Customer Reviews

INTENT TO HARM

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am an assistant prosecutor who does not scare easily. This book is so wonderfully spooky that I couldn't read it at home alone. I ended up reading it in the office and still ended up with shivers. I highly recomend this book.

Stan Washburn's masterfully written first novel is a riveting procedural that pits cop Toby Parkman against an elusive serial rapist. Captures a feeling of night and darkness that should unsettle some readers.

This book started off really well, nice and spooky, I certainly didn't want to read this at night with any curtains open! However, towards the end, after the criminal was named the book sort of tapered off. The scene where they try to catch him in the act was fantastic, but after that it was all finished off too 'flaky' and without tying up all the loose ends. I don't know, maybe it was because I ended up skimming the last bits, but I was waiting for some sort of explanation or the interview scene or something. Enjoyed the bulk of it though.

This book depicts the terror that evil (in the form of a serial rapist) inflicts on a community. If you are like me, then you are sick to death of mysteries with a detective who knows everything and always gets his man.... The character of Toby Parkman is just the opposite, he is a rookie, and solves the case not just by wits but a lot of luck as well. This is probably more realistic that most people would care to admit and as a result it is terrifying. While the descriptions are very graphic and may be disurbing to most, they further illustrate the anguish suffered by victims of these crimes. This book is one of the most suspensful and frightening I have ever read. I recomend it highly but with caution as the graphic rape scenes can be disturbing. Even so I think most people will enjoy this thriller.

This is Stan Washburn's first Toby Parkman and Walt Kramer novel, introducing the intellectual and thoughtful friends who joined the Police Dept when Toby's job folded and Walt's bookshop declined (you can read their further adventures in Into Thin Air). It is a very compelling story that will horrify you as you read the criminal's modus operandi and chill you (and if you are female frighten you) as you read of his treatment of his victims. Equally compelling is Washburn's characterisation of the other police officers and Toby's and Walt's families and friends.

His portrayals of the police and the police work are realistic - they make mistakes and have bad days, just like all the rest of us. I like the fact the author has them relying on verifiable facts and information rather than the 'intuitive leaps' some authors like to overuse, with lots of foot slogging and following up of what proves to be dead ends. This, I imagine, is how real policemen work, not the television super cops we are constantly bombarded with in various guises.

The side story of a concurrent police investigation into a child molester is well done and while a bit distracting from the main plotline, does fit in well in the flow of the novel. Washburn's depictions of Toby's discomfort at re-interviewing the victims of the particularly brutal series of rapes they are investigating is believable and feels very real.

This book was impossible to put down on the first read - it really is a 'page turner' and I was spellbound. Finishing it off sitting up in bed had me pulling the curtains and jumping at noises!

I hope there are many more Toby & Walt investigations to come!

I read a lot and am particularly fond of serial killers-- pretty weird for an old lady!--and this book, although with a rapist rather than a killer, is one of the few that kept me up far into the night-- I couldn't put it down. And when I finally went to bed, I checked all the doors and windows, just in case. Great book, great characters, chilling plot.

As an NYC police officer, I can attest to the realness and true grit of Washburn's story. It gets right to the heart of life on the street, and how very difficult it is to tirelessly track a dangerous criminal. This is not a story for the squeemish - its scary, suspenseful, and very hard to put down. Without a doubt, you will be locking your doors and looking over your shoulder after reading this book. Its really chilling in its authenticity.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to take a real walk on the wild side of how criminals are actually tracked and caught by law enforcement, and how dangerous it is to assume the bad guys aren't watching us right back. The book is now making the rounds at my precinct, and all the guys would agree that Washburn has hit a home run with this book.

Stan Washburn's masterfully written first novel is a riveting procedural that pits cop Toby Parkman against an elusive serial rapist. Captures a feeling of night and darkness that should unsettle some readers.

This book is difficult to read simply because of the subject matter. A kinky pervert is terrorising women and anything that moves in a small town.The main character Toby, is the antithesis of this pervert and Washburn regularly paralles normal heterosexual behaviour with abnormal sexual behaviour. Toby gradually loses his macho sex drive when he is appointed investigative detective. Interviews with the victims of these crimes causes Toby to reconsider sex games with his devoted wife Sara. The action in this book is pedantic and frustrating expecially the symbolism of Toby and Sara loading and unloading his cop guns every night. I think the author has masked his real desire to write a book about sex games