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Good Morning, Killer [Paperback]

April Smith (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)


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Book Description

December 1, 2004
An electrifying new thriller that brings back the complex, strong-willed, often-maverick FBI agent—Ana Grey—whom we first met in the author’s stunning debut novel, North of Montana.

This time Special Agent Grey is working on a kidnapping case—a fifteen-year-old named Juliana has been abducted in Santa Monica. Grey’s counterpart in the Santa Monica Police Department is Detective Andrew Berringer. They’ve worked together before—and they’ve been more than just working together ever since.

It’s Ana’s job “to know the victim as if she were my own flesh and blood.” But when Juliana turns up—traumatized into a state of total and paralyzing terror—it becomes clear that Ana has gone too far: she is viewing her own life from the perspective of Juliana’s blasted emotional terrain. And in a moment of passion (Andrew has betrayed her) and panic (is it possible that he also means to harm her?) Ana points a gun at him and shoots.

Now she is both criminal investigator and criminal as she breaks her bail agreement to continue tracking the abductor, torn between her powerful emotional connection with Juliana and the fraying connection she has to her own common sense and to the truths she knows about Andrew—and about herself.

Psychologically acute and unstoppably suspenseful—Good Morning, Killer is a searing, addictive read.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

FBI Special Agent Ana Gray returns in this complex, involving thriller about a dedicated officer's search for a serial rapist that proceeds alongside her passionate and obsessive love affair with a fellow cop, Santa Monica detective Andrew Berringer. Before their relationship culminates in a violent episode that leaves him clinging for life and her accused of attempted murder, the deviant who brutalized the teenage girl Ana has taken into her heart and under her wing has found another victim, and Ana's efforts to stop him before he kills her drive Smith's stunning narrative to a shocking denouement. But the author has additional surprises in store for the reader that involve Andrew's motivations for escalating their passion--to keep Ana from reopening a closed case involving bank robbery, fraud, and deception, which will lead her to reevaluate the man, and the obsession, that has brought her to the brink of personal and professional oblivion. While many authors who feature the same protagonist in all their mysteries simply serve up the same character in different scenarios in each new outing, April Smith expertly illuminates aspects of her heroine's psychological life and devotion to justice that deepen our understanding about who she is--a complicated, brave, multidimensional woman it is a pleasure to meet in this engrossing and powerful novel. --Jane Adams. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Intelligent and uncompromising, this second in a series by Smith reprises the successes of her acclaimed first thriller, North of Montana. Feisty, unconventional FBI Special Agent Ana Grey is teamed with tough but compassionate Police Det. Andrew Berringer on a kidnapping case involving Santa Monica teen Juliana Meyer-Murphy. Grey and Berringer continue the tempestuous personal relationship begun in Smith's first novel: "That's how we met. Working the same bank robbery, dubbed `Mission Impossible' because the bandit came in through the roof. We don't always catch the bad guys, but we're great with the nicknames." After Juliana is released alive but physically and psychologically devastated, the case becomes personal for Ana. Learning the harrowing particulars of Juliana's ordeal and observing the well-meaning but brutally invasive examinations the girl must undergo-described in clinical detail-she grows more and more obsessed with the demented killer/rapist, a charismatic ex-marine. As the chase intensifies, so does Ana's troubled relationship with Andrew. An argument that escalates into physical confrontation changes the lives of both when Ana pulls a gun and fires. While Ana is still in the middle of the fallout, the kidnapping case ends in a Silence of the Lambs-style standoff at the killer's private gallery of horrors. Smith's finely calibrated, unsentimental writing and tart humor make her a standout in the genre. She doesn't just tell a story; she illuminates the human condition through the pain and complex lives-and deaths-of her compelling characters.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 381 pages
  • Publisher: Pinnacle Books; 1st edition (December 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786016671
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786016679
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

April Smith grew up in the Bronx, where she was inspired by her dad's library of sci-fi books to enter the world of the imagination. During long New York winters, she read Ray Bradbury, Ian Flemming and Edna St. Vincent Millay. The tiny public library above a dry cleaner on Kingsbridge Road was her favorite place to be. She majored in English at Boston University, graduating cum laude, and received a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Stanford University. She came to Los Angeles in 1977 to write for television, garnering three Emmy award nominations and two from the Writer's Guild. 1994 saw the publication of North of Montana, the first in the FBI Special Agent Ana Grey series, which has become a California noir classic, in print ever since. More at www.aprilsmith.net. (Photo by Jonathan Exley)

 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars One interesting plot thread..., May 10, 2003
By 
E. Griffin (Wilton, CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Good Morning, Killer (Hardcover)
The story of the child abductor that Ana Grey, FBI agent is hunting with the assistance of the Santa Monica police department is riveting. Ana's relationship with one of the young victims adds dimension to Ana's character and engages the reader in the hunt and capture of the suspect.

The other characters in the story, however, are so thinly formed that they add no veracity to the rather incongruous turns in the story. One co-worker that had a friction filled relationship suddenly comes to Ana's aid, while another character moves from a bereaved widow to a crazy killer.

A truly unbelievable relationship is Ana's so-called obsession with Andrew Berringer of the Santa Monica PD. The reader is not given any opportunity to begin to understand Andrew or the relationship he has with Ana. It is difficult to believe that Ana risks her much loved career not once, not twice, but three times for someone that you can't really feel her connect with.

Overall, Good Morning Killer is a relatively quick read. The strength of the abduction plot is flawed by the sub-plot with Ana and Andrew. Although I enjoyed the book, I found I began skimming through the final portion.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, October 23, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Good Morning, Killer (Hardcover)
I unfortunately have to agree with some of the other negative reviews of Good Morning Killer. I read North of Montana when it came out and loved it, and in fact re-read it to refresh my memory before settling in with this book. What a disappointment! I found myself unable to even finish the book (I basically just skimmed the last few chapters to get the general idea) as it deteriorated into an unbelievable mess. Ana's relationship with Andrew was not developed enough for me to want the details of the inevitable train wreck. While I like April Smith's writing style, this book's storyline was unbelievable. Also, I found myself wondering if the book's events were somehow supposed to take place BEFORE North of Montana, since there was no mention whatsoever of the fling with Donnato and the fact that he was supposedly getting a divorce at the end of North of Montana. And what about Poppy, whom we left dying in North of Montana? After such great efforts from April Smith, including Be the One, this one was a huge disappointment.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A huge achievement!, June 26, 2003
By 
William (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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This review is from: Good Morning, Killer (Hardcover)
Ms. Smith's novel is a major work of crime fiction that goes way beyond the typical genre novel. Here you'll find deep characterization, a strong sense of place, powerful narrative drive and a compelling psycho-moral drama...qualities one finds only in the very best crime novels. Moreover, her heroine is a fascinatingly complex character. "Good Morning, Killer" is a huge achievement for this author, a fitting follow-up to her brilliant "North Of Montana" published a decade ago. Kudos to the author!
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First Sentence:
It was winter and I was swimming laps in the rain. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
custody assistant, rape treatment center, photo day, hobby room
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Santa Monica, Ray Brennan, Ana Grey, Detective Berringer, Margaret Forrester, Rapid Start, Andrew Berringer, Juliana Meyer-Murphy, Culver City, Officer Oberbeck, Hugh Akron, Mike Donnato, Jason Ripley, Kelsey Owen, Mark Rauch, Mission Impossible, Willie John Black, Devon County, Sylvia Oberbeck, Arlene Harounian, Los Angeles, King Tut, Special Agent Grey, Carl Vincent, Crystal Dreams
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