Customer Reviews

Whiskey Sour (Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Series)

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

First, I promise to do this review without any sly references to drinks or mixology. Whiskey Sour is about a 40-some average height, average weight woman who is in a decidedly unaverage profession - she's a lieutenant in homicide. Her mom was a cop, and she knows what she's in for - but it doesn't make it any easier. She has a divorce behind her and promptly has her current relationship ruined. In many ways her life sucks, but the sense that she's making a difference has her plugging onward.

This is good, because she and her hefty partner just landed a pretty nasty case - a serial murderer who is rather perverted. I love mysteries but I'm not really one for the graphic gore - there was one point in the story that I contemplated putting it down based on where the story was going. I did stick with it, though, and was rewarded by a toning down through the rest of the novel.

What made it worth going on was the writing style. There were many times I laughed out loud at the descriptions and sly comments. Yes, there are a lot of in-your-face ones like joking about having a "hunch" when they are discussing someone with a stooped back. There are a lot of other pokes, though, that are far more subtle and a few of these were gems.

I'm a female, and I found it refreshing to read about a mature, capable woman who was stuck in the ups and downs of love. Yes, they had the obligatory few comments about her wardrobe, but compared to most "female detective" stories I've read, this was *incredibly* tame by comparison. She does reasonably well in a bar fight against three opponents. She shoots well. Heck, I know some women who are excellent brawlers and who are incredibly good shots. It's not unknown - but it's amazing how people think it's "too bizarre" to put that kind of character into a book. I found it quite refreshing.

She gets scared, she has doubts. She knows she has failings. And yet she goes in to work, deals with her insomnia and hopes to find someone half worth dating. She's not a wonderwoman, but she does her job and in fact she does it well.

Now, about the flaws. This is a first novel about Jack Daniels, and I suppose it's inevitable that it is FULL of stereotypes. The pair of FBI guys annoyed me every time they showed up because they were just so obviously "target practice", there only to laugh at. There was no depth at all. They were in fact joked about as being cookie cutter people. Several of the other characters, who really could have done incredibly well with a bit more depth, came across as quite shallow. It was a real shame, because the writing style was so crisp and solid. The main character was well done, but the same care wasn't really given to the surrounding characters.

Still, the writing sang and the descriptions of the locations and people were quite vivid. The storyline, if a bit gory, made sense. I found the final summation a bit of a Poirot situation, sort of a "OK we tie up THIS end, then THIS end, then THIS end" almost as if they were running out of paper and had to get it all done quickly before there were no pages left.

I'll definitely read the subsequent books, and we'll see how the writing style evolves over time!

J.A.. Konrath's debut novel is one more entry in the burgeoning chick-thriller arena. And, it's a stunner. We have a fair share of tough female cops but few are on a par with Lt. Jacqueline Daniels - Jack, to her friends. Assigned to Violent Crimes, she's tougher than nails and gives no quarter.
There's currently room for improvement in Jack's life. Her first and only marriage ended in divorce when she put job above home and hearth. She's 46 and her "last sound sleep was sometime during the Reagan administration." Her auburn hair is streaked with too much gray, and the lines on her face are "about age rather than character."

Not a pretty picture, eh? Neither is the mutilated body of a young woman found in a dumpster behind a convenience store. There's a note stapled to her chest, reading, "You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man." Thus, the chase begins.

Jack's partner portly Detective First Class, Herb Benedict, has never seen a crumb of fast food he didn't like. Theirs is a good camaraderie born of experience and hours spent together. But, Herb has a wife, a family, another life. Jack does not. Since her recent live-in has dumped her for his personal trainer she goes home to an empty apartment and a whiskey sour or three.

It doesn't take a second girl's dismembered body to be discovered in another dumpster for the Chicago police to realize that there's a psychotic killer out there toying with and torturing his victims before they die. If you enjoyed "Silence of the Lambs," this book's for you. The Gingerbread Man kills not for revenge or in anger but for pure pleasure and gratification. He video tapes his grim doings so that he can enjoy rerunning the scenes over and over again.

Most puzzling to Jack is the fact that there seems to be no pattern - no thread linking the victims. Muddying the waters even further is the appearance of two FBI agent's who've been assigned to the case. In her mind they're fric and frac - automatons who are devoted to doing up profiles of known perpetrators and printouts of cases that might be related. She believes they were put on earth to bother her.

When the Gingerbread Man learns that the detective assigned to his case is a woman, Jack, she becomes his next intended victim. It's easy to find out where she lives, and that she lives alone. When hiring two thugs to break her legs only results in a bar brawl and Jack spending one night in the hospital. The Gingerbread Man takes over.

What follows is non-stop action and suspense until a final bloody confrontation in a rat infested sewer.

"Whiskey Sour" isn't for the weak of heart or weak of stomach. Several of the characters, such as Jack's mother and the police chief seem sketched rather than fully realized. It's not easy to craft a tough female protagonist about whom readers care. Some may not feel an affinity for Jack Daniels but many will look forward to meeting her again in the second of this planned series, "Bloody Mary," which is due next year.

- Gail Cooke

And Konrath has delivered. This deathless genre takes another twist into humor with this wonderful debut effort.

Kinsey Milhone has gotten us to a place of frustration with her Nancy Drew-ish plot devices and artificial descent into lawbreaking. "Ten Big Ones" did not sparkle like Janet E's other stuff, which might telegraph that she might be Plum out of new ideas.

So we need more female detectives. Konrath walks where angels fear to tread too: he's a male writer creating a hard-bioled female character. I think he did a fine job, creating a lively, amusing and smart woman who has problems just like everyone else. He does convey, though, the sheer delight in the chase and the capture which any good cop must have in abundance.

Looking forward to the next one...

Whiskey Sour is one of the best debut novels in the mystery / thriller genre. Detective Jack Daniels is tough and capable--and she better be, because she's facing one nasty bad guy.

I've read extensively in the genre, but few villians have actually made me squirm. The Gingerbread Man is one of them. The cold, clean language that Konrath uses during the GBM chapters makes the scenes terrifically haunting. Though he uses very little explicit gore, Konrath builds the suspense to an almost painful level. There's one chapter, involving a surprise that the Gingerbread Man leaves for Jack, where I had to actually block the upcoming lines with my hand to keep from skipping ahead to see what happened.

But what makes the book unique is that Konrath is also very, very funny. This provides a welcome respite from the thriller side of the novel, and it's the humor that elevates Whiskey Sour (and Konrath's second novel, Bloody Mary) way above the average cop-chasing-a-killer mystery.

A great read that you won't be able to put down.

10. Superb writing - Clean, crisp, and riddled with wit and humor.
9. A terrifying villain called the Gingerbread Man who you do not want to meet.
8. Jacqueline Daniels, the protagonist. What a breath of fresh air this character is. Not some beautifully fake heroine, but a real forty-something woman whose life is in tatters, suffers insomnia and loneliness, but who you will love and respect.
7. Herb - Jack's partner, a man who will let nothing get between him and a donut. One of the funniest sidekicks I've read in a long, long time.
6. A balancing act between humor and fear. You'll be horrified one moment, dying with laughter the next. Quite a hard thing to do, but Mr. Konrath pulls it off.
5. The FBI agents. They're sharply dressed, polished, almost clonelike, and if they're sent to profile your abductor, no one's ever gonna hear from you again. I think Mr. Konrath may have blown his chances at getting into the Academy but it was worth it for this scathingly funny portrait of two of the most incompetent lawmen I've ever encountered.
4. The story itself. This book moves at light-speed. Prepare to read it in one sitting.
3. A life lesson for all you guys out there thinking of dating a woman in pursuit of a serial killer.
2. Another life lesson about why eating candy that "magically" appears in your car isn't the best idea.
1. This is a seriously funny, seriously scary read from a prodigiously talented writer. Take the plunge. You'll love it.

What a fabulous book! I devoured it in 2 days. I found it so hard to put it down.

Lieutenant Jack Daniels is up against a very hard case. She and her partner Detective Herb Benedict are trying to find the Gingerbread Man before he kills again. The women are dumped in garbage cans outside of 7-11s after they have been tortured. First they have to figure out the connection between the two women.

Then some candy is found in Daniels' car. Benedict eats some. He ends up needing stitches due to the blades embedded in the candy. Who in the world would leave her a bag of candy with so many sharp items in the candy?

Since she has no boyfriend right now, she decides to take Benedicts advise and call Lunch Mates, a dating service. She has her first date arranged in no time.

She meets with Harry McGlade, her old partner. There is a lot of bad history between them. But, she his name keeps coming up in this investigation. How is he involved? Was he just a PI hired?

She also runs into Phineas Trout, someone she arrested before, and begins playing pool with him in the evening.

It becomes even more personal for Daniels. She has some close calls with the Gingerbread Man, but he always gets away.

Normally I don't read books where some chapters are written from the killer's perspective, but this was done so well. You know what is happening to these women, but it doesn't have to be spelled out in gory details.

Lieutenant Daniels is a great character. As with most protagonists, she has a lot of baggage to work through while doing her job. This is expertly weaved into the story. Her partner is a real asset to the story as well and brings a different perspective to everything.

I highly recommend this book and eagerly look forward to the next in this new series.

This book is interesting, but I think that the summary and comparison to Janet Evanovich's series are very misleading. The depictions of sexual abuse are very disturbing and graphic. Listeners at least need to be aware of this going in to it!

This was great! The characters are marvelous, the dialogue is crisp and funny, and yet the killer is creepy and terrifying. The story is fast paced and doesn't let up; it's a definite "don't bother me, I'm reading" book, but you might want to read it during the day as the villain is that awful. It's a wonderful balance in contrasts and a very good read. I've ordered book two, and I'm ready for it.

There is nothing worse than a serial killer scorned... Ooops, did I get that right? J.A. Konrath did. WHISKEY SOUR, Konrath's first novel, Hyperion Books, is well worth the money.

Fourty-six year old, Chicago Police Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, is having a really bad week. Yes, you read that right--Jack Daniels--and yes, she's a woman! Not only did her boyfriend dump her for his bulked-up, WWE inspired, personal trainer, but a crazed serial killer who goes by the name of The GingerBread Man, has a sick infatuation with her. His endearing form of love--torture and death.

Jack, a chronic insomniac, gets through it with plenty of humor, pool playing, a few gunshot wounds and lots of whiskey sours. Her partner, lovable detective Herb Benedict, whose stomach might hold the answer to the question: where is Jimmy Hoffa buried, is protective of her, and never skips a meal. His most famous line in the book? "Are you going to eat that, Jack?"

Rounding out the cast of quirky characters are Phineas Troutt, a pool-playing, ex-con who doubles as Jack's friend and unofficial bodyguard. Harry McGlade, Jack's old partner, who reminds me of Janet Evanovich's bail bondsman and Stephanie Plum's boss, Vinnie, could easily "steal" the show. But the two feds, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are hilarious as they profile The GingerBread man as a horse owning French Canadian--and believe it.

Konrath's easy writing style and unique voice make this novel what it is--a truly entertaining, laugh out loud, scare the crap out of you, great read. The same plot and characters in the hands of another, would fall flat, but Konrath's flair for comedy in the face of horror, and his knowledge and respect for law enforcement and justice, shine through.

If you're a fan of Janet Evanovich or Dave Barry, you'll love this book. I read it in just over 5 hours, and that was stopping to get snacks and soda.

If you're in this to read lots of description and dialogue, don't bother. In true mystery fashion, the book is low on setting and character description, but high on making you use your imagination. Konrath, like Stephen King, allows you to "see" into the heard of a character, with a one sentence description.

The only gripe I had, being a Chicago girl, not enough mention of other Chicago neighborhoods. Most of the action takes place in Chicago's "Loop," but I'm confident in Konrath's next book, BLOODY MARY, he'll make a mention or two about other areas of interest.

Jack Daniels is the female Harry Bosch. Good plot, interesting characters, and a truely disturbed killer make for a "couldn't put it down" book. J.A. Konrath shows us that a female character doesn't have to be below the age of 30 to be tough and appealing.