CY@CY Says Welcome to my dreamscape. Where a Lim is also a Ling.
After reading The Man Who Watched Women by Hjorth & Rosenfeldt in the middle of this month, I seemed to have been bitten by the reading bug again. In the last two weeks, I managed to read 4 more books: Merciless by Mary Burton, A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen, The Colour of Law by Mark Gimenez and The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker.
Merciless by Mary Burton
Merciless by Mary Burton is an exhilarating thriller that gives you a glimpse into the twisted minds of two killers. It grips you from page one and doesn’t let go.
When bones are found by a couple of boys in a park, Detectives Kier and Garrison learn that they belong to a semi famous actress who has ties to a previous case and suspect. When another body is found, Angie Carlson is drawn into the case when the body is identified as a former prostitute that Angie had cross-examined during a previous trial that released a suspect Kier had worked hard to put away.
The police believe that one of Angie’s recent clients, Dr. James Dixon, who was acquitted of murder, is actually the person responsible for the latest string of killings. Truth be told, Angie isn’t at all sure he wasn’t guilty of the previous crime, and even she has to admit the circumstantial evidence currently against Dixon is fairly strong.
As the body count rises, Kier is convinced that Angie is now the target of a brutal, brilliant psychopath.
A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen
A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen gets off to a slow start but patience has its rewards. Hannah Griffin was a young girl when tragedy struck on her family’s farm. She has spent most of her life trying to forget that fateful Christmas Eve house fire that claimed her family and turned up almost two dozen other bodies buried in their yard. The case remains unsolved though Hannah’s mother became the prime suspect.
Twenty years later Hannah is a happily married mother of one daughter. A talented crime scene investigator, she is caught up in a case of child abuse when the past comes hurtling back. Years of buried questions are brought to life. A killer with unfinished business is on the hunt. And an anonymous message turns Hannah’s blood cold: YOUR MOM CALLED…
A series of mysterious events indicates that her mother may still be alive. Hannah reopens the case, as well as old wounds, after enlisting the help of FBI Special Agent Jeff Bauer, the still-haunted chief officer from the original investigation. The author’s flashback narrative shines with lurid details. This bizarre, many-layered mystery will keep fans of crime fiction hooked.
The Colour of Law by Mark Gimenez
The Colour of Law by Mark Gimenez gives readers a fictional peek inside the world of large law firms, showing you the ruthless politics of corporate law coming face to face with the ethics of public defence.
In this legal thriller, former college football star A. Scott Fenney has risen from his working class background to become a high-flying attorney and partner of a huge prominent law firm with a gleaming office tower in Dallas. His perfect life—multimillion-dollar house in exclusive Highland Park, a stunningly beautiful wife, exclusive club memberships, Ferrari sports car—crumbles when he is appointed to the pro bono defense of a murder suspect who is the heroin-addicted prostitute Shawanda Jones .
Defending Shawanda threatens everything Scott has worked for in life. At first, he plans to have Shawanda plea bargain, as his boss wants him to, to keep the case from going to trial. Shawanda, however, insists she is innocent, and Scott begins to believe her. As he attempts to put all he has into Shawanda’s defense, the other partners at Ford Stevens fire him because they don’t want their firm’s name dragged through the mud. Scott’s best clients drop him due to pressure from Senator McCall, assumed next presidten of US and the father of Shawanda’s alleged victim. Soon Fenney is out of a job, the notes on the house and cars are called in and his wife has left him for a local golf pro.
There has been much comparison of Giminez’s debut to John Grisham. I think this novel rivals the best of Grisham. Gimenez is definitely going to give Grisham some stiff competition.
The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker
The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker is about a wily serial killer known as the Four Monkey Killer, or 4MK for short. He has his own kind of vigilante justice based on the wise monkeys; Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil and the fourth, lesser known, Do No Evil. If he judges you as someone who has committed serious crimes that have gone unpunished, he will deliver his justice by kidnapping someone close to you, cutting off body parts in the following order: ear (hear no evil), eyes (see no evil}, tongue (speak no evil) and followed by death (do no evil).
Sam Porter is 52-year-old homicide detective who has been trying to uncover 4MK for 5 years. When a man commits what looks like suicide by throwing himself in front of a bus it looks like the search for the elusive serial killer is over. But there is one big problem. The police realises that the killer was on his way to deliver one final message who means that he has taken another victim who is probably still alive. The police are in a race against time to try and find her.
With the discovery of a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body of the killer, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.
I really enjoyed The Fourth Monkey as it is packed with twists and turns. It is everything a thriller should be. If you love crime thrillers featuring serial killers, you will not be disappointed with this book. It is a fantastic heart-pounding and thrilling read!