For nearly a decade, Robert W. Walker has thrilled readers with his acclaimed Instinct series. The novels featuring FBI Medical Examiner Dr. Jessica Coran have been praised as "masterful" (Clive Cussler) and "chilling" (Publishers Weekly). Now, for the first time in hardcover, Walker presents a riveting tour de force of suspense -- a thriller about the nature of evil and the rapture of death at the dawn of a new millennium...
Dr. Jessica Coran is enlisted by London's elite New Scotland Yard to spearhead the investigation of a grisly series of crucifixion murders. Only Coran, an expert in tracking and capturing serial killers, can provide authorities with the insights to capture this madman -- a psychopath whose intelligence makes him the most chilling villain to appear in print since Hannibal the Cannibal.
With this seventh entry, Walker's series about FBI forensic pathologist Dr. Jessica Coran moves from original paperback to hardcover, presumably in a bid to absorb some of the Patricia Cornwell overflow. But turgid writing, heavy-handed atmospheric padding and a plot swollen with predictable turns would seem to seriously limit those aspirations. "Each time I look on such evil, twisted, unconscionable and despicable acts perpetrated on a human being, I begin to believe that nothing might ever rival what I must deal with before me," laments Inspector Richard Sharpe of New Scotland Yard in an early--and typical--burst of tortured rhetoric. "Yet... yet some fiend always finds a new twist, a new evil beyond anything you or I might ever have imagined possible, and this certainly proves the case here." Toward the end of the year 2000, a religious cult in London has begun to kill people by the ancient and extremely uncomfortable method of crucifixion--possibly as a prelude to Christ's Second Coming. Dr. Coran, though busy in Virginia on a man ripped apart by rabid dogs, flies off to London to help Sharpe with his even more interesting case--thus giving Walker the chance to trot out numerous clich?s about Anglo-American linguistic confusion. As the British body count rises to five, readers learn how to remove a human tongue and read a message branded on it, and meet an elderly priest/psychiatrist who talks like a cross between Yoda and the Exorcist. Coran, whose love life has taken a back seat to her work, manages to keep Inspector Sharpe's mind away from all the evil long enough to get him into the sack, before becoming a candidate for crucifixion herself. Anyone who stays around this long might begin to wish they'd waited for the paperback. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
After almost 10 years in paperback, Walker's Jessica Coran series makes its hardcover debut. A particularly sadistic killer is crucifying his victims in London, and New Scotland Yard asks FBI forensic pathologist Coran, well known for her uncanny knack for catching serial killers, to lend them a hand. It's hard to breathe new life into the serial-killer story, but Walker keeps our minds off the tired premise by moving the tale along at a good clip and by constructing an airtight plot. The English setting also helps to make the story seem fresh. One quibble: the dialogue spoken by the British characters sounds like it came out of a guide to English idioms. That aside, though, this is a satisfying and disturbing thriller that should please fans of the series. David Pitt
My latest several novels have been Original to Kindle, exclusvie works. Most recent has been TITANIC 2012 - Curse of RMS Tttanic, a cross-genre, generational suspense thriller with an occult horror twist. It's a new theory, a theory that proves the innocence of the iceberg, ha! Puts the burden of error squarely back onto Captain Edward Smith's shoulders, but it is also science fiction as it alternates chapters between 1912 and 2012. In future, divers go inside Titanic the Wreck to plunder her interiors. But what they find is murder and mayhem and monstrous stuff! See all ten reviews on Amazon.com
Just prior to launching T2012, I placed up CHILDREN of SALEM, romance and intrigue and ecumenical spies amid the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Talk about a "Bad Time to Be in Love" - but Jere Wakely does love the daughter of an excommunicated witch, Serena Nurse, and he vows to put an end to the insanity of the trials. Painstakingly reserached for some thirty odd years, Children of Salem is both my life's work and now my highest grossing ebook to date, selling 255 copies a month and garnering great reviews (as is T2012). Children of Salem is a big ambitious work that all my previous books have led me to return to over decades to rewrite and rewrite again and again until I got it right.
AFTERSCHOCK is among all my backlisted titles sold years ago to NYC publishers. Aftershock is the ebook bread-winner, the one which as sold the most copies and for a long time had been my leading title in sales. I placed up some 40 "odd" previously published titles ranging from horror and supernatural, occult horror and suspense-thriller to mysteries and historical themes, and now i have 46 Kindle titles available. Would be fifty if not for tie-ups on other titles.
One more recent modern day noir PI novels is DEAD ON from Five Star Books July '09 which has garnered rave reviews and wonderful remarks from Tess Gerritsen, Ken Bruen, JA Konrath, David Ellis, Raymond Benson, and Jay Boninsinga as well as Booklist! Prior to this my City trilogy, City for Ransom, Shadows in the White City, and City of the Absent published via HarperCollins and heralded as great books by The Chicago Tribune, winning the coveted Lovey Award, set the stage for my finally being able to get Childen of Salem RIGHT.
A bit about myself: I grew up in Chicago as my father came out of WWII knowing one skill -- how to drive a truck. As a truck driver, he supported five children. I was born in Corinth, MS., siblings born in Tuskeegee, AL., where my mother hailed from.
I struggled in school in inner-city Chicago, but early on found I had a gift for 'talking my way out of fights' and this translated into 'telling stories' to influence others, and soon wondered if I could not do it for money. I began writing at a young age to 'communicate' ideas and always at the root of my tales are ideas, notions, concepts, issues, fears, phobias,the darkside of human nature, twisted religion, the human conditon, and themes I find fascinating like the injustice we see every day, and vengeance, and greed, and skullduggery all around.
In fact, much of my fiction centers on twisted this or twisted that...from twisted fantasies in the minds of killers to twisted religion in the minds of...yeah... killers and others. I have read widely in all areas of human endeavor and use all areas imaginable in the creation of my characters and stories, and my work is character-driven whether it is a suspense novel or an historical novel.
I recieved a full scholarship to Northwesern Univesity out of Wells High School, inner city, which was some kind of feat, and it was based on my writing ability. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education, went on to accomplish a Masters in English Education. I've taught for over thirty-years to 'support' my habit -- writing. I have always taught full-time while writing full-time, and I 'make' time.
While I grew up in Chicago, and many of my books center there and in the Midwest, I am currently living in Charleston, WV where I am still teaching and writing. I live with four step-children and my ER RN wife, Miranda, whose first novel, a serial killer chase down romp called Absolution, is also available on Kindle. I completed my 50th novel for publication with Titanic 2012.
Wish to thank all my readers for the many, many years of support since writing the spoof on disaster films and books, SUB-ZERO in 1979, and those who supported my Instinct and Edge Series as well as my various horror and other suspense series. I have created no less than eight series characters, all of whom I intend to keep "alive" via Kindle original titles in future. I am currently working on a 4th Geoffrey Caine (pen name) Abe Stroud, archology horror title called Bayou Wulf. For a free download of the first chapters, you can contact me on facebook or my website - www.robertwalkerbooks.com
This book looked interesting. I enjoy reading Patrica Cornwell's books so thought it would be of the same quality (especially as a review said so).
I nearly stopped reading after 40 pages or so. I hardly ever not finish a book, so carried on - what a mistake. Basically the story is very good (or should I say could have been very good), but the characters are wooden and so stereotyped.
But by far the worst aspect is the constant use of English phrases, words and sayings. I think I am 'qualified' here, as I am from England but living in the US. It seemed like he had an old copy of an English slang dictionary, which he kept referring to. Now I know our two languages can be quite different, but please, most of them I had never ever heard before. He must have got bored in the middle because about 2 sides must have been copied from this dictionary, with the American translation.
One last thought - has the author ever been to London? I know it is quite costly to travel there, but if you are going to almost completely base a novel there and include sightseeing and experiencing life there, maybe it would be worth a visit first?
I don't normally like to criticise, especially as I am no author myself, but I wasted my time, plus its a waste of what is essetially a good storyline.
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I'm glad I picked this book up from a used book store and did not pay full price. I have previously enjoyed the Jessica Coran books, but this one went way off the tracks. It had all the basic elements of a great crime novel, but Walker has distracted the reader with irrelevant trivia surrounding the location.
Walker must have had a brief trip to London and got caught up in the fact that the US and UK are "two countries divided by a common language". He wastes half the book explaining the language and cultural differences, so he must have developed a personal fascination and preoccupation with it. I say brief visit, because there are lots of factual errors. All of this totally detracts from the main purpose of reading crime novels - the Mystery. He has failed to create a real suspense that draws the reader into it.
I have come close to giving up on reading this book several times. I am only 60% of the way through, and it may yet end up in the garbage before I get to the last chapter. Reading the other reviews here, it would appear that we Brits come down heavier on the negative side (I have spent half my life on each side of "the Pond"). I wonder why? :-)
The comparison to Patricia Cornwell is very relevant - she went way off the rails in her latter books too.
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I read Pure Instinct and thought it one of the worst books I've ever read but I figured he might have had an "off day," so I decided I would give him one more chance. Boy was I sorry I ever spent the money. Jessica is one of the most uninteresting, overblown characters I've ever come across. It seems the author wants to compete with Kay Scarpetta and has to make every villain the most bloodthirsty, "satanic," depraved killer to have come along since Jack the Ripper. Frankly, crucifying people till they suffocate just ain't that bad. The story goes on and on ad nauseum about good and evil and the author even includes quotes at the chapter beginnings from a book by one of the characters. There are red herrings everywhere (and they smell), the love story is inane and he rehashes a previous love interest ad infinitum. Finally, the topper--he makes this a travel book with Jessica sightseeing. And if that wasn't enough, he explains EVERY British turn of phrase and word difference (boot vs. trunk); in some cases, twice! Need I say any more?
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First Sentence:
She could not remember her own name, not even when the man who'd brought her to this excruciating moment-to die here-chanted her name in her bleeding ears. Read the first pageKey Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Luc Sante, Scotland Yard, Richard Sharpe, Tattoo Man, Chief Inspector Boulte, Jessica Coran, Stuart Copperwaite, Second Coming, Father Strand, Martin Strand, New Jersey, Karl Schuller, Inspector Sharpe, James Parry, John Doe, Erin Culbertson, Bow Bells, Miss Eeadna, Chosen One, Deputy Frizzell, John Thorpe, New York, Eriq Santiva, Great Britain, Hyde Park
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