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Gray Matter
 
 
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Gray Matter [Paperback]

Shirley Kennett (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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Book Description

May 1, 1997
When a celebrated concert pianist turns up murdered, decapitated and with his head still missing, psychologist and single mother PJ Gray, creator of a crime-solving, virtual reality program, joins forces with veteran homicide detective Leo Schultz to find the anonymous killer. Reprint. K. PW.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Of all the conflicts that drive Kennett's mercurial debut, none is more compelling than that between the very modern virtual-reality program designed to recreate a murder from the killer's point of view and the very primitive serial killer who calls himself Dog and who thinks that eating the brains of his victims will give him their special talents. In parallel fashion, Kennett's two protagonists also represent the new and the old: recently divorced computer expert Penelope Jessica ("PJ") Gray, working the freshly authorized Computerized Homicide Investigations Project in St. Louis, and leathery Detective Leo Schultz, who is having problems at home and is wary of anything digital. PJ also has a modern, i.e., smart-mouthed, son, who alternates between asking his mother to stop the mushy stuff and accusing her of sleeping with the first man she meets. The narrative can feel disjointed at times, and sometimes seems no more than a springboard to launch a pair of franchise characters. But eventually Kennett's storytelling talent wins out, so that even as PJ and Schultz are tracking Dog (with a little help from the FBI), the killer?with the voices of his victims competing for attention inside his head?is tracking them. At times shaky, at times fractured, this debut ultimately coheres into solid entertainment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

First novelist Kennett draws on the Silence of the Lambs model, but unlike so many other imitators of that groundbreaking thriller, she actually turns the weary formula into something worthwhile. Newly divorced psychologist-cum-computer expert P. J. Gray moves to St. Louis to take a job as a psychological profiler for the police department. Her first case involves a serial killer who mutilates his live victims, then beheads them. P. J. is teamed with Leo Schultz, an old-school detective who writes off P. J.'s plan to use a virtual-reality program to reconstruct the killer's movements. As the killer continues on his horrific spree, however, Schultz and P. J. eventually start to like and trust each other, which is particularly important when P. J. becomes the killer's intended victim. Although there's plenty that's predictable about this story, Kennett's devious creativity and bloodcurdling, realistic descriptive passages result in a terrifying and explosive thriller. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 317 pages
  • Publisher: Pinnacle (May 1, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786003898
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786003891
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.7 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,529,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've worn a number of hats, including those of corporate analyst, business systems programmer, independent computer consultant , and pet store employee (the one who cleans the cages), but my writer's hat is by far the most comfortable - and most satisfying - of them all. I've been a mystery fan as long as I can remember, which may have had something to do with growing up in a converted turn-of-the-century funeral home.

I've been involved with computers most of my life. In my consulting career, I focused on improving the quality of patient care through computerized clinical applications. Conducting business with clients around the country from my home office, I was a pioneer of telecommuting before the word was commonplace.

Starting married life as a teenager, I recently celebrated over three decades of married life with my husband. I discovered motherhood not in the usual fashion, but by bringing home an adopted child from Peru, astounding myself by falling in love with my son at first sight, changing my first diaper (ever), and floating down the Amazon, all on the same trip. Since then, an Ethiopian boy has joined our family. The two boys, now fifteen years old, created 'twins' from greatly different cultures. Truly mine is a global family.

I'm a St. Louis native and a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the American Crime Writers League, and International Thriller Writers. My hobbies are reading (not surprising), gardening, and photography.

I have six thrillers published, more on the way, plus I'm trying something new: a tie-in book for the TV series Without A Trace. Look for it in the summer of July 2007.

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, March 5, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Gray Matter (Paperback)
I'm a big fan of suspense, so when a friend told me to check out this book, I got it right away because I'm always looking for new authors. This book blew me away! It is one of the best written, most creative, and most suspenseful books I've read, and I've gone through a lot of them. You can't go wrong here. The main character PJ Gray is a real woman, not a cardboard creation, and her sidekick Leo Schultz deserves a series of his own. Kennett provides a view into the mind of one of the most interesting and evil villains I've come across.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, likable detective for a change, July 27, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Gray Matter (Paperback)
I read Firecracker first then looked for this one. I'm hooked. The good guys are refreshing, Leo is not a drunk with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and PJ is a real life career woman, not a pseudomale in drag. The killer is REAL bad. His killing is not for the squeamish, as if any of it is acceptable. I was riveted. I am not generally a detective novel fancier, but these I like. Look forward to number 3.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book was just right. Ranks with Thomas Harris., March 4, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Gray Matter (Paperback)
One of the 5-10 best psychological thrillers I've read. Gory, but fascinating. Good as Red Dragon and Lawrence Sanders's Deadly Sins series.
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