Customer Reviews

Killing Time

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(48)

 

 

I almost gave up on this book, but forced myself to finish because, after all, it IS a Linda Howard book. However, the qualities I usually love in Howard's work were absent until near the end of the book. I usually love her heroines.... she has the ability to create strong, yet vulnerable heroines you can really identify with (see After the Night, Dream Man, and MacKenzie's Mountain for the best such heroines.) The reader is closed off from Nikita's history for most of the stoy, so it was like watching a manniquin in action. Just not very engaging.

The book was very plot intensive, to the exclusion of the romance between the H&H, which almost seemed like an afterthought. Change Nikita's gender to a male, take out the obligatory sex scene, and the story doesn't suffer. Hmmmm..... that's a clue that the romance aspect was almost non-existant.

About 80% of the way into the book it got much better. The insight into Nikita's situation was actually quite interesting and pulled me back into the story.

I don't want to slam the book too much, because I appreciate the fact that Linda Howard is obviously trying to keep her writing fresh by trying her hand at other subgenres. I really enjoyed Son of the Morning and To Die For, both of which were quite different from standard Linda Howard fare but still worked because of great leading characters whose unstoppable attraction for each other drives the plot. When you write as much she does, maybe it is inevitable that sometimes you will strike out.

I have spent hours reading and rereading Linda Howard's earlier books. This one had only a few whiffs of classic Howard. For new readers, go for Kill and Tell, Mr. Perfect, Now You See Her, Son of the Morning, Dying to Please, etc.

For loyal readers, I have gotten so much pleasure from Howard's novels over the years that I don't begrudge the bucks I paid for the the HB of this one. Give her a break. She has earned it.

For Linda. You're too good for this. Get a new editor.

A series of unusual murders in a small Kentucky town arouses the professional and personal interest of chief county investigator Knox Davis. They also attract the attention of FBI agent Nikita Stover - who is not what she seems and has an agenda of her own. Despite their initial distrust, Knox believes Nikita when she is forced to confess her big secret. The two of them work together while fighting their growing physical attraction, to foil a far-reaching plot that could have a profound impact on the present and the future.

While this time-travel/suspense/romance is well-paced, the central characters - especially Nikita - are hard to connect with. I found I just wasn't emotionally invested in the relationship between Knox and Nikita, which is a big hurdle to overcome in a romance novel! There were also some holes in the plot and obvious questions left unanswered that made it hard to stay focused on the story at hand.

Once apon a time, Linda Howard, crafted the best mix of romance, suspense and mystery that you could find on the shelves. But her last few novels, including Killing Time, just aren't on a par with her earlier work. If this was your first LH novel, go back and read anything published before Cry No More (Dream Man, After the Night, Shades of Twilight, Mr. Perfect, Dying to Please, etc. etc.) - they are all 5-star-plus efforts and will really show you what LH can do when she's at her best.

While Killing Time is a better read than many other books of this genre, wait for the paperback or borrow it from the library and save yourself some money. I wish I had!

wading through this time travel/romance/mystery that wasn't. I hate to be seen as picking on Linda Howard--I didn't like her last book, either--but have to agree with another reviewer that her pre-Cry No More novels are far better than her recent works.

Killing Time's promising prologue introduces us to our hero, Knox Davis, an insatiably curious and observant 15-year-old who, with his father, watches as the town leaders bury a time capsule, to be opened in 100 years. Even the first chapter, set twenty years later, begins well, with Knox now a criminal investigator for the Sheriff's Office, discovering in fairly rapid order that unusual things have been happening in his town: the time capsule is missing, a farm has been vandalized, and a local attorney has been killed by, of all things, an ancient spear. But with the introduction of Nikita Stover, an FBI agent from 200 years in the future, it all begins to fall apart. Nikita is not very interesting, Knox swallows her story of time travel with hardly a blink, characters we've met disappear never to be seen or heard again as Nikita and Knox run around "investigating" while simulatenously lusting for one another. The "mystery" is so thin as to be invisible--clearly existing only as a weak frame on which to hang the romance and time travel oddities, and the denouement is unimaginative and feels tacked on. Knox eventually betrays every oath he's ever taken as a criminal investigator--dumping bodies, concealing facts, destroying evidence, all apparently without a single qualm, and false leads and never answered questions lead the reader on a wild goose chase, with no resolution. Why, for instance, were the chickens killed and the tractor tires flattened? Where did the spear come from? Why, when Nikita is traumatized after killing a man, does Knox ask "is this your first body?" implying he had vast experience, when as a small county investigator, it would be unlikely he had ever killed anyone either? Why is Nikita said to never laugh when she is described when meeting the motel clerk as someone with "an easy laugh"? Why couldn't Nikita use Byron's links to return to the future? I think there are probably contradictions and inconsistencies in the time travel logistics, too, but I wasn't interested enough to try to figure them out.

Howard is--or has been--much better than this boring, dull, uneventful, amateurish, and at times downright silly offering which I barely managed to finish. I've wondered before if she is reworking old, half-completed ideas from before she was a best-selling author, in order to feed the hungry beast of publisher and fans. Writing is hard work; even the best writers agree on that. Killing Time does not read like hard work, but like a deadline met.

Let me preface by saying --

I have been a dedicated and loyal Linda Howard fan for over 10 years. I understand that as the market changes a writer must find some kind of way to mesh with a growing demand for a reflection of contemporary society.I see, not just from this novel but from the novel before it, that Linda Howard is feeling pressured to produce some kind of chirpy chick lit novels or some unrealistic fantstical reads. If anyone out there ever peruses Amazon or some of the reader boards to get a feel of fan reaction for future novels, someone please tell Linda Howard....

Don't!

This book was too bad to believe. I felt insulted, my intelligence especially, and most definitely my taste.I could not even make it all the way through the first time. The second time, I gritted my teeth and bore the pain, because, after all, Linda Howard wrote it. I don't even want to reiterate anything that happened in this book. This review is for all of those fans out there who look for Linda Howard with visions of "Dream Man," "After the Night," "All the Queens Men" and the too many to name GREAT books of Linda Howard. This is not the one. So dig out those old Linda Howard's, and get to reading.

This is exactly the kind of novel I normally enjoy: a bit of science fiction, romance and a novelist I've enjoyed in the past. I was disappointed. The character development was shallow. The main characters were likeable but at the end of the book I felt that I had absolutely no emotional connection with the characters or what happened in the book. I felt the plot had a lot of inconsistencies in it (which can be a problem when dealing with time travel). The story read as a preface to a later novel because a portion of the plot was left unresolved. I hope there is no "follow-up" novel because I think this was the weakest LInda Howard novel I've read. Save your money and don't buy this one. If you like romance and mystery with a bit of science fiction check out J.D. Robb's series.

I have a question for the author of this book: Who are you, and what have you done with Linda Howard?

Once I understood the premise of the story, I was very excited-thinking I was going to be in for a great read by an author who had rapidly marched her way into the brief list of writers I recommend. It was a sad disappointment to learn that the characters lacked depth and the story lacked "bite" after a rather good build-up at the beginning. The stage was set, but the characters missed the curtain call.

The only thing I can figure here is that Linda Howard got rushed on a deadline, so she just threw something together (create the premise of the meeting, have the characters fall in love quick, let them have steamy sex and some underlying relationship problem, and solve the mystery...voila!)

I missed the joy of Nikita and Knox flirting and enjoying their crush, and was disappointed that Howard missed the boat on developing the entire premise of the book.

Try a different book by this author.

It seems as if Ms. Howard wrote down random ideas and put them into this book. She introduced too many storylines, without following through. And the ending was very weak. I agree with another reader "when she's good, she's very, very good" This is not an example of good, however. Hopefully the next one will be better.

Nikita Stover is an FBI agent from the future. About 200 years ahead of us, when time travel has been discovered. She has come back to investigate the death of one of her fellow officers. She tries to use an investigator in this time to help her. However, he quickly realizes she is not a legitimate FBI agent. She has to prove to him who she is and convince him she is from the future. Because she realizes she has been double-crossed and needs his help to complete her mission.

Knox Davis is an investigator for the local sheriff's dept. He is 35 years old, he fiancee died shortly before their wedding 7 years ago and he has not found a woman to touch his heart since. But Nikita brings all of him to attention and when he realizes she needs his help, he helps her even though she will have to return to her time when the case is closed.

In 1985 a time capsule was buried in Pekesville Kentucky, the same night the local high school coach kills himself. Now 20 years later someone has dug up the capsule and the people who were at the ceremony have started dying. Somehow Nikita's case and the murders are related. Something included in the time capsule led the way to the discovery of time travel. Now someone is either trying to stop it from being discovered or they are trying to change the outcome in some unknown way. Nikita and Knox have to discover who has stolen the capsule and recover the information.

The first 2/3 of the book are boring, slow, and confusing. The last 1/3 is fast paced with the hot romance you expect from Linda Howard. This book does not in any way compare to DREAMMAN, MR. PERFECT, ALL THE KINGS MEN or KILL AND TELL.

I'm a huge fan and I have read every book Linda Howard has written. Mr. Perfect was her absolute best in my opinion and, even though I'm not a fan of first person novels, I read To Die For and loved it! When I heard that she was putting out another "paranormal" novel I couldn't wait! I thought it would be like Dream Man or Now You See Her. I really could have waited an eternity for this one. It was the worst book she's ever put out and I was extremely dissapointed. I couldn't get past the first chapter, but I forced myself, thinking it had to get better....sorry.....it didn't. The story line was totally unbelivable and I hope Ms. Howard continues to write the great suspence romance she's well known for and not sci-fi.