Customer Reviews

Cruel Intent

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We often hear of the dangers from predators lurking on the internet. Now, prolific mystery writer, J.A.Jance, has written a nicely chilling and satisfying tale of a psychopath stalking women on the web. He uses a web site, singleatheart.com, that attracts married women looking for sex with someone besides their husband. Ex-TV journalist Ali Reynolds (You may have met her in Jance's Hand of Evil, Web of Evil, and Edge of Evil.) becomes interested when the wife of the building contractor restoring her house is brutally murdered. Naturally, the husband is suspected, but Ali does not believe it. She starts snooping, finds the web site, and innocently draws the attention of the psychopath. After that, the story plunges into breathtaking suspense, as the murderer decides that Ali is a threat, and he must find her and kill her. It comes to a great climax in a thoroughly enjoyable story.

JA Jance is one of the authors whose books I buy in hardcover as soon as they come out. I follow and look forward to both her Joanna Brady and JP Beaumont series. When heard that she started another series, this with Ali Reynolds, I couldn't wait to try it out.

This is the last in that series I'll read. I expect detectives, police, rescue workers and so on to approach trouble. I can even deal with an intellectual non-professional like Miss Marple or the title characters in the current TV series Numbers and Mentalist working along with the door-bangers and gun-carriers to solve the mystery. However, I just can't buy into a retired newscaster stumbling upon mayhem and murder, then being better focused and smarter than the law enforcement professionals.

In addition to all that, the underlying plot line is quite plausible, but Jance focused more on the involvement of the characters with each other than on the mystery. Other authors, such as John Harvey in Lonely Hearts (ISBN-10: 1932859446) did a much better job with the same concept.

This book took me through a long plane ride. If I had had the ability to put it down and switch to a different book, I would have.

Ali Reynolds (divorcee and single mother) is having her Sedona home renovated and finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. Bryan Forester, her contractor, is the prime suspect in his wife's (Morgan) death, and only Ali believes in his innocence (after all she was blamed for her ex-husband's death). While uncovering clues to Morgan's death (which involve a single's dating site) and cheating spouses, Ali also deals with a well meaning mother (Edie), an ex-lover/Detective (Dave Holman) who is convinced of Bryan's guilt, her son's pending marriage, the construction of her house, a serial killer, and the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays (of which she has promised to host and prepare dinner for her entire family).

Two things that I loved about the story were the well meaning butler (Leland Brooks) and the one-eyed cat. While I am not sure that this was a stand alone novel (there were several references to past novels or storylines) I really enjoyed "Cruel Intent". This was my first Jance novel, and I found it to be easy to understand and entertaining. And although you know from the beginning who the killer is, you enjoy reading about his eventual unmasking and capture.

I ordered this book because I was interested in the subject matter: internet stalking, murder. It was indeed about that, but the author dealt with it in a simplistic way that was unfortunate. I suppose the argument against my expectations is that one shouldn't go to J.A. Jance, a Daniel Steele or a Stuart Woods to read anything terribly meaningful on a current problem that is harming so many.

Was the Jance's story entertaining? Yes. I've never read her before and found her writing style to be a tad Daniel Steel, though Jance's writing is better, and a tad Stuart Woods, but without the sex.

If you're looking for light entertainment and a fast read about a subject that is far more complex, this is good book for you.

I picked this up from the discount table at Barnes & Noble. I have been a fan for years but have not read any of her books in a while. I had just read Fire and Ice and though I enjoyed it, it wasn't one of her best. I decided to try another one of her books and this one was at the right price.

Cruel Intent is much better done that Fire and Ice. It is all in third person, doesn't drag as much and just seems to flow better. What is weird is that this is the second book in a row by MS Jance that has a lot to do with a wedding. I don't know if she just loves weddings or likes it as a plot device, but it is definitely a part of this story and in this case, it works.

The bad guy is pure evil and I spent a good part of the book wondering how the hero, Ali, was going to step into things and get the bad guy after her. I won't go into story details but I really liked the ending and how they took down the bad guy. Quite different! My only beef was that though I really liked the ending and it was ultimately satisfying, it came off as a bit flat. Maybe too easy? However, this is a minor quibble.

Overall, a well-done mystery. Highly recommended.

J.A. Jance is on her game with "Cruel Intent." Great story line and unique, exciting ending. This is a must read or a must listen if you prefer audio books. With this book she also proved that blasphemy and 4-letter words are not needed or necessary to write an incredibly suspenseful story. If you choose to listen, Karen Ziemba tells the story instead of just reading the pages. Do not miss this one! You won't be able to put the book down or turn off your CD player and you will look around every corner as you join Ali Reynolds in a mysterious journey.

The cover for the book on CD that I listened to stated incorrectly that Ali has twin daughters and that blame is properly laid at the door of Midwest Tape LLC, "a wholly separate and distinct company from the publisher," who repackaged the book on CD. Shame on them!

Buy it! Read it! Listen to it! You won't regret it and you will probably want to revisit it from time to time.

The prolific Jance opens a new series here, featuring former TV journalist Ali Reynolds, trying to remodel a home in Sedona, Ariz.
Everyone knows remodeling can be tough ... but not everyone finds their contractor the prime suspect in the murder of his wife, Morgan. Ali doesn't think Bryan Forester is guilty, even though Morgan was known to be sleeping around.
The widowed Ali soon discovers a website for "married singles" like Morgan. It might turn out to be a very dangerous investigation.
But the best thing about a Jance book isn't just the plot, inventive as it might be, but the characters and relationships. Here we meet Ali's son, a teacher, and his girlfriend, a wounded veteran of the Iraq war. Then there's a young computer genius and the butler she inherited from the house's former owner.
The book is exciting and fun, just what we've come to expect from this author.

Cruel Intent by J. A. Jance

Ali Reynolds just wanted to get into her house and make Thanksgiving dinner. Little did she know that a serial killer would thrust his ugly way into her hopes for a pleasant holiday.

This mystery really moved. Jance put the pedal to the metal and never let up. Ali is a likeable heroine who cares about people around her. She is tolerant of others and their differences. Her butler, Leland, provides her with a steady hand when she lets her emotions run away. Her relationship with her Mother and Dad came off as authentic and familiar. I found her a very believable character. Peter Winters, the psychopathic serial killer was almost stereotypically evil. He had no redeeming characteristics. Jance populated the book with characters that are entertaining and believable. The tension in the story and the action will provide every adrenal junkie a great rush. I liked the book enough to go out and get the two Ali Reynold's novels that preceded it.

I highly recommend the book.

Those familiar with this series already know that even though Ali Reynolds has nothing to do with crime investigations in the formal sense, she always ends up involved in a murder or series of murders one way or the other. this is also the case in this installment, but far from following the formula in the previous books, Jance decides to cut many of the patterns and start fresh.

The first noticeable difference is that the author decided to drop the "... of Evil" from the title. Also, this is the only of the four books that does not start with a murder involving a vehicle. But maybe the two biggest differences are that blogspot does not play a major role in this case and that this is not really a mystery, but more of a thriller instead. One aspect that I enjoyed in the previous books was the fact that Ali interacted with many people through her blog, this provided a "fresher" side to the plot and kept things entertaining. At first I was worried when I realized that the blog was not going to be a factor in this novel, but Jance used other elements to keep things moving an entertaining. In this case, the secondary plot line that has to do with how Ali is going to assign the scholarships she administers provides us with an entertaining break from the action.

The fact that this is not really a mystery and that we know who the killer is just from the start did not bother me, but I am aware that there are many people that are not going to feel the same way. There are other factors that I look forward to in a series that are present here, like character development and a continuation of the personal stories of the main characters, that are present here and compensate from the lack of the whodunit element.

The bottom line is that this is a fun and fast read that I enjoyed. There are some aspects that could have been executed better, such as having a little more development in the part of the story that has to do with the relationship between Ali and detective Dave Holman, but things like these are minor flaws.

Wow! J. A. Jance did it again. A really great book, I hated to put it down. I am really looking forward to her next book. S.L. Chessor author of Poodlums, Boogeymen and Booglers and My Tongue Fell Out. Poodlums, Boogeymen and Booglers: A Poetry Collection