The Devil's Hour (Laura Cardinal Series, Book 3) [Kindle Edition]

J. Carson Black (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“J. Carson Black's THE DEVIL'S HOUR is a superior mystery novel in all respects. Fine prose, terrific suspense, believable characters, and one of the most unexpected and satisfying conclusions I've read in a long time. Highly recommended."
---John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of DAMAGE

In 1997, the disappearance of three young girls rocked the city of Tucson, Arizona. Eleven years later, one of those girls, Micaela Brashear, comes home--alive.

Detective Laura Cardinal worked homicide for Arizona DPS, but now she's been moved to the Open-Unsolved Unit. With a new job and a new partner who questions her every move, Laura pieces together Micaela's fragmented memories in the hope she will learn the whereabouts of the other two children.

When a man walking his dog finds the bones of a child in a shallow grave on the mountain above town, it becomes clear to Laura that Micaela was the lucky one.

But the killer isn't through yet, and after the fiery death of someone close to Laura, she realizes she faces an implacable enemy.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 483 KB
• Publisher: Breakaway Media (July 29, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003XVYHHK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,981 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #80 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Police Procedurals
  • #94 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

More About the Author

As witness to the ongoing changes in publishing, J. Carson Black knew she had to raise her game. She'd always read and studied the best authors in her genre, but to survive, Black knew she must grow. And so she determined to expand beyond her comfort zone and write a big thriller.

A political junkie, J. Carson Black loved the cable TV news circus--the media's mad scramble to find sensational stories. So when a suspected child-killer's plane landed with all the pomp and circumstance of the space shuttle in Boulder, Colorado, Black took note. As it turned out, John Mark Karr did not kill JonBenet Ramsey; he'd merely played the media and fed their insatiable 24/7 appetite. This was the New American Way: celebrity for its own sake.

That seed grew into into J. Carson Black's thriller THE SHOP.

Using social media, Black has made friends who share her passions and interests. Some of these friends are experts in their fields: homicide detectives, retired military, military analysts, a computer forensic expert, and even a Navy SEAL. Over time, these friends grew to trust Black and gave her entree into their world, and THE SHOP is the better for it.

A Tucson, Arizona native, J. Carson Black is at work on ICON, a thriller set in the New West.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, March 22, 2011

By 

shopper2010 "shopper2010" (OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Devil's Hour (Laura Cardinal Series, Book 3) (Kindle Edition)

This is another good novel by J Carson Black. She has an excellent way of telling the story, her characters are so believable and the ending is a surprise. The story is not too short nor too long. For those of you who don't like sex, swear words or too many details of a murder then you should really like this book. This is part of a series but to me it doesn't appear that if you read them out of order it would matter too much. They seem to hold up as stand alone books too.

The main character, Laura, is smart, gutsy and just a really good character. She is not perfect which makes her totally believable. In this story, there are almost two stories being told because there may or may not be two serial killers on the loose. I love the way the stories were woven together to make it very readable.

I really liked the endings of both stories which were mostly surprising. I was pretty sure that I figured out the Micaela (sp?) story and I was right but it still ended up that certain things were different than what I thought. I was mostly surprised about the other story which was very interesting in many ways. It was just so well done.

All in all, you will be very sorry to miss any of J Carson Black's novels. I highly recommend them!

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing novel, February 20, 2011

By 

William Simon "William Simon" (Houston, TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil's Hour (Laura Cardinal Series, Book 3) (Kindle Edition)

I've been an unabashed fan of J. Carson Black since I first read DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, one of the first novels to address the growing (at that time) issue of computer crime and on-line predators.

In THE DEVIL'S HOUR, State Investigator Laura Cardinal finds herself in a quagmire of deceit and danger when a young woman reappears after being missing for several years. What begins as a routine interview on Laura's part leads to discovery and exposure of the most hidden secrets, and a final revelation that will leave you stunned.

No messing around here: read it. Read all of J. Carson's books. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic new author!, May 3, 2011

By 

molson78 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil's Hour (Laura Cardinal Series, Book 3) (Kindle Edition)

This is another fine novel from an absolutely mind-blowing new author. How she managed to write all these fantastic books so quickly is beyond me, but this (and all her other titles) are FANTASTIC. Highly recommended.