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Name: Desecration (London Crime Thrillers): Penn, J F: 9781493622184: Amazon.com: Books
Rating: 4.2 (1131 reviews)

J. F. Penn

Desecration (London Crime Thrillers) Paperback – December 4, 2013

by J F Penn (Author)

1,131 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Brooke and Daniel

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Paperback, December 4, 2013

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Death isn't always the end.

From Award-nominated, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author, J.F.Penn comes this emotionally charged thriller about the dark side of human nature
LONDON—When the body of a murdered young heiress is found within the Royal College of Surgeons, Detective Sergeant Jamie Brooke is assigned to the case. An antique ivory figurine found beside the body her only lead, she enlists Blake Daniel, a reluctant psychic, to help her discover the message it holds.
The investigation leads them to a sinister secret society known as the Lyceum, who revel in human vivisection and murder.
When personal tragedy strikes, Jamie has nothing left to lose and she must race against time to stop the mysterious Lyceum before it claims yet another victim.
As Jamie and Blake delve into a macabre world of medical history, body modification, and genetically engineered monsters, they must fight to maintain their sanity, and their lives.
A story of vengeance and justice, a dark mystery with an edge of the supernatural, Desecration will keep you turning pages.
Available now: Delirium (book 2) and Deviance (book 3), completing the trilogy.

Praise for 'Desecration'

“One of the most original mystery/thrillers that I’ve read in a long while. Its topic of life and death, soul and body is harrowing and poignant, shocking and profound.” David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder as a Fine Art and author of over 40 novels

“A riveting exploration of the dark side of the human heart” ”New York Times Bestselling Author CJ Lyons

“In a book which takes the reader on a journey to hell and back, J.F. Penn demonstrates her huge talent for conveying the depths of human depravity.” ”Amazon UK #1 Bestseller, Rachel Abbott

If you love crime thrillers with an edge of the supernatural, download a sample or buy DESECRATION now.

Print length

264 pages
Language

English
Publication date

December 4, 2013
Dimensions

5 x 0.66 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1493622188
ISBN-13

978-1493622184
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most original mystery/thrillers that I've read in a long while. Its topic of life and death, soul and body is harrowing and poignant, shocking and profound."

David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder as a Fine Art and author of over 40 novels

"A riveting exploration of the dark side of the human heart"
New York Times Bestselling Author CJ Lyons

"In a book which takes the reader on a journey to hell and back, J.F. Penn demonstrates her huge talent for conveying the depths of human depravity."  
Amazon #1 Bestseller, Rachel Abbott

About the Author

Oxford educated, British born J.F.Penn has traveled the world in her study of religion and psychology. She brings these obsessions as well as a love for thrillers and an interest in the supernatural to her writing.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 4, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1493622188
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1493622184
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.66 x 8 inches

Customer Reviews:
1,131 ratings

About the author

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J F Penn

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J.F. Penn is the Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the ARKANE action adventure thrillers, Mapwalker fantasy adventures, and the Brooke & Daniel psychological thrillers as well as other stories.

Her books weave together ancient artifacts, relics of power, international locations and adventure with an edge of the supernatural.

Jo lives in Bath, England and enjoys a nice G&T.

Find out more at www.JFPenn.com

If you enjoy books set in international locations, check out Jo's Books and Travel Podcast: www.BooksAndTravel.page

Customer reviews

5 star		54%
4 star		26%
3 star		11%
2 star		4%
1 star		4%

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Marjory Kaptanoglu

Well-written, fast-paced thriller

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2019

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This is the perfectly written thriller. It has multi-dimensional characters and a plot that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. The pacing provides a perfect balance between getting to know and love the characters, and moving the story forward with plenty of suspense.

At 266 pages, it’s the perfect length. My current pet peeve is that mysteries and thrillers have become way too long, as if the publishers have told the writers they want a certain page count. This unnecessary padding slows those stories down. J.F. Penn, on the other hand, has produced a tightly written thriller that delivers exactly what you need for a satisfying read.

Penn’s writing is authoritative and I found myself wondering how much of the subject she wrote about is true (pretty horrifying if so). I plan to look this up when I have more time.

The gore was a bit excessive for my personal taste (I’m squeamish), especially towards the end, but other readers might be just fine with it so I would never subtract stars for that reason.

15 people found this helpful

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Uma Iyer Van Roosenbeek

A Thriller about the Dark Side of Human Nature

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2016

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I was not sure what to expect from this book by its title but, was I floored when I started reading it!
The heartrending story of Jamie Brooks, a London Detective Superintendent who is trying her best to serve the people and be there for her incapacitated and terminally ill daughter with a brilliant mind who is in hospice care. Jamie struggles to keep a balance between her police duties, her intense wish to be with her daughter and fulfill her daughter Polly’s wish to be a dancer by attending Tango dance sessions.
When she starts to investigate the death of Jenna, a beautiful heiress she discovers facts that are shocking and hard to believe. She stumbles across the macabre world of the art form that uses human bodies and unearths more and more gruesome details about so-called human body art form that is practiced by desecrating the human body. Jamie is shocked and repulsed when she sees a female body that is in the process of desecration.
Even before she can recover from Polly’s death, she has to deal with the discovery of live human sacrifices that are reminiscent of Josef Mengele’s cruel acts against humanity. After Polly’s body is stolen, Jamie’s crusade becomes personal. She takes the help of Blake Daniel of the British Museum (a psychic reader of objects who was introduced to me in Day of the Vikings) and sets out to solve the mystery, recover Polly’s body and bring the villains to justice at the risk to her own life.
Desecration deals with the dark aspects of human psyche and has the readers wondering about the mental and emotional make-up of such people. It also brings forth the outstanding capacity of the author to historically research all the relevant facts about the story and be absolutely accurate about most things as she tells us in her account at the end of the book. Joanna has made the character of Jamie so down to earth and one in which the reader can believe.
While book is entirely different from the ARKANE books, it is a magnificent book in its own right. I am waiting to read the other books in this London Psychic series with a great deal of anticipation and eagerness.

18 people found this helpful

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Walter P. Roura

Pizzagate; British Style

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2021

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The hacking of John Podesta's e-mails led to the wackiness of Pizzagate in the US with people firmly believing that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Cabal were using the D.C. Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria as the headquarters of a child trafficking ring. Perhaps it was J.F. Penn's book that gave rise to this crazy, fake conspiracy theory that dominated part of the 2016 Presidential campaign. As nutty and far-fetched as Pizzagate is Penn's tale entitled "Desecration." To find the book enjoyable, the reader must suspend all pretense of plausibility and accept that body stealing, decoration/mutilation of a dead body as an art form, and human sacrifice are all possible and is practiced by medical and pharmaceutical researchers and by avant-guarde artists.

This is the tale woven by Penn. Involved in this morass is a detective dealing with the imminent death of her teenage only child who manages(?) to deal with this horror while pursuing death and criminality involving the twin horror of desecrating dead and live human bodies in the name of science or merely in the name of human sacrifice as a pleasurable pastime. Oh, and while coping with her deceased child who falls prey to the human blood cabal, the detective manages to become a captive of the human sacrificers but escapes Houdini like during an ensuing conflagration. Couple all of this with a lawyer confederate who is not only adept in his field, but is a psychic who can uncover past horrors merely by touching an object involved with those horrors and who drowns his powers by consuming enormous amount of tequila nightly. I found this all to be beyond the pale.

And I gave this tale 1-star while still appreciating Ms. Penn's prose. I wait to read something more realistic from her, since she is a gifted writer.

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2021

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The title pretty much days it all.

Penn is clearly more than capable of expressing her thoughts with the written word. That ought not make all thoughts suitable topics for sensationalistic, ficticious exploitation.

There's depravity and psychosis on virtually every page in this book. It was a challenge to want to finish reading it. I can only imagine the mindset necessary to want to write it.

2 people found this helpful

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Scott

Good for Killing Some Time

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2021

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Well written and the action flows together very well. The reason I didn't give it five stars is because I would have liked to see more character development. But I don't usually read fast-paced mystery novels, so my taste might be different from others. There were some tropes used in the novel that I thought could have been avoided. The Nazi connection was a little too much. Whenever people write about the evil inside people, so many writers want to bring up Nazis. It's tired and stale.

Anyway, the book isn't bad. It's worth reading if you want to kill some time. It will hold your interest, which is what you want in a fun read.

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Pamela Scott

Dark thriller with supernatural twists

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2020

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I’ve become a huge fan of the author over the past few months and have quite a lot of books in her back catalogue to read. I’m very much looking forward to it. Blake has psychic abilities and it took a couple of examples of him using his powers to stop rolling my eyes. This isn’t down to the author’s skill or writing style which are excellent but my cynicism. This is different than other books I’ve read from her ARKANE series. Desecration is an excellent thriller with supernatural elements, fast paced, full of twists and turns and quite addictive. I loved how well written the characters are and how quickly we get to know them. I felt Jamie’s pain as she waits for her daughter to stop fighting, I felt her pain and sorrow and love. I also felt Blake’s torment as a result of his visions. This was a great book.

One person found this helpful

Stephen Clynes

"Dance for me, Joanna".

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2021

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Follow Detective Sergeant Jamie Brooke as she helps solve a murder in London. This is not your average murder but one with a sinister background.

I have not read a book from Joanna for over 5 years now. What a delight it was for me to read another of her books. Once again Joanna mixes her extensive research with her extensive vocabulary to give the reader a very detailed and descriptive story. The plot behind Desecration is very good yet creepy as you wonder what can take place in research laboratories.

I found Desecration to be an excellent thriller, very gritty and quite gory in places. I really liked the emotional depth that was displayed when people have to deal with end-of-life choices and timescales. Joanna’s writing is so powerful that it brought a tear to my eye when I read that the time was right for one character. The words used really grasped the feelings in the same way as when a vet puts an animal down.

There are lighter parts to this story, like an exploration of various forms of body art and modification plus the joys of Tango dancing.

I think Desecration is an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

DaveF

Too unbelieveable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2017

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Started off as an interesting story and despite getting a little far-fetched in parts, the quality of the prose kept me going for the most part. The real failing of this book (and I know there is a clue in the series title) was the psychic.
I generally find there are three types of fictional psychics. Those who get lucky once then derail and misdirect the investigation as the story unfolds; those who are usually wrong and who exist merely for comic value; those who are unfailingly correct and who exist because an author couldn't be bothered to plot a proper investigative story so provide shortcuts when things get difficult. The psychic in this book (and presumably series though I won't be finding out) is of the latter type. Give him an object and he takes off his gloves before touching the item then gives angst-ridden flashes of history relating to the piece and the people who have been wronged in its presence. I guess I should be thankful we were spared the uneventful lives of the thousands of others who must have touched it over the years.
It's a shame as Joanna Penn's writing is very good and I would love to read something by her with a more credible plot.

3 people found this helpful

Kindle ANGIE.

Gory story of murder and human dissection.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2021

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Jamie is a police detective who divides her time between work and visiting her young daughter. She is in a Hospice slowly dying of a degenerative spinal disease. Her daughter has reached the end stages of her disease, but her mother is in denial and doesn't want to let her go.
She finds herself involved in a murder case and her
daughter passes away and her body is stolen!
She gets involved in the nightmarish world of dissection of humans for pleasure, and storing body parts in glass bottles as art.

An absolutely absorbing, if bloodthirst story that draws you in despite its cringe worthy subject matter, a real page turner.

Maxspencer

Dark but fascinating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2013

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As if Detective Sergeant Jamie Brooke's investigation into the macabre world of grave robbery, body modification and genetic engineering wasn't enough to keep her awake at night, when it takes a personal turn, she is not only struggling to expose a gruesome underworld but is also fighting for her life.

Desecration certainly lives up to its name. It is a dark and graphic mystery/thriller that deals with plenty of unique and unusual albeit uncomfortable themes, including corpse art and dissection. Just how depraved humans can be is explored in this action packed and well researched story. The fascinating historical information was dropped in effortlessly. Who knew for example that necrophilia was only made illegal in the UK in 2003?

I was drawn into this book by the prologue, told in the first person, where we meet the antagonist and catch a glimpse of their chilling character. (I actually wish there was more of the book in this style.) We are then introduced to DS Jamie Brooke and follow her journey into the sick world she finds herself investigating. But this is so much more than a police procedural. Jamie is a tortured soul whose young daughter, Polly, is dying. Her story is heart-breaking and there are very moving scenes. When Polly dies, I wondered what would happen to the case as Jamie takes personal leave, but then there was a huge twist in the story. There is never a dull moment as the horrors of the case are combined with Jamie's personal life and her interesting partnership with Blake - a psychic who can read objects.

As I read the book, I wondered about the truth surrounding the bizarre, grisly acts discussed so the author's note at the end was enlightening, though unnerving. I was also glad to read that Jamie and Blake will be working together again soon.

So if you're looking to learn about dark but fascinating topics in an original thriller (this is definitely not a cozy mystery) where you will develop an emotional connection with the main character, this is the book for you!

9 people found this helpful

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Desecration (London Crime Thrillers) Paperback – December 4, 2013

Death isn't always the end.

Praise for 'Desecration'

If you love crime thrillers with an edge of the supernatural, download a sample or buy DESECRATION now.

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About the author

J F Penn

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