Deadly Laws [Paperback]

Jim Michael Hansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2007

Third-year law student Kayla Beck receives a chilling telephone call. A stranger has chosen her to be the rescuer of a woman he has abducted. Kayla can either attempt to rescue the woman and possibly save her life or she can ignore the call and never be bothered again. If she disregards the call, however, no one else will get a similar opportunity. The woman will die. What happens next catapults both Kayla and Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry into a deadly world where the FBI has been hunting unsuccessfully for years; a world of unknown boundaries and dangers; a world where, in the end, the only hope of getting out is to go all the way in.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is one top-notch read. Again, Mr. Hansen adds just the right amount of mystery, suspense, romance, horror and nail-biting adventure to keep you turning the pages. Be warned, there is some rude-talk and sexual content to be aware of. However, for those who love the hair standing-up on your neck fear; the delving into the mind of a heart-less killer and the challenge of solving one outstanding who done it read; you will love this book. It is a murder mystery that you will never know or even imagine what lies around the next turn; I promise you that. Excellent read! --Midwest book Review

Deadly Laws successfully pairs an intriguing premise and solid suspense. --Booklist

This is one book you will have trouble putting down from page one. The author has done a fabulous job of pulling the reader in and keeping them there. He has a great knack at switching from one part of the story to another at just the right time. He will keep you wondering what is going on until the last page. There are lots of twists and turns and suspense. --Spinetingler Magazine

About the Author

Jim Michael Hansen is a Colorado attorney. Jim is also the author of the Laws thrillers, which can be read in any order. Books in the series include Night Laws, Shadow Laws, Fatal Laws, Deadly Laws, Bangkok Laws, Immortal Laws, Voodoo Laws and Ancient Laws.

Product Details

• Paperback: 423 pages
• Publisher: Dark Sky Publishing, Inc. (October 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976924331
• ISBN-13: 978-0976924333
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,895,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thriller that keeps haunting you, September 17, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deadly Laws (Paperback)

Deadly Laws is the fourth title in Jim Michael Hansen's scintillating Laws series.

Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry has been called to a railroad yard to investigate a shooting death. He found more than just a man's body. There was evidence that an unknown person had been held captive (by a dog collar) and escaped from the boxcar where the murder victim had been found.

Third-year law student Kayla Beck receives a chilling telephone call. A man challenges her to a game: follow his directions and save a woman's life, or ignore the call and the woman dies. Kayla believes the caller and follows his directions. She came upon Aspen, tied up in the boxcar, as she was being raped.

Kayla helps Aspen escape and is told a chilling tale of a serial killer that involves seemingly random citizens in his maniacal game of death. And if the `helper' doesn't help him, they eventually become the targets.

Coventry, Aspen and Beck are after the killer and once again, Hansen neatly intersects the stories of the victims and the police. The women are the hunted, but are determined to control their own fate and become the hunters. Their investigation parallels the police's.

Deadly Laws is a thriller that won't let the reader shake the terror of the story. Long after you close the book, you'll be looking over your shoulder, wondering if you're in the `crosshairs' of a nameless, faceless, monster who is only interested in the thrill of torture and murder--yours.

Hansen's plots are masterful and terrifying because they could be real life. His characters are rich, multi-dimensional and deeply flawed. Sometimes you love them and sometimes you don't.

My only criticisms of Deadly Laws are Det. Bryson Coventry's `skirt chasing' comes off as juvenile and unprofessional. It makes him less likeable than in the previous books in the series. Hansen also litters the landscape (in all of his books) with what I feel is too much gratuitous sex. Toning it down would add to the richness of the story.

Armchair Interviews says: Deadly Laws, while flawed, is a page-turner that leaves you scared, wary of strangers and breathless.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Yet!, September 16, 2007

By 

Aldo T. Calcagno "MysteryDawg" (Somis, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deadly Laws (Paperback)

"DEADLY LAWS is the fourth book in the LAWS series by Jim Michael Hansen. Hansen continues to expand the high tension drama that is the life of Bryson Coventry, a Denver homicide detective.

While investigating the death of a drifter, Bryson Coventry has only a single clue to go on. Kayla Beck, a third year law student who is overloaded with her studies, Law Review and life in general becomes the pawn in a wicked game of life and death. They share the same goal to find out who is behind the savage serial murder of young women. An out of the blue phone call to Kayla challenges her to her moral core; "do as I say and you can save the life of an unknown women or else she dies." Her decision unleashes a chain reaction that keeps the reader glued to 400+ pages of electrifying tension. How Coventry and his colleagues put all the pieces of the puzzle together will keep you guessing and the masterful twist at the end is stunning.

Coventry is still battling his demons; he drinks way too much coffee, falls too easily into bed with so many beautiful women and tries to squeeze in time for his passion to paint. Hansen's characterizations are what draw you into the core of each of his books. Coventry faces his own moral deliminas - the professional cop, who has a strong drive for justice, but just as easily can fall in bed with a beautiful suspect involved in the his investigation. Can he control is libido and still be objective in solving the crime?

There is more to the series than just Coventry. Hansen carefully surrounds his protagonist with a strong cast of characters who support Coventry and lovingly give him a hard time about his carefree lifestyle. Even Denver is a character in the books providing a contextual and atmospheric backdrop for these horrific crimes. If the good guys are this complicated, Hansen is among the best at getting into the heads of the vicious killers; men of no moral fabric who as easily smile at you or kill you depending on their disposition.

DEADLY LAWS is face paced and well plotted novel. Hansen has once again demonstrated that he a gifted wordsmith and he able to balance the thriller, crime, romance and violence aspects of writing and develop them into a well written novel. In each of the novels of this series Hansen is able to draw the reader in quickly and hold them captive until the satisfying ending is at hand. For the uninitiated, this is a caffeinated, high tension tour de force."

[...].

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Rocky Mountain High, September 15, 2007

By 

J. Quick (@ bookbitch.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deadly Laws (Paperback)

Fourth in the Laws series, drawing us again into the life and work of hard charging, coffee drinking, womanizing, homicide solving Denver detective Bryson Coventry. A man is abducting women, and then calling other women to go rescue them. If the proposed rescuer refuses, the abducted woman dies. One such rescue leads to the killing of a rapist, which brings Coventry onto the scene. A security camera video leads him to the "rescuer" and the most recent victim. They don't want to cooperate, because of the circumstances of the rapist's death, and because they have vowed to find and kill the abductor themselves. So Coventry begins a long, drawn out investigation/ assignation, the latter of which is thoroughly enjoyed by all concerned. In the meantime, the ladies are trying to use to get more information on the abductor, as well as....... Crisp as a Rocky Mountain morning and as exciting as a new powder run at Vail, this is the best "Law" yet.