Customer Reviews

The Killing Hour

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

New Agent, Kimberly Quincy, is fighting her demons at the FBI academy with a grueling training regimen. Her mother and sister were killed six years earlier by someone close to her. She has not yet come to terms with it. Her relationship with her father, (former FBI profiler Pierce Quincy from earlier novels) is strained. She has something to prove to herself and to her father. She gets her chance when she stumbles upon a body at a FBI training trail. She takes a leave of absence from the Academy, hooks up with Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent "Mac" MacCormick. Mac had been involved in a Georgia serial killing investigation three years earlier and the trail led him to FBI headquarters in Virginia. Now three new woman are abducted and it a race against the clock to find them before they die.

From the beginning of the novel, the reader is drawn into the characters' lives. They are extraordinarily well defined. This is a fast-paced, page-turning, can't put it down kind of a book. A lot happens in a little over 300 pages. Not to say everything was perfect. Clichés do abound, crimes are solved a little too quickly once everyone stops floundering around, and I for one cannot believe a cell phone will work in the middle of a desolate swamp. Despite a few minor problems, I found this to be a totally engaging , heart-pounding book.

Besides Kimberly, some characters from previous novels play a secondary role in THE KILLING HOUR. Lisa Gardner does a fine job tying her novels together by highlighting a different character each time, Rainie Conner in THE THIRD VICTIM, Pierce Quincy in THE NEXT ACCIDENT, and Kimberly Quincy in THE KILLING HOUR. The books feel both familiar and original at the same time.

Highly Recommended

Driven by the need for redemption for her mother and sister's death, Agent Kimberly Quincy only pushes herself to be the best. Her mother and sister victims of horrific and violent crimes, she and her FBI profiler father have never recovered from their losses. Punished training routines at the FBI academy do not stop her quest. But when she discovers a body on FBI's training grounds, Kimberly suddenly finds herself embroiled in an investigation that transforms her life, especially when Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Mac MacCormick steps in.

Involved since the first killing, Mac recognizes the serial killer's patterns. Young women are kidnapped in couples, the first body left in an easy to discover area and serving as a map to the second. Specifically, the killer taunts investigators with obscure clues that could possibly save the second woman's life if they move quickly enough. Of the previous eight victims, only was discovered alive because Mac pieced the clues together quickly enough. Now out of his jurisdiction, Mac dogged tracks the perpetrator with Kimberly's help.

Author Lisa Garner pens a taut suspense thriller that leaves the heart pounding in THE KILLING HOUR. Garner's gripping narrative grabs the reader by the throat with the first page and never turns loose, providing a horrific roller coaster ride that will keep readers up way past bedtime. Kimberly's drive for success easily matches Mac's determination to the stop the killer. Their shared chemistry and their shared motivations combine to bring them together under extreme circumstance to reveal gritty, richly realized characterizations. Garner likewise presents a chilling portrait of eco-killer that readers will not soon forget. THE KILLING HOUR is a must read for readers who enjoy a riveting plot, strong forensic detail and a touch of romance. Very highly recommended.

I'm not going to go into the plot of the book because it's been done in the other reviews, so I will just say that this is a great read....I couldn't put it down and it was done in a day or so....If you haven't already read Gardners other books "The Other Daughter", "The Perfect Husband", "The Third Victim", and "The Next Accident", I highly reccommend doing so, as some of them will give you a better insight into the histories of the main characters in the book : Pierce Quincy, Kimberly Quincy, and Lorraine O'Conner (Rainie)....and knowing their histories makes the book even more enthralling. Pick it up, Read it and Enjoy it!

Rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quinn is after a serial killer who abducts two women each time he attacks. The first he kills straightaway, leaving clues on the body as to the whereabouts of the second, who he kills later. Kimberly comes across one of the bodies while still in training at Quantico. In order to stay on the case she has to break rules and fight FBI politics even as she's trying to beat a deadline set by the killer. Kimberly may be a rookie, but she's determined, as determined as I was not to go to sleep until I finished this book.

This was just a really good book. I did not want to go to bed. Had to finish it the next night. Just wonderful.

Between the years of 1998-2000, eight college kids in Georgia were kidnapped in pairs and the first of the duo was killed immediately. The first victim had clues on their person that if properly interpreted in time would lead the authorities to the other victim who might still be alive. Of the eight victims of the UNSUB, only one was found alive and that was because special agent Michael "Mac" McCormack was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together in time.

For three years, the UNSUB goes dormant but when FBI agent-in-training Kimberly Whey finds a dead body on the grounds of Quanta's, it quickly becomes obvious that the UNSUB has become active again. Even though he is out of his jurisdiction, Mac travels to Virginia with every intention of tracking down the UNSUB and capturing him if possible. He has unexpected allies in Kimberly, her father, a famous FBI profiler, and the UNSUB'S only victim that is still alive.

THE KILLING HOUR is all about time and the race to find the victims before they die. Thanks to dogged investigation into areas that are dangerous to one's health, two victims are left standing after the UNSUB is revealed. Mac and Kimberly make a good investigative team whose strengths, when combined, make them an unbeatable force out in the field. They also are able to lean on one another in times of stress and it is fascinating to watch their relationship evolve throughout the story and behind closed doors. Lisa Gardner is becoming a major player in the suspense thriller genre.

Harriet Klausner

"The Killing Hour", first published in 2003, is the sixth novel Lisa Gardner has published under her own name. She has also published twelve other novels under the name "Alicia Scott".

The book's villain is labelled the Eco-Killer, a serial killer who first struck in Georgia in 1998. Generally, his actions are apparently triggered by a heat-wave : he'd kidnap young women in pairs and kill the first - leaving the body in places where it'd be easily found. The second victim, however, wouldn't be so much killed as left to die in an inhospitable environment. While the killer leaves clues to the second girl's location on the first girl's body, the second girl isn't necessarily going to be saved. Initially, the authorities don't realise they're being played with and tested - yet, even when they do realise, the clues are very obscure. The killer became known as the Eco-Killer because, with each kidnapping and killing, he'd send letters to a local newspaper. Each one would contain the phrases "clock ticking", "planet dying", animals weeping", "rivers screaming" and - most appropriately, given what he was doing - "heat kills". Eventually, in 2000, the crimes appear to stop with twins Nora Ray and Mary Lynn Watts apparently being the last victims. While Mary Lynn was killed, the GBI were able to decipher the clues in time to rescue Nora Ray. Unfortunately, they couldn't find the Eco Killer himself.

Three years later, and Kimberley Quincy has been accepted into the FBI Academy at Quantico. She's in the ninth week of a sixteen week course and, despite the fact that she's been working towards this since her mother and sister were killed, she's still finding it tough. The bruises and lack of sleep are only part of it though : Kimberley seems very much a loner, apparently determined not to make any friends. She also has a very strained relationship with her father, Pierce Quincy - the legendary FBI profiler. Unfortunately for Kimberley, her training's about to get worse : during a training run in the middle of a heat-wave, she stumbles across the body of a murdered girl.

Although the investigation will, officially, be run by the NCIS, Kimberley just can't keep her nose out of it. Luckily, she has Special Agent Michael McCormack to help her out - McCormack works with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and investigated the Eco Killer's spate of murders there. I6t's always bothered him they never caught the killer and he's at Quantico hoping for whatever help he can get. To begin with, he wants to talk to a forensic linguist about the Eco Killer's letters. Such convenient timing, really...

This is an excellent book, one of the best murder-mystery novels I've read in a long time. I also wondered, at one point, if Gardner was a closet Chris Carter fan. There's a description of a basement corridor if the basement corridor that plays host to the Behavioral Sciences Unit. One poster advertises a Millennium Conference, while another lineup of agent photographs includes a mugshot of an extraterrestrial. However, while "The Killing Hour" doesn't do conspiracies it would encourage me to read more of Gardner's books.