Customer Reviews

A Perfect Evil (MIRA)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Nebraska at Halloween Time. An unusual early winter storm. A serial killer on the loose. Alex Kava's "A Perfect Evil" uses this setting to unravel a disturbing and compelling story of perfect evil. I admit that I had a hard time putting the book down, finishing it in one day, so that's definitely a sign it's an above average thriller. The plot has been laid out in other reviews, so I won't bore you with more. I can't give the book five stars, though, for two reasons: the dialogue and description of Nick and Maggie's romance is reminiscent of a Barbara Caitland romance novel, which is out of place in such a graphic, well-plotted novel. It tends to lessen the suspense, even though the characters are well developed and likeable. I just wish Alex would have stayed more within the confines of her novel. The other is that even though Ms. Kava takes us on several "red herrings" and twists, the killer's identity is much too obvious early in the book. To her credit, she plants some other possible suspects, but if you've read mysteries a lot, the identity is way too easy to spot. The ending obviously leaves room for her sequel, coming next year: "Split Second." I don't know if she'll keep both Maggie and Nick for the sequel, but I hope she does. They are great characters who I really liked. They could ditch Christine though. Her "conversion" to a likeable character didn't work for me; she still remains a victim of her own ambition, and even though she transformed, I'll bet she returns to her real self if she's in the sequel! But, anyway, this is a very good debut, and one worth reading!

Michael Butts

I honestly couldn't put this one down until I finished it and I'm not usually crazy about books with serial killers. Once I got to know the characters, I had to find out what happened to them.

And these are not picture-perfect characters. They make plenty of mistakes and do some rather stupid things. Sheriff Nick Morelli is incompetent as sheriff and even he knows it. But there's something charming about this guy, that makes you want him to do okay. Agent Maggie is tough but vulnerable, dealing with some scars from a past case where things got too personal with another serial killer she had been chasing. Then there's Christine, the news reporter, who should be fired for some of the things she does to get a story, yet you find yourself rooting for her.

I picked up an advance copy when I was at the Book Expo of America in Chicago earlier this summer, started reading it when I got home, and then wouldn't let my family talk to me until I finished. If you're looking for an entertaining page turner, I would highly recommend this one.

Alex Kava really knows how to spin a yarn. From page one till the very end, the story moves swiftly under Kava's expert use of multiple points of view. The narrative is excellent, with many exciting moments and plenty of plot twists and turns. I disagree with the reviewer who called this a mystery. It's not; it's a suspense-thriller, and does not disappoint in that regard. If you want a mystery, read Perry Mason. If you want some thrills 'n chills, read A Perfect Evil. Agent Maggie O'Dell rocks! Hope to see her back in lots of future books. Watch out Grafton and Cornwell ... you've finally got some real competition.

I found this book so good that it was hard to put down. From the very first page you want to keep on reading it until you've finished it. I look forward to her second book.

Just before the state of Nebraska executed him for the heinous murders of three boys, Ronald Jeffrey confesses his sins to Father Francis. Ronald insists that he only killed and raped one of the lads, Bobby Wilson. He swears to God that he never murdered, mutilated, or raped the other two boys. No one including the confessional priest believes Ronald is anything but a serial killing monster.

Three months after the electrocution of Ronald, a new corpse of a young butchered boy is discovered in Platte City. Relatively new Sheriff Nick Morelli has no experience with this type of investigation. He asks the FBI to lend him a top profiler. Maggie O'Dell is tired to the bone after a particularly nasty case. Her boss gives her a choice of some R&R or helping Nick. With personal demons that reject any notion of rest, Maggie travels to Platte City to assist the local law enforcement team. As they work together to uncover an evil presence who has murdered again, they fall in love, but as Maggie knows, the aftertaste of a case leaves little room for happiness.

A PERFECT EVIL is a near perfect serial killer thriller that will excite fans of the sub-genre and police investigative stories as well. The manhunt story line is fast paced, never slowing down for a moment. However, the plot succeeds because of the depth and understanding of the characters. They seem genuine whether they are police, psychopathic killers, or support cast. Alex Kava has debuted with a winning tale that will leave sub-genre fans anxiously awaiting the obvious sequel that hopefully will close out the few loose ends.

Harriet Klausner

I read "A Perfect Evil" in one day. There have been very few books so compelling as to keep me reading for hours on end.

Sheriff Nick Morelli doesn't think he can handle the murder case in Platte City, Nebraska. Sheriff Morelli gets help from FBI agent Maggie O'Dell. Agent O'Dell is obvisouly qualified and talented. But there is a sense that she is dropped into this story to give Morelli a love interest. The developing relationshiip between Morelli and O'Dell is distracting and out of place in this book.

If you put aside the misplaced romance you do get a spine tingler. True evil is currently at work in Platte City. But it appears that evil has been in town for a while. A man was executed for the murders that had taken place in town. Now that new crimes are occuring sheriff Morelli is haunted with the thought: Was an innocent man punished and did Morelli's father know?

I highly recommend this book despite the ill placed romance.

Alex Kava's debut novel is a knot of plot and passion, a riveting read that will test your faith in everything you believe. Did this evil die in the same electric chair that claimed Charles Starkweather? Or is this something new, a power beyond even the reach of God? If you trust and believe and do good deeds, you are the most vulnerable. Bless you, Reader, for you are doomed to a damn fine story.

When Ms. Kava had sent me the first nine chapters of this novel in an email ms last spring, I had to admit that I was hooked by page one. It was agonizing for me to have to wait another year and a half to read the rest of my friend's book. However, I had guessed at the killer's identity and Jefferys's relationship to him after reading the first nine chapters. I'm glad (and sorry) to say that I was right.

Kava sets up a compelling, if thread-worn story (the book's crimes are based on an actual series of child-murders in Kava's small Nebraska hometown. Even the date for Jefferys's execution is slavishly cribbed from the original date), using a near-expert POV that threatens to rival Jeffery Deaver's. The book, despite the annoying pseudo-romantic distractions, still maintains a pace like a Mac truck on a steep grade with the brakes out.

The backstory, too, regarding Albert Stuckey and FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell is compelling and Kava expertly sets up an immediate demand for the sequel in the last page.

What bothers me about this book, and these points have been brought up time and again by earlier reviewers, is that Ms. Kava knows nothing or next-to-nothing about FBI profiling and protocol, municipal law enforcement procedure and a hundred other topics. There isn't enough actual romance to make the relationship between Nick and Maggie to qualify A PERFECT EVIL as a romance (even though Mira is an imprint of Harlequin). Yet Maggie's pheramonal reaction to the lady killer sheriff merely subtracts from her already fading credibility as an FBI profiler and an independent, professional woman .

In the end, I have to say that A PERFECT EVIL, while it confirmed my suspicions regarding the killer's identity (which, regardless of the plethora of obligatory red herrings, is easily discernible long before the end), it fell far short of my expectations. Hopefully, Ms. Kava's sequel, SPLIT SECOND, will be a more mature and accomplished effort.

This debut novel from Alex Kava is an electrifying thriller set in small-town Nebraska. The local sheriff's office, headed by Nick Morelli, is hopelessly out of its depth in coping with the murders of young boys who are being snatched off the streets with alarming ease. The MO of killer is very familiar to the officers involved in the case. The trouble is, the man who was convicted of those murders has already been executed.

So now the sheriff and his men have to work out whether they've got a copycat on their hands, or is it the same killer who has now resurfaced - and they've convicted and executed the wrong man.

To help out Morelli, FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell is assigned to the case. O'Dell is just coming off a case where she actually witnessed the killer committing murders. In fact, he forced her to watch, so she's carrying plenty of emotional baggage.

This is a very good thriller which manages to give the reader plenty of clues as to the identity of the killer, yet makes it ambiguous enough to cast doubt. Just to make things interesting there is a continuous note of sexual tension growing between ladies-man, stud-muffin Morelli and Agent O'Dell, whose marriage was in trouble anyway.

While it's not exactly packed with surprises, this is still a very entertaining book that definitely left the way open for future books to pick up. As a matter of fact, the ending is fascinating enough to compel me to come back to read her next book.

This contemporary story takes place in Platte City, Nebraska, a bedroom community a short distance from Omaha. In July, Ronald Jeffreys was put to death, having been convicted of murdering three young boys six years ago. In his final moments, he confessed to Father Francis he had killed only one of the three.

It's now close to Halloween and a young boy has disappeared and is found murdered. The FBI calls in Maggie O'Dell, a profiler. Shortly after she arrives another youngster disappears and is found dead. The similarities between these two murders and two of the murders Jeffreys was convicted of are too many to be ignored. Then a third boy disappears. Was Jeffreys really put to death? Did the real killer just lie in wait for six years to start over again? How many other people will be killed?

There are several on-going subplots, but you're never confused about what's going on. They definitely keep the reader interested...the chemistry between Maggie and Nick Morrelli, the local Sheriff; Christine Hamilton's (Nick's sister) journalism career; Antonio Morrelli's (Nick's father and former Sheriff) intrusion into the case; the questionable priest and janitor at the local Catholic church. This is good story, especially for the author's first novel.