Say You're Sorry, Karen Rose/614 pages (Mystery)

                                                            I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
                                                            Say You're Sorry is the story of Daisy Dawson, a recovering
                                                       alcoholic who spent many years living in hiding with her family.
                                                       She has issues with her father but has surrounded herself with
                                                       great friends, a wonderful "adoptive" family and is living her life
                                                       on her own terms when she is almost abducted by a serial killer
                                                       as she walks home from an AA meeting.  Daisy gets away,
                                                       grabbing a locket from her attackers neck.  The locket turns out
                                                       to be a link to a local hidden cult that FBI agent Gideon Reynolds
                                                       escaped from when he was 13.  Gideon becomes Daisy's body-
                                                       guard and slowly they start piecing the story together.
                                                            Our serial killer is a very twisted man.  He has been kidnapping women, abusing and discarding them for a long time.  Gideon and Daisy quickly become a team and unmasking the killer, getting justice for his victims and justice and closure for the survivors of the cult become their combined mission. 
     There were several spots in this book where the author could have ended it and it would have been a great book--but she kept going.  The book has many story lines and Karen Rose has masterfully braided them together to form a tale you can't put down!

Out of Darkness/Graham, Heather/250 pages (Author's Last Name ends in "M")

     Out of Darkness is a fairly good romance novel with a serial killer theme.  Did I catch your interest?
     Six high school seniors are out for fun on Halloween night.  Sarah, the cheerleader, Tyler, her football playing boyfriend, Sean, Suzie, Hannah, and Davey.  Davey, who has Downs Syndrome, balks at going into a spooky house so Sarah and Davey stay behind while the others go inside and encounter a real life murder scene--blood everywhere, severed heads, and a knife wielding killer still threatening.  The killer is taken down by police and the teens are all traumatized and drift off their separate ways.  Now it is 10 years later and one of the six is brutally chopped apart and the group comes back together to solve the mystery.  I thought the ending was pretty standard but it came about 40 pages before the end of the book.  Little did I know that the author had a trick up her sleeve and it took until the last few pages of the book to solve, resolve and get everybody the ending they deserve.  Good read!

Dead Girls/ Graeme Cameron/ 298 pgs

Dead Girls is the sequel to Normal, reviewed here. If you plan to read Normal, I suggest not reading this review due to possible spoilers. I'm glad I read it fairly soon after the first book so the events were fresh in my mind. However, this one is not nearly as good as Normal. The story is mostly told from the perspective of Ali Green, a police detective. She was seriously injured by the serial killer in Normal. Though she can't remember anything that happened that day and is still having medical issues, she's pulled back onto the case. While this should be an exciting book as the police work to catch the serial killer, this one lacks the dark humor and engaging style of Normal. Also, these are the absolute worst police ever. They don't follow any sort of procedure, they never tell their colleagues what they are doing, they don't share information. I'm not sure if this was meant to be humorous (bumbling cops) but it really just made me frustrated with the story. Fortunately this one does wrap up the story started in Normal, so for that at least, I'm glad I read it.

Normal/ Graeme Cameron/ 294 pgs

This book is...not normal. At all. I loved it nonetheless. This book has the darkest and blackest humor you'll find, so if that isn't your thing, this book isn't for you. Normal is told from the point of view of a serial killer. He's never given a name so we don't really identify with him, which is good. He describes his life in a matter of fact way. Killing his victims, cleaning up afterwards, cooking their flesh (yes indeed, I did say dark), all of these things are described in a humdrum manner. His tone is engaging and it's easy to get drawn in. While he's been at this for a while, things start to go haywire when he's discovered during cleanup by the friend of his last victim. So he kidnaps her and keeps her in a cage in his basement. The only thing is, Erica doesn't just sit there quietly. She turns her sassy attitude on him, complains, and generally turns his "normal" world upside down. He meets another woman, Annie, who becomes a pseudo-friend (though she does not know what he's really like). And finally he meets a third woman, Rachel, who he falls for and begins to date. All three of these relationships are completely foreign to him and he doesn't know how to navigate them. As well, the police are finally onto him and the suspense comes from waiting to see when they'll catch up to him. So, good book but only if you like really dark humor and can handle graphic violence.

The Alienist/ Caleb Carr / 496 pgs

The Alienist was on my TBR list when I heard that TNT was turning it into a TV series. So I moved it up the list and started reading. John Moore is a New York Times reporter in 1896. He attended Harvard with Theodore Roosevelt, the new commissioner of police, and Dr. Lazlo Kreizler, an alienist (or in modern terms, a psychiatrist). A serial killer has struck, attacking and mutilating young boy prostitutes. Reluctantly, Roosevelt allows Kreizler to form a secret team of investigators that includes himself, Moore, Roosevelt's secretary Sara Howard, and two detectives. Essentially, the team is attempting to "profile" the serial killer, though of course that term was not used. The book is rich in historical facts and details and for the most part, the characters are well drawn. The investigation itself was intriguing and though the book is long, the story is not boring at all. There were one or two plot points that I found gratuitous but overall I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the TV series.

Dark in Death/J.D. Robb/372 pgs.

A murderer is on the loose, and is using mystery author Blaine DeLano's books as inspiration for method and victims. Murder cop Lieutenant Eve Dallas is tasked with finding the murderer, and stopping him/her before another person dies. It's a good addition to the popular series, and one that I recommend with no reservations!

Look Behind You/Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen/325 pgs.

Kendra Michaels' special talents are called into play by the FBI to track down a serial killer. This particular killer has been leaving behind "trophies" from previous unsolved murders. Agents who had worked on the unsolved murders are called in to help solve the cases once and for all. Then it becomes apparent that Kendra is on the killer's radar--which puts a whole new spin on the investigation. It's a fast moving, engrossing novel--highly recommended!

A Murder in Time/ Julie McElwain / 320 pgs

I haven't read a time travel in quite a while so decided to give this a try. Kendra Donovan is an FBI agent in the midst of a big raid to bring down a couple of bad guys. Only, one of their own betrays them, resulting in the deaths of fellow agents and gunshot wounds that leave Kendra rehabilitating for months. When she's finally healed she doesn't return to work, instead she secretly sets off to assassinate the one bad guy who's been turned into an informer. She tracks him down to a castle in England and is all prepared to poison him with ricin when someone else shoots him dead. When that mysterious killer then fires at Kendra she stumbles down a secret passageway and ends up traveling back in time to 1815, where there just happens to be a serial killer on the loose. How Kendra fits in, and doesn't, and how she ends up leading the investigation are the meat of this story.

This book is a strange bird. The author head hops--switches points of view--every few paragraphs, often unexpectedly. This is a huge pet peeve of mine and I almost quit reading this book because of it. But I kept going. Kendra is not a warm fuzzy heroine but I was okay with that. She's friendly and grateful when she needs to be. However, it's mentioned at the outset that she is a eugenics baby, apparently bred by two of the smartest yet coldest people on earth. Aside from this small tidbit, nothing else about it was mentioned. Was this a real government program? Or was this just two people experimenting? I have no idea. Also, Kendra is purportedly very smart, but admits she "doesn't know much about this time period," and then proceeds to spout all kinds of facts--awkwardly--about this very time period. In addition, while the author gets so much of the Regency time period correct, she also still gets some things very wrong

All in all, it's difficult to judge this book. Kendra does not get back to the present by the end and there is a sequel that just came out. I may read it down the line, once I've forgotten all the things I didn't like about this one:-)

Daisy in Chains/ Sharon Bolton / 344 pgs

I recently discovered Sharon Bolton’s (AKA SJ Bolton) suspense books and I really enjoy them. In this one, lawyer Maggie Rose is asked by a convicted serial killer to take another look at his case because he claims he’s innocent. She’s reluctant at first and aggressively discouraged by the investigating officer, Det. Weston, from doing so. It’s not a spoiler to say she eventually takes the case:) This one has a number of twists and turns but unfortunately I thought they were fairly well telegraphed. I wasn’t surprised by anything except perhaps the very end. I didn’t like this book as much as I liked Bolton’s Little Black Lies and I think it was because the characters weren’t especially likable or sympathetic.

Devoted in Death/J.D. Robb/374 pgs.

The latest J.D. Robb offering, Devoted in Death, has "star-crossed" lovers Ella-Loo and Darryl on a killing spree. This sadistic pair is into torture before killing their victims. It is up to Lt. Eve Dallas to: 1) discover their identities, and 2) stop them before their current victims die. It's fast, suspenseful, and what one expects from a J.D. Robb novel. Recommended!