Customer Reviews

Close Enough To Kill

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Former college football hero and Memphis homicide detective Jim Norton takes a pay cut to move to Adam's Landing, Alabama to be closer to his pre-teen son. Now the Chief of detectives, he finds himself embroiled in a homicide investigation that quickly has become a serial crime encompassing several states. Working with Sheriff Bernie Granger, he finds that his initial attraction to her much rowdier sister is nothing compared to his growing feelings for his boss, who is nurturing a school girl crush on him too. But will their past romantic mishaps and divorces ruin the romance before it has even begun?

As they investigate the first two known victims, and enter the data into VICAP, they discover that the body count is much higher, and more victims from their hamlet keep disappearing one by one. The MO of the killer is to send love notes, then presents, then explicit drawings, until the victim is kidnapped and brutally raped, until he decides to "break up" with her when he has found new prey.

Barton has hit a home run with this tense and psychological drama. Norton's character previously appeared in "Killing Her Softly," and was such a compelling character, that he warranted his own story - make no mistake, this one is a complete stand alone, and better than its predecessor. The reason for the perp's crime spree was far more interesting than most I have read, and she did a great job of keeping his identity unknown until the end.

There is a serial killer on the loose in Adams County, Alabama. Sheriff Bernie Granger already has her hands full with a new arrival in her police force, Memphis police detective Jim Norton. His arrival, however, becomes a blessing in disguise since Jim already has plenty of experience dealing with serial killer cases.

The serial killer has already established a clear pattern when he picks his victims. He sends them letters, and then gifts, and then a phone call, before he snatches them. Many days later, the bodies are found in some isolated place. As bodies start to pile up, the serial killer gets even bolder since the police have no clues to point to a suspect. He selects Bernie's sister as his next victim! Bernie and Jim do what they can to protect her but can they really succeed? Against a ruthless killer who has, so far, eluded them?

This was a really, really great read. I was guessing until almost the very end.

Many authors can give you a great ride up the mountain, pushing you higher and higher until you reach the summit. But alot of them push you off the top and leave you empty after you have invested several hours and much emotion in their characters. Fortunately, Beverly Barton does all that and gives us closure. She eases me over the last bumpy seas and gives me a glimpse of the smooth sailing ahead. Thank you, Beverly, for your epilogues.

Bernie Granger is Sheriff of Adams County, Ala. her father was sheriff before her. Now at 32 after a bad marriage and a few years as sheriff she has a serial killer on her hands. Does she go with her instincts or depend on her father's. Bernie must find her own way and ultimately try to save the life of someone in her own family.

Detective Jim Norton is the new chief of Investigations in her small dept. Jim has taken this job and moved to Adams Co. because he wants to stay close to his 13 yr old son. At 40 and alone he finds more than a boss in Bernie. Her family has what he wants a safe, secure harbor.

From the first abduction and murder it is apparent to Jim that this is not an isolated incident. As the first leads come in they realize this killer maskerades as a secret admirer, leaving notes and small gifts before kidnapping his target. Later the woman is left with her throat slit on the side of the road.

As I said before Beverly knows how to take us up the mountain a step at a time, and always gives a party at the summit, but I do love the closure. Don't miss this one. She just gets better and better.

As most of the other reviewers gave a detailed description of the plot, I would only say that there are a couple of things that threw me off this book. I think I will re-sell it.
First of course the graphic rape and torture scenes (it made me give the book 2 stars instead of 3) - there are several of them and some of them pretty gruesome and unnecessary (not to mention long). I felt that the book would have won in focusing more on the crime investigation instead of depicting in detail such scenes.
Second, the sheriff and the crime investigator take a long time in figuring out who the murderer is - I mean after the 3rd crime when the victim apparently goes away willingly with the murderer, how hard can it be to figure some things out?
Third, there are some less than subtle ideas that are forced on the reader every 20 pages or so - as Bernie telling repeatedly Jim Norton that he is a good father (he is always at a loss about what to do with his son, so I can't see the reasoning behind it), Jim's frequent comparisons between Bernie and his ex-wife etc etc.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have liked.

This is the first Beverly Barton book I have ever read. I found it randomly while walking through a Borders while I waited for the train one day. The beginning was interesting enough and it held my attention. Though, I was a little put off by some of the wording like "panty creaming good looks". I laughed so hard when I read that and not in a good way. It was more in a "Lol what?" kind of way. But I could get past that and get on with the story, at least till I got halfway through.

More and more as I read, I was increasingly being turned off to this book by how it would time and again refer to women as being weak. Whether it be the second victim musing about how no woman has the physical strength to change her own tire. Or the Bernie, the female sheriff's father constantly coming to the rescue and undermining her authority.

Probably though the most infuriating part of the book was the ending. I had guessed the killer several chapters before the end and it was just frustrating when the characters had not yet figured it out. Then when they had figured it out, the reader was still left in the dark. I suppose this was done to add suspense but it failed in doing that. I eventually just began skimming the pages of the last chapter, to confirm who I believed it was and didn't even bother with the epilogue. I just had to read the first sentence of that to know what was going on.

Overall this book is very average and all the romance for the main couple is at the very end and is very stunted. Barton gave all the romance to the pretty sister, while the heroine of the book gets one chapter near the end of the book where her and the hero are suddenly together.

This is the first book I read by Beverly Barton. Mostly it is a good book. I loved the involment of the characters and even the ending. It has a great plot and is very suspensful.

All of that is if you can get past the very graphic rape and torture scenes. Why has no one else warned us about it in the reviews? I am not a very timid person and I know that these happen in the real world but, I do not want my leisurely read to make me want to vomit. After about the 3rd rape scene, I would just skip over the part with the killer and go on to the next chapter. I read one scene before bed and I had the worst time falling asleep because I was thinking about all the poor women that this has really happened to.

I am not sure if I will read another book by Beverly Barton because I am scared that all her books are written like this one.

Having read Ms. Barton's books in the order they were published, I believe this is her best work so far.

The suspense is good, the villain merciless. The characters are likable--flawed and believable--more three-dimensional than the characters in Ms. Barton's previous books.

Jim Norton, introduced in an earlier book, KILLING HER SOFTLY, is a solid leading man. He's sexy and has high morals but remains very human. Newly appointed to Captain of the Adams County Sheriff's Department in Adams County, Alabama, he brings needed experience from his years as a Detective with the Memphis PD to deal with the serial murders going on in Adams County.

The youngest, and first female, to be elected Sheriff in Adams County, Bernie Granger has her hands full--not only with their serial killer, but trying to fill the previous Sheriff's shoes, her father's. She also struggles with her attraction to Captain Norton, who was a star college running back she had a major crush on in her adolescence. A crush she hasn't quite recovered from.

Although a few suspects are hinted at, it becomes obvious who the killer is fairly early in the story. Even so, I found this book entertaining and worth the time to read it.

Shelley Dawn, author of, Sweet, Sweet Jessie and Dark Nights www.shelleydawn.com

This was my first book by Ms. Barton, and I enjoyed it. I find grading a book hard since there is so much to consider.
Pros:
Overall good writing - I didn't want to put it down the past two nights (going to bed at 1 AM and 2AM respectively), so it does flow well.
I like Jim Norton - he is a compelling character
Most of the other characters are well defined.
My second guess as to the rapist/murderer was correct. I actually was waffling between the two so it was easy to move to my second guess.
Cons:
I am among those who did not like the graphic nature of the rapes/murders. I usually can tolerate reading a limited amount, but I am one who just turned a few pages ahead so as not to read more.
Some of the writing seemed a bit juvenile - I've read a few quotes here - and I was also taken amusingly aback by some statements. It was like a teenager took over the writing for a moment. The son seemed to be more adult in his comments than the thoughts of the adults.

All in all, I did like this and would read more by the author. If you can get past the graphic nature (either by being immune to it or skipping pages) and the cheesy sentences that randomly appear, it is a good book. I am going to pass it on to another suspense lover and see what they think.

This is my 'first' read of Ms. Barton and it will be my last! In my
humble opinion, she is obsessed with sexual deviates and writes a very
predictable, boring read!

This was a very good book. I have read all
of Beverly Barton's books. This is a keeper.