Blind Spot [Paperback]

Stephanie Kane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2000

Cold, hard evidence—a prosecutor's dream, a defense attorney's nightmare Criminal defense lawyer Jackie Flowers got what she wished for...a high-profile murder case. While defending entrepreneur Aaron Best in the grisly slaying of a millionaire's trophy wife, Jackie turns FBI profiling upside down and uncovers a string of killings that could either free or hang her client. But Jackie has one big secret of her own—and it might make her the killer's next target.Someone is stalking women along the Rocky Mountain Front Range, and posing their beheaded bodies in bizarre ways. Will Jackie's unique courtroom talents enable her to strip away the killer's facade—or will her own blind spot expose her? Either way could lead a murderer straight to her door.


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Criminal defense lawyer Jackie Flowers, the protagonist of Kane's debut legal thriller, has the makings of becoming the law profession's answer to Kinsey Millhone, the feisty private eye in Sue Grafton's alphabet-series mystery novels. With an impressive command of legal procedures and serial-killer psychology, Kane, a former attorney, can certainly weave a captivating yarn. Unfortunately, her incessant asidesAquestioning characters' motives and summing up plot advancesAmay irritate readers. Flowers is called upon to defend local businessman Aaron Best in the grisly slaying of Rae Malone, a millionaire's trophy wife whose head and body were found in separate locations near Coors Field in Colorado. As part of her research, Flowers immerses herself in the past lives of four other area women who met similar deaths, going so far as to visit the sites where their naked, deformed and headless bodies were dumped. Along the way, Flowers befriends and convinces Dr. Richard Hanna Jr., a renowned forensic psychologist, to help her prove Best's innocence (and end her drought of lonely Friday nights). But Hanna, Best and a cast of shady characters each have at least one secret that could cost Flowers her caseAor her life. Kane's most intriguing character, should she choose to develop a series around Flowers, might just be a young Asian girl whom Flowers befriends and whose role in the book develops significantly as the plot progresses. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"I've been in literally hundreds (thousands?) of trials and, in some of those trials, I have been taken by surprise with the testimony of my own witness and clients, but never anything like the shocking testimony of Jackie Flowers' own expert witness! What a totally unexpected ending!"--Gerry Spence "Criminal profiling is a double-edged sword, and the sooner prosecutors learn this, the better. In the hands of Stephanie Kane, it's a powerful weapon for the defense....An intriguing look into the mind of a criminal psychopath."—Vincent Bugliosi, author of Helter Skelter and Only the Sea Will Tell

"A Well-crafted debut."—Stephen White, New York Times bestselling author of Cold Case


From the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553763466
• ISBN-13: 978-0553763461
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,175,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Star, October 21, 2000

By 

A. Harrell "[e-mail]" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Spot (Mass Market Paperback)

Stephanie Kane has written an exciting mystery novel with nice surprises and plenty of smart dialogue. I fell into the pages of Blind Spot and didn't come out again until I had finished. The novel is ostensibly about a serial killer that cuts of the heads of his victims. The heroine Julie Flowers is a lawyer with an affliction. Her affliction makes her a superior courtroom advocate; but also makes her painfully vulnerable (hence the novel's title). The character development of Julie Flowers, her client, accused killer Alan Best, the neighbor's little adopted child, Lily, and Julie's investigator Pilar Perez is excellent. The author has created characters that we can really care about and that we can visualize.

Among Ms. Kane's greatest gifts is her love and respect for the English language. Her writing is clear and powerful. She knows how to turn a phrase and uses terrific metaphors.

I believe that the greatest gift one can give to friends is a good book. After I finished reading Blind Spot I promptly went out and bought several copies to give to friends. Ms. Kane has given readers the gift of a novel worth reading and sharing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NEW AUTHOR IS RISING STAR, November 26, 2000

By 

Peter Bornstein (Denver,, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Spot (Mass Market Paperback)

There's a serial killer loose in Denver, Colorado and the district attorney hasn't a clue. The reader of Blind Spot, a first novel by Stephanie Kane, has many clues as to who dunnit, but they are there to misdirect and confabulate the reader. Enter center stage, a new heroine of the genre of lawyer novels. Enter Jackie Flowers who depends on drawing diagrams in place of notes as a learned tool to compensate for her dyslexia - a disability to some and an advantage to Jackie in her fight to save a client from the net of a politically ambitious district attorney. The ingredients of a good mystery begin and end with plot, character, and style. Blind Spot shows that Ms. Kane is adept at all three. The mystery genre requires a plot that misdirects the reader at every turn. We all want to know who the killer is before the last chapter. Is it Aaron Best, the accused killer of a wealthy middle-aged wife of a local developer and Ms. Flowers' client? Is it his brother who failed to inherit the family construction business? Or is it any one of a number of other candidates? I dare say that only the most perspicacious of readers will know the answer before the last chapter. That's a plot. Jackie Flowers is surrounded by a truly delicious cast of characters. There is her spark plug Spider driving investigator cum confidante, Pilar Perez, the crusty old judge, the political DA, the forensic psychologist who only testifies for the prosecution, and of course, the serial killer loose in Denver. It is a pleasure to read a courtroom drama that has verisimilitude and that moves the plot along to its ultimate exciting conclusion. And, in the opinion of this trial lawyer, it's not a just good read, it's a must read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 20/20, October 24, 2000

By 

Billie Stanton (Denver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Spot (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm rereading "Blind Spot,'' as it was so gripping on the first read that I tore through it at the speed of light. As a novelist, Stephanie Kane doesn't appear to HAVE any blind spots; her vision is better than 20/20. Jackie Flowers has to be one of the most compelling characters in modern literature. Her unusual thinking processes greatly enhanced my understanding of my dyslexic boyfriend. My only complaint is that there's no sequel available yet. Can y'all nudge Ms. Kane to get on with it already? I want more of Ms. Flowers, Lily and Pilar. The fact that Denver now has a topnotch local novelist willing to inject regional references into her prose makes this book all the more enticing for Colorado readers. And her insightful approach to the flaws of attorneys, our judicial system, trends such as profiling, etc., provide a fascinating insider's look at what has seemed foreign territory for many of us. Kudos to Kane, and please, give us more.