Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too easy to spot the killer, March 18, 2006
This review is from: Sundays Are For Murder (Signature Select) (Mass Market Paperback)
I've always been a Marie Ferrarella fan and try to buy everything she writes. She's a good writer and storyteller. This book flowed smoothly and told a decent story. The characters were fully developed and I did enjoy the storyline overall. However, I'm giving it only two stars because I figured out who the killer was by page 30. In a 344 page book, that's just ENTIRELY too early. Short of printing the killer's name in bold red type with a hovering balloon stating "THIS IS THE KILLER," it couldn't have been more obvious. On a personal note, I've worked for or with the Federal government and "special agents" for nearly 20 years. I've been in a lot of offices and in NOT A SINGLE one, do the agents go around formally calling each other "SPECIAL AGENT." That was a very cumbersome part of the book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Flawed but not truly horrible, July 7, 2006
This review is from: Sundays Are For Murder (Signature Select) (Mass Market Paperback)
I hate to say this was a bad book. It wasn't downright sucky, but it was uninspiring and had a lot of flaws.
The plot isn't all that original. Serial killer suspenses are rather common, along with the God-complex serial killer. It's been done before, many times. All that just made the book typical. Aside from that, the plot was just flawed, and the development average. I knew early on who the killer was. It was glaringly, blatantly obvious. The first major scene with the killer and it was like a blinking red light. And the author did nothing to cast suspicion elsewhere. So you spend the whole book knowing how it's going to end up. Add into that, the author isn't that great with procedural aspects of FBI - one point being that personal relationships between agents in the same command is generally frowned upon. And there were many other points that were just handled badly, details not dealt with, predictable events, etc.
As for the romance, it was seriously lackluster. There was only the barest blip of chemistry. There's a general attraction when Nick and Charley first meet, then for like 200 pages, nothing. Supposedly there were feelings building, but if there were, I don't know when. It was like they ended up being two people who worked together and became sex buddies. The author just didn't build the emotional level between them and I felt no connection to the romance.
All in all, just a poorly developed and written book. Grammatically and stylistically it wasn't bad, but the storyline and the characters and relationships just didn't have it. Not worth reading.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
strong romantic police procedural, January 14, 2006
This review is from: Sundays Are For Murder (Signature Select) (Mass Market Paperback)
Stacy Pembroke becomes the twelfth victim of Santa Ana's Sunday Killer, whose murders have baffled the local cops and the FBI. The M.O. of this serial killer especially hits home to FBI Agent Charlotte "Charley" Dow as the murders are identical to the killing of her sister.
New agent Nicholas Brannigan is assigned to team up with Charley. However, her reluctance to see the corpse surprises him until he learns about her sister. As they work together they seek information on Stacy; that leads the Feds to her married lover Robert Pullman. He had opportunity and perhaps a motive since she broke off with him, but how does he fit in with the other eleven dead. As the two Feds along with another team struggle to stop a serial killer, they begin to fall in love. First however, they must end the reign of terror of a psychopathic predator before they can explore their feelings in depth.
Though one would believe that Charley would be taken off the case for obvious reasons, readers will still appreciate this strong romantic police procedural. The five member task force especially the lead duet seems genuine as their feelings come across with how they handle the investigation. The case is cleverly pursued above all else including the growing attraction between Charley and Nicholas, which in turn adds to the realism. Though serial killers have become a too often used staple, SUNDAYS ARE FOR MURDER is a fine thriller with the romance enhancing the law enforcement efforts to apprehend an infamously successful serial killer.
Harriet Klausner
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
