Customer Reviews

Good Morning, Killer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

While working the same bank robbery dubbed "Mission Impossible", FBI special agent Ana Gray and Santa Monica Detective Andrew Berringer fell in love. Their relationship has endured past the case but it hits a rocky patch when they work another case together, one when Ana is the lead and Andrew's boss.

Fifteen-year-old Juliana Meyer-Murphy was abducted at a shopping mall and the kidnapper called her parents twice before he let her go. She was raped and tortured but is strong enough to give the police the description of her attacker. Using other evidence they accumulate, Ana is ready to make an arrest but the suspect gets away. Instead the police arrest Ana for attempted murder.

She is off the case and out on bail, hoping that when she comes to trial the jury will believe her plea of self-defense. While on suspension, she keeps up with the kidnapping case from her sources within the department and ends up risking her life and her freedom to be the one to take Juliana's rapist down.

GOOD MORNING, KILLER the sequel to NORTH OF MONTANA is an exciting police procedural that pushes the envelope between victim and perpetrator. April Smith has a smooth, lyrical style of writing and if a crime thriller can be labeled literary, this is the perfect example. The protagonist is someone who lives in a world of gray and it shows in her personal and professional life, which makes her a fascinating character, one the audience would like to understand better.

Harriet Klausner

I read this book without first checking out the reviews or even paying much attention to the jacket copy, and I'm glad I did. Ms. Smith takes us down one plot path and then suddenly veers off the road, goes another way entirely. The way all the plotlines converged was very effective. And I had no problem with the characters or their believability. Ana and Andrew were drawn together because they recognized that they were both damaged -- by their sad, empty childhoods and by the ugly things they had seen on the job. The way Ana so completely related to Julia, the teenage victim whose abduction she was investigating, made it plausible that she would feel great empathy for her lover. And then there was the lust -- a powerful motivation indeed. An earlier reviewer compared Ana to Kinsey Milhone. While I appreciate Grafton's heroine enormously, I think Ana has more in common with Patricia Cornwell's brilliant but deeply flawed Kay Scarpetta.

I can't add anything to all the positive reviews, but I am glad I made a rule for myself not to read the blurbs on the book jackets! The writer for this summary gave away plot points almost right up to the end. I guess if you're in a hurry, you could just read the last fifty pages. I for one am tired of blurb writers who destroy suspense for readers.

As I was making my way through the alphabet (A is for...) I kept looking for other intriguing female characters in mysteries and thrillers. One of the few really good ones was Ana Grey, the FBI agent heroine of "North of Montana." How I hoped that Ana would become a series, and now, at long last, the second Ana Grey novel, "Good Morning, Killer." My only regret is that I read this book avidly, finishing it the weekend I bought it. Now I'll have to wait for the third installment! At least April Smith is the kind of excellent writer that you can re-read, getting more nuances as well as reacquainting yourself with a wonderful fictional character...so I'm sure I'll read this one over, as I did "North of Montana."
I guess because April Smith wrote episodes of Lou Grant, Cagney and Lacey and Chicago Hope, when she decided to turn her attention to novels she made sure to make them visual and fast-paced...without skipping on quality or characters you can really believe in.
Each Ana Grey book so far stands on its own...so if you want to start right here with Good Morning, Killer, you'll enjoy it. And if you like good mysteries, I'm sure you'll pick up the earlier book right after you finish this. I hope the April Smith shelf becomes as large as my Sue Grafton collection...more Ana Grey!!

Those who saw the movies "Chicago" or "Birdcage" know that Christine Baranski is one terrific actress - versatile and appealing. Thus, it comes as no surprise that she gives one terrific reading of April Smith's follow-up to her highly popular thriller "North Of Montana" (1994).

Los Angeles based FBI agent Ana Grey returns - she's as tough and savvy as ever. Ambitious? Of course. Irreverent? Always.

With a story taken from today's front pages a 15-year-old girl has vanished. She was last seen at a mall close to her Santa Monica home. What happened? Was she abducted or did she choose to disappear? Granted, the girl had problems and she was hanging out at the Third Street Promenade, a tourist and entertainment mecca.

Local police are on the job, but if it's kidnaping that's a federal offense. Enter Ana Grey. It doesn't take Ana too long to discover that other girls may also be in peril. A psychopathic killer may be roaming the streets. Ana places herself in jeopardy in order to track this sadistic murderer.

Chalk one more hit up for April Smith and Christine Baranski!

- Gail Cooke

While I certainly understand why this book would not appeal to the average pulp fiction reader, I really enjoyed it because the protagonist was *not* the stereotypical female we've all come to know in the various series that are out there. In fact, I was reminded of Lorraine Page of the short-lived series by Lynda La Plante. I appreciated the fact that Ana Gray was so completely irrational during the course of this story. Isn't anyone weary of the Kinsey Millhones who have such bland, acceptable, if not loveable, faults and are as original as a piece of white paper?

... The book is a quick read, and the writing is smooth. I will read this author's next book. However, the relationship between Ana and her boyfriend Andrew is unbelievable. First, we are told that they have discussed living together, which suggests that they have at least been dating a few months, but they seem to have a total lack of understanding of each other. Andrew's character is not developed enough for the reader to figure out why he is treating Ana so badly. Ana, on the other hand, consistently behaves like a teenager -- she exhibits so little common sense or self-control in her dealings with Andrew that you doubt she could have passed FBI psychological tests. This incomprehensible relationship drives some very peculiar plot twists that untimately seem unbelievable to me. In the midst of all this, the main story of the serial rapist gets lost.