Killing Hour [Paperback]

Lisa Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2004

For three summers, the residents of Atlanta have been gripped by terror when the temperature creeps up to a hundred. For with the relentless heat comes a vicious killer. Each time, he takes two girls. When the first body is discovered, it contains all the clues investigators need to find the second victim, who waits, prey to a slow but certain death. The police are never in time; the bodies always found months later in remote and dangerous places. As a heatwave of epic proportions descends, the game begins again. Two girls disappear and the clock is ticking. Rookie agent Kimberly Quincy stumbles across the first body in the grounds of the FBI training facility at Quantico. She's been face-to-face with a serial killer before and knows only too well why the killer has chosen Quantico to start the chase. This time he's raising the stakes; he wants the FBI's finest to come out and play ...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A cold case grows hot again in Gardner's sixth high-octane page-turner, a romantic thriller that features rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quincy. Kimberly is the daughter of Pierce Quincy, former FBI profiler turned PI, last seen in The Next Accident. She's a tough, troubled young woman still recovering from the murders of her mother and sister six years earlier. During week nine of the FBI Academy's 16-week training program in Virginia, she discovers the body of a young woman who looks like her late sister. Since the corpse has been dumped on a secured Marine base, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service is in charge, but determined Kimberly soon takes a leave of absence so she can team up with Michael "Mac" McCormack, visiting Georgia Bureau of Investigations Special Agent, along with her father and his partner, Rainie Connor, to prevent another death. Mac receives taunting mail and cell phone messages ("planet dying... animals weeping... rivers screaming... can't you hear it? Heat kills") that lead him to suspect a serial eco-killer who last struck in Georgia three years earlier, leaving seven dead women and one survivor. Sparks fly between Kimberly and Mac as they rush to rescue the eco-killer's latest victim, Tina Krahn. Gardner offers riveting glimpses of Tina's struggle to survive in an environmentally hazardous locale. With tight plotting, an ear for forensic detail and a dash of romance, this is a truly satisfying sizzler in the tradition of Tess Gerritsen and Tami Hoag.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

It has been a while since a vicious murderer killed Kimberly Quincy's mother and sister and put a gun to Kimberly's own head, but rage and guilt are Kim's constant companions, isolating her even as they toughen her in the struggle to become an FBI agent. After she literally stumbles on the body of a woman who looks very like her dead sister, her tightly controlled emotions spill into a furious search for a serial killer that compromises her career. In concert with an equally dedicated (and attractive) Georgia law enforcement officer, her estranged father (a former FBI profiler), and a handful of forensics specialists, she pursues clues to solve a deadly game, the prize for which is a kidnapped young woman. The forensic detail is great, and Gardner works in some genuinely creepy moments, especially when she zeroes in on the victim struggling against horrific odds. A tighter focus and a trimmed-down cast of characters would have made the reading smoother, but that won't stop Gardner's fans. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Orion Paperbacks (October 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075285903X
• ISBN-13: 978-0752859033
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #928,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times #1 bestselling crime novelist Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots into a streak of thirteen bestselling suspense novels, including her most recent release, Catch Me.

Readers are invited to get in on the fun by entering the annual "Kill a Friend, Maim a Mate" Sweepstakes, where they can nominate the person of their choice to die in Lisa's latest novel. Every year, one Lucky Stiff is selected for Literary Immortality. It's cheaper than therapy, and you get a great book besides. For more details, simply visit Lisa's website.

Lisa lives in New England with her family, as well as two highly spoiled dogs and one extremely neurotic three-legged cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the trail of a sadistic killer., August 3, 2003

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Killing Hour (Hardcover)

In Lisa Gardner's sixth novel, "The Killing Hour," the protagonist is Kimberly Quincy, a deeply troubled young woman who is following in her father's footsteps by training as a Special Agent for the FBI. Her male counterpart is Georgia-based Special Agent Mac McCormack, who is in Quantico to find a lead on a case that has troubled him for years.

Seven young women have died under Mac's watch, all victims of a sadistic serial killer. Mac is hoping that the FBI's expertise will help him crack the case. When Kimberly stumbles on the dead body of yet another victim, this time in Quantico, she and the hunky McCormack risk their careers when they team up to catch the killer. They have no jurisdiction in this case and they are told to keep their noses out of it. However, both Mac and Kimberly are driven to press on with their investigation.

Does all of this sound familiar? It should, since "The Killing Hour" is chock full of clichés. First, there is the psychopathic but devilishly clever criminal who is driven to kill because of his childhood demons. Then, there are the two bright, motivated, and good-looking agents, Kimberly and Mac, who risk everything to see that justice is done. Will they be able to resist the undeniable physical attraction that they have for one another? Finally, there is the race against time to try to save at least one of the killer's victims.

To Gardner's credit, she moves the plot along briskly enough and she writes exciting action sequences. Gardner has done her homework and the details about the FBI and investigative procedure seem authentic. Kimberly and Mac are sympathetic characters, and the author sustains a high level of tension throughout most of the book. "The Killing Hour" is, on the whole, a mildly entertaining thriller and I give it a marginal recommendation.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great, October 30, 2004

By 

Louise (Copenhagen V, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Killing Hour (Hardcover)

The Killing Hour has its moments. It is a fast read, the main plot is good and it is always interesting to be hot on the heels of an evil serial killer. But the characters are not really coming to life, and the usual 'stubborn heroine with a troubled past' is used too often.

Kimberly, the main character and heroine of the story, is a young FBI-trainee, and she is by coincidence and stubborness thrown into the investigation of a killer who has been killing for years. Kimberly is a troubled young woman with many demons, which is not making her life easier. She does not have any real friends, and her relationship with her father is neutral at best. When the serial killer starts dumping bodies close to the FBI training grounds, Kimberly cannot stay out of the investigation any more, even though her superiors has asked her to keep her nose out of it. Her father is an FBI agent who now has his own agency, and he suddenly shows up to help. Kimberly herself is also having personal motives to catch this killer, and while the time is running out, the clues comes together and it ends with a little twist which was just a little bit surprising. Hard core thriller readers will guess the identity of the killer long time before the final revelation.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner!, August 10, 2003

By 

mahikahn (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Killing Hour (Hardcover)

This was an excellent addition to the series, but would also do well as a stand alone. The locations were incredible and the suspense kept building. I enjoyed "catching up" with Raine and Quincy. I did however find Kimberly's admission to the FBI academy a little hard to believe. This girl has some very serious emotional issues. Wouldn't there have been an in-depth psych evaluation? Even with her dad's status it didn't quite ring true. It was still a very enjoyable book and I'm definitely looking forward to Lisa Gardner's next.