this mythical countrified Norman Bates, make Inspector Clouseau look like Sherlock Holmes. Although Konrath was able to credibly shift between Jack\’s bantering tone and the rather hard edged description of some of the sadism in the book, the buffoonish FBI agents went a bit too far over the line. Similarly, another character in the book, a private detective who has some knowledge of one of the murder victims, is also way over the top and annoying as well. \”Whiskey Sour\” isn\’t for everyone\’s tastes. The violence, torture, and sadism are described in sometimes brutal, graphic terms. For those who are not offended by such language, however, it\’s a fast paced, thrilling read. Konrath describes Jack\’s personal life in just enough detail to give readers an idea of who she is and what she does while leaving plenty of room for future novels to fill in some of the details. His main story, though, is quite well plotted, and the eventual revelation of the killer\’s motive is rather surprising and even more appropriate now than it was a decade ago when Konrath originally wrote the novel. \”Whiskey Sour\” is the first chance I\’ve had to spend a fair amount of time bellied up to the bar with Jack Daniels, but it won\’t be the last.

This was going along nicely till I reached a certain point where something was so farcical it just wasn\’t funny and I gave up with it. Such a shame as I had enjoyed the humour and the mystery and liked the characters till this point and I was over halfway through !! The 2 FBI agents were needless additions and seemed thrown in there just for comedic effect but he went too far when their latest profile was \”French-Canadian and most likely owns a horse.\” That was just ridiculous and I\’d expected it to be a joke but it wasn\’t meant to be…..and it totally ruined it for me. I loved the banter between Herb and Jack, though he\’d be had up for sexual harassment in these snowflakey times, unfortunately !! I liked the police \”borders\” between chapters as well. There were some odd spelling mistakes that should\’ve been picked up in the editing process…..camaraderie spelt as comraderie (and this was in the introduction, which didn\’t bode well) then commitaphobe when I\’m pretty sure he meant commitment-phobe. I did get a little tired of reading about Jack\’s snotty nose, I\’m not sure why he kept referring back to this, then I applauded to myself when he actually got hornets\’ nest written correctly but then I was let down as the next line read \”Hopefully the hornet will come out\”……sigh…….the only author to get it right for a change and it was clearly a fluke. Though he does spell discreet correctly, and no other American writer can !! I had no idea what talk soup is and Googling it didn\’t help. I\’ve heard and seen great reviews on this series of books so had high hopes. If not for that dumb sentence I\’d probably have stuck with it but it just went against the grain for me.

After reading his later works \”Origin\” \”Draculars\” and enjoyed them, I thought I would read his Debut Novel \”Whiskey Sour\”. I was not suprised that there were no artificial monsters in here, but another sort, the Psychopathic human type. Jackeline (Jack) Daniels is a police woman, late 40s investigating a murder of a young woman whos body is dumped in the trash. From here on, the book becomes more interesting and to be honest, found myself unable to put the bloody thing down. It is rather gruesome in parts as the Killer who dubs himself as the \”Gingerbread Man\” is introduced. Her Character is not the Superwoman approach, but a down to earth detective working with her partner \”Herb\”, the banter between the two is humerous in places, but the book needs this to lift it from the rather gruesome scenes Kobrath portrays. Add to that the pesky FBI guys who are trying to help catch the killer by using profiling, (Last scene Profiling a Horse….) and its one good read! I read some reviews before I downloaded this book, as Im not one for Detective Novels or Who Done it books, glad I downloaded it as some reviewers missed out the humor between the characters in such a dark conditions, which I feel does need to get a mention. However, it does contain some rather graphic scenes. The book is just about right in its length, its not to long and not to light, it covers areas well and flows from one chapter to the next without unwarranted descriptions or banter. Konrath nailed it, the balance is right. Just downloaded \”Bloody Mary\” to follow her character further, hope its just as good as this one! Would recommend this book, but not while eating a chocolate bar! Happy reading 🙂

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