Malice (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: blue burro, damned cane, Lisa Jackson, Rick Bentz, New Orleans (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A vengeful ex-wife appears to have returned from the dead to stalk her ex-husband in this gripping thriller from bestseller Jackson (Absolute Fear). Former LAPD detective Rick Bentz has rebuilt his life with a happy marriage and new career with the New Orleans police 12 years after divorcing his unfaithful first wife, Jennifer, who subsequently died in a car crash. After a freak accident in a lightning storm that left his temporarily paralyzed, Rick starts seeing Jennifer's ghost. When Rick receives an anonymous package mailed from Culver City, Calif., containing recent photos of a woman resembling Jennifer, he goes to California to investigate. In L.A., the Twenty-one killer, who strangles identical twins on their 21st birthday, resurfaces. Rick's last unsolved L.A. case involved victims of this serial killer. Jackson heightens the creep factor by including the viewpoint of a character whose hatred for Rick for past wrongs inspires another extreme killing spree. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Rick Bentz is lucky to be standing on two feet, even with a crutch. Severely injured in an accident, he is itching to be back at his desk in the New Orleans Police Department Homicide Unit. After he left the Los Angeles Police Department with his reputation in tatters, he was fortunate enough to find a new home in New Orleans, but ever since the accident, things with his new wife haven’t been the same. And Bentz is experiencing sightings of his long-dead ex-wife. After a copy of her death certificate—emblazoned with a question mark—arrives in the mail, he heads cross-country to find out what exactly is going on. As he delves deeper into the mystery, not only does he rekindle ill will among his former colleagues but the sightings become more numerous, and soon after he interviews his ex-wife’s closest confidants, they end up murdered. Bentz is the classic flawed detective whose emotions are real enough to feel, and best-selling Jackson cranks up the suspense to almost unbearable heights in her latest tautly written thriller, one that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. --Maria Hatton

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation; 1 edition (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758211848
• ISBN-13: 978-0758211842
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My First Lisa Jackson, May 17, 2009

By	J. Baker "kairilily" (South Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

New Orleans detective Rick Bentz is seeing his ex-wife, Jennifer, everywhere. The problem is that Jennifer died in LA twelve years earlier. Bentz knows it's not his imagination, but how could Jennifer be alive? He's the one that identified her body. After receiving an envelope with recently dated photos of Jennifer or someone that's a dead ringer for her, taken in LA looking alive and well, Bentz is off to LA to find out who is messing with him and why.

Malice is the sixth book in Lisa Jackson's New Orleans series. I'm usually a stickler for reading a series in order, but I won a copy of the book and had a time limit to read it and answer some questions. Even though I had not read any of the first five books, I didn't feel like I was missing anything. There was just enough back story for each character for me to feel like I knew them, but not so much that it interfered with the flow of the story. The characters were very well developed. The story was fantastic, fast paced, and filled with suspense. I thought I knew who the culprit was, but I ended up surprised. I always love it when I'm surprised by a suspense/thriller novel because so many of them follow the same pattern and you end up feeling like you've read it a hundred times before. I didn't feel that way with Malice. I've already picked up the first book in the series and hope to get started on it soon.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A favorite character, Rick Bentz, returns in Malice., May 12, 2009

By	Readers Favorite "Readers Favorite" (Hawesville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

A favorite character, Rick Bentz, returns in Malice. Rick was hospitalized after an accident. He awakened to the "ghost" of his ex-wife standing next to his bedside. A whiff of gardenias haunts Rick. He seems fixated on his ex-wife. The newly married Rick and Olivia were deeply in love or were they? Rick is obsessed with finding the answers. Is she alive? Memories of their past disturb him. He begins searching for the truth. Has Rick lost his mind? Is an evil trying to destroy Rick?

I enjoyed this book, but I do not think it is Lisa Jackson's best book. The action never ends in this book. Malice is a bit heavy on description. Rick Bentz seemed to be different from the character I have come to love. Jackson is a talented author. I have come to expect much from her. The ending is a bit complicated. I am still a big Lisa Jackson fan and look forward to her next offering.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What happened to the Rick we knew?, April 15, 2009

By	P. Adolph (CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bentz has been my favorite character in the past. This man is not the Bentz that Lisa Jackson previously created. After a great book where Rick and Olivia meet and fall in love, they are now suddenly on the verge of loosing their marriage to his obsession with his ex-wife. Not just about if she's alive or not, but all the sexual memories he has of her. He flies off to investigate "Jennifer" when he has nothing to work with. His co-workers do all the real work.

Also, it's clear who the bad guys are half way through the book. Jackson lost her touch with this one!

Even if you decide this book is worth the read, be prepared for the endless run of useless words that are meant to fill the book. If I had to read anymore detailed descriptions of drivers going through traffic... It really was difficult to care by the end of the book.

The end itself never did wrap up all the weirdness that Bentz went through in his emotional separation from Olivia. All in all, it was not worth the money I spent on the book.