Killing Spree [Mass Market Paperback]

Kevin O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

When a serial killer gets a taste for blood...Years ago, the Seattle police were baffled by the Schoolgirl Murders. The killer staged the scenes, dressing his female victims in school girl uniforms and saddle shoes. No woman in Seattle felt safe, until they caught the man responsible, and the case was forgotten...He only wants to do one thing...Across the country, a killing spree is taking place. The first victim is attacked in a taxi by a mysterious stranger. The next is found strangled in a changing room. A hitchhiker is left by the side of the road, his identity brutally stolen. The murders are so bizarre, so random, no one would think to connect them...Kill and kill again...Only Seattle writer Gillian McBride sees the disturbing coincidences between all the murders - and it's hitting too close to home. Somehow, she is the link between past and present - and to a twisted serial killer who shows no signs of stopping. With each terrible piece of a sinister puzzle, a psychopath is carrying out a master plan - a killing spree that needs a final trophy to be fully complete...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author O'Brien's latest is a fast-paced thriller that unfortunately suffers from a slight case of predictability. O'Brien's heroine, Gillian McBride, is herself a midlist Seattle writer of serial killer books. Her personal life has been thrown into turmoil since the disappearance of her husband, Barry, two years ago, which triggered a series of intimidating visits from some unsavory business associates. Those threats, however, pale in comparison with the violence wreaked by a cross-country murderer patterning his savage crimes on the fictional ones in McBride's books. As the murders pile up, getting increasingly grisly and personal, Gillian is forced to play sleuth and soon finds herself suspecting everyone—in particular, the members of a writing class she taught at a local college before her husband disappeared. Plot twists will be anticipated by most readers familiar with the genre, but O'Brien's crisp, clear writing and taut suspense elevate this above similar fare. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Imaginative, well written...add this book to your summer reading list."

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 443 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786017759
• ISBN-13: 978-0786017751
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #477,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good but at the same time disapointing, May 9, 2008

By 

Music Lover in Omaha (Omaha, Ne) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Killing Spree (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the fourth book I've read by Kevin O'brien and I found it to be okay. It was not as good as LEFT FOR DEAD or ONE LAST SCREAM or MAKE THEM CRY, but it was readable with a good plot. It would have been much better had the ending been a bit more believable. No, make that the ending and the way we got to it. The ultimate plan came down to driving around a likely neighborhood looking for a green SUV in a driveway. Really? That's the plan? The police couldn't put this together. The private detectives couldn't put it together. The mob couldn't locate Barry. Gillian did and she did it when the pressure was on - In one afternoon with just a hunch to go on. She also found her son just on a hunch. And Jason coming out of nowhere to save the day was just too much out of a melodrama to be real. Still, despite not really buying into the plot, and the fact that I didn't really care for some of the characters like Ethan, Jason and Ruth, this was not a bad read. It had a pretty good idea and lots of twists and red herrings to keep the reader off the scent. I think if you're a fan of Kevin O'Brien you should read it. If you haven't read any of Obrien's works before, don't make this one your first. He has done much better.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What happened here? (Spoiler alert), July 27, 2008

By 

C. Holman "mountain high cook" (Forest Falls, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Spree (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay, I was enjoying this book, like I've enjoyed other O'Brien books, until I got to the end. Around the middle of the book, the future knight in shining armor killed Gillian's upstairs neighbor. Didn't he? I've read that section 4 times and each time it's the same. And so I waited through all kinds of action and interaction for Gillian to discover that he was a bad guy. And yet O'Brien morphs him into the hero and romantic interest, leaving you to wonder WTF just happened. Is this a mistake? Did I read it wrong?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!!, February 19, 2007

By 

D. Wall "lovebooks" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Spree (Mass Market Paperback)

My mother picked up "Killing Spree" at the store and gave it to me, we read a lot of books and had not heard of this author. All I can say is that I'm hooked now! I've read The Last Victim and am working on Left for Dead. Right after Killing Spree, I went and got what I could find of his at the library. Definitely a page turner, I couldn't put it down...there's always a twist that you don't see coming and you're always guessing! I've been staying up all night reading his books because I just can't put them down! I've never written a review before...I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed Killing Spree. I was sorry when I finished it.