sjj169's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Kendall Jennings writes freelance stories to pay the bills. She does the fluff type pieces like the ones that tell you how to get Angelina Jolie lips in just five days. (I need this info)
A near by mass murder entangles her in it's web and she ends up getting the exclusive story from one of the survivors. She isn't thrilled with writing about the murders because violence turns her stomach. She keeps going though because it's helping her career and paying those never ending bills.
Then another mass murder occurs, this time at a nursing home. The killer is a different person as the first massacre ended in the death of that killer. Now it's happening again.
Kendall meets up with the detectives that are investigating the crimes, Lance O'Grady and his partner Trip.
O'Grady hates journalist due to some stuff that has happened in his past. So he is not thrilled that Kendall keeps poking her nose around.
Then a mother goes nuts and kills members of her family with no sign of any problems leading up to the massacre.
O'Grady knows that these murders cannot be coincidence. Not when they are all taking place in the same small area.
The last question, truly the most frightening when, after all these years, O'Grady thought he'd seen everything evil. Was this the new evil?
Is it all tied into a similar mass murder scene at a fast food restaurant that Kendall starts digging into?
Or can a grieving father's research into the anti-depressant SSRI's that so many of us take be leading people to commit these horrible crimes?
Or is it something worse?
I really enjoyed this different take on a serial thriller. May does a good job with keeping the story interesting and her writing is pretty good. I didn't care for the sorta romancy way that Kendall and O'Grady were acting at times but I'm a hateful old heifer.
May even makes fun of it herself in describing her thoughts as Kendall thinking about a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Not bad at all though.
Booksource: This book was author gifted to me. Susan May actually took the time to read my profile and saw that I had shelved this book on my "to-read" shelf. She sent me a very nice message asking if I was interested in reading it.
Yes, please to authors that act this way.
This did not in any way influence my review. Because like I said I'm a hateful old heifer and I review the way I want.
Kendall Jennings writes freelance stories to pay the bills. She does the fluff type pieces like the ones that tell you how to get Angelina Jolie lips in just five days. (I need this info)
A near by mass murder entangles her in it's web and she ends up getting the exclusive story from one of the survivors. She isn't thrilled with writing about the murders because violence turns her stomach. She keeps going though because it's helping her career and paying those never ending bills.
Then another mass murder occurs, this time at a nursing home. The killer is a different person as the first massacre ended in the death of that killer. Now it's happening again.
Kendall meets up with the detectives that are investigating the crimes, Lance O'Grady and his partner Trip.
O'Grady hates journalist due to some stuff that has happened in his past. So he is not thrilled that Kendall keeps poking her nose around.
Then a mother goes nuts and kills members of her family with no sign of any problems leading up to the massacre.
O'Grady knows that these murders cannot be coincidence. Not when they are all taking place in the same small area.
The last question, truly the most frightening when, after all these years, O'Grady thought he'd seen everything evil. Was this the new evil?
Is it all tied into a similar mass murder scene at a fast food restaurant that Kendall starts digging into?
Or can a grieving father's research into the anti-depressant SSRI's that so many of us take be leading people to commit these horrible crimes?
Or is it something worse?
I really enjoyed this different take on a serial thriller. May does a good job with keeping the story interesting and her writing is pretty good. I didn't care for the sorta romancy way that Kendall and O'Grady were acting at times but I'm a hateful old heifer.
May even makes fun of it herself in describing her thoughts as Kendall thinking about a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Not bad at all though.
Booksource: This book was author gifted to me. Susan May actually took the time to read my profile and saw that I had shelved this book on my "to-read" shelf. She sent me a very nice message asking if I was interested in reading it.
Yes, please to authors that act this way.
This did not in any way influence my review. Because like I said I'm a hateful old heifer and I review the way I want.
mad_about_books's review against another edition
5.0
I read to be entertained, and I read to be informed. Whether reading a piece of fiction or non-fiction, I actually want a bit of both. When I am engaged and turning pages and the urge to fact check a concept interrupts me, that's a good read. While reading DEADLY MESSENGERS, that is exactly what happened! (A sort of spoiler: there is a YouTube video mentioned by name. Said video is real. I watched it.) I don't do real spoilers, so what I may have Googled to do a bit of fact checking will have to remain my secret.
It is most important for a writer to have a unique voice to stand out in the crowd. That unique voice often expresses itself by presenting the story from an unexpected perspective. Susan May's voice is crystal clear and loud enough to reach you on page one. What might she be saying? Reader! Pay attention!
Kendall Jennings is a strong, but flawed, female character. Honestly, I prefer my characters, both male and female, flawed. It makes them believable because real people are flawed. Here we have a stand alone novel populated with very real characters. Folks you might meet at sometime in your life. I mention that is is a stand alone novel because at several points I found myself thinking that this is a story with characters that have lives, and lives go on.
If you read the author bio on Amazon, you will see that Susan May hails from Australia, so you might think she would put her story in a locale down under. Not so. DEADLY MESSENGERS is set in a fictitious city in the U. S. You know this because guns are readily available, the FBI is mentioned, and the subject is mass murder. Where else on earth would multiple mass murders even make for a believable story? There are occasional places in the book where she may not get the Americanism just right but when you are reading a thriller like this one, who cares about such trivia. This is. without a doubt, one of the best books I have read this year. If I could give it six stars, I certainly would!
On a technical note, I did find several places where a word seemed like it had been left out of a sentence, the tense of a verb didn't seem to fit, a singular noun that should have been plural... They seemed like the kind of mistakes made when thinking faster than one is able to commit them to page. My brain made the corrections so quickly they really didn't much interrupt the flow of this very fast paced novel.
The bottom line is this is a book well worth the time you spend reading it.
This review is based on the ARC sent to me by Susan May.
It is most important for a writer to have a unique voice to stand out in the crowd. That unique voice often expresses itself by presenting the story from an unexpected perspective. Susan May's voice is crystal clear and loud enough to reach you on page one. What might she be saying? Reader! Pay attention!
Kendall Jennings is a strong, but flawed, female character. Honestly, I prefer my characters, both male and female, flawed. It makes them believable because real people are flawed. Here we have a stand alone novel populated with very real characters. Folks you might meet at sometime in your life. I mention that is is a stand alone novel because at several points I found myself thinking that this is a story with characters that have lives, and lives go on.
If you read the author bio on Amazon, you will see that Susan May hails from Australia, so you might think she would put her story in a locale down under. Not so. DEADLY MESSENGERS is set in a fictitious city in the U. S. You know this because guns are readily available, the FBI is mentioned, and the subject is mass murder. Where else on earth would multiple mass murders even make for a believable story? There are occasional places in the book where she may not get the Americanism just right but when you are reading a thriller like this one, who cares about such trivia. This is. without a doubt, one of the best books I have read this year. If I could give it six stars, I certainly would!
On a technical note, I did find several places where a word seemed like it had been left out of a sentence, the tense of a verb didn't seem to fit, a singular noun that should have been plural... They seemed like the kind of mistakes made when thinking faster than one is able to commit them to page. My brain made the corrections so quickly they really didn't much interrupt the flow of this very fast paced novel.
The bottom line is this is a book well worth the time you spend reading it.
This review is based on the ARC sent to me by Susan May.
galian84's review against another edition
4.0
I was looking for a good mystery-thriller book, and when this popped up as a suggested book on my Kindle, I grabbed it. It didn't disappoint! Action packed from start to end, it definitely kept me on my toes. I also like how Ms. May got into the murders relatively quickly, and to find the perpetrator and the reasons behind it all was something new and exciting to me (especially being in the healthcare field. Definitely gives you some food for thought...). Satisfying ending that tied up all loose ends.
And while I always like a good romance and love story, I thought the romantic subplot between the journalist and the cop felt a bit out of place. And perhaps it was just me, but something about the FMC's name nagged at me...likely not the author's fault, but it kept reminding me of one of the Kardashian sisters and I kept envisioning her as such.
Well written and I would look for other works by Ms. May in the future.
And while I always like a good romance and love story, I thought the romantic subplot between the journalist and the cop felt a bit out of place. And perhaps it was just me, but something about the FMC's name nagged at me...likely not the author's fault, but it kept reminding me of one of the Kardashian sisters and I kept envisioning her as such.
Well written and I would look for other works by Ms. May in the future.
aly36's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book very much. This book had some mystery and I love to read about serial killers too. This book kept me reading more and I didn't want to put the book down. I could see this book be a movie some day! I think it was very good. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
jonetta's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted on The Book Nympho
This story takes hold of you after the first couple of pages and never really lets you go. Seemingly law abiding, well adjusted people are suddenly and inexplicably committing mass murders in one town. Freelance writer Kendall Jennings, who normally does fillers for lifestyle publications, drifts into covering the story and runs afoul of the chief investigator, Detective Lance O'Grady. Both are trying to figure out a connection between the killers and their motives.
I enjoyed the hunt for clues and exploring the source of the phenomenon. It's an unusual premise, which kept things interesting. Both Kendall and Lance have extraordinary histories that are slowly revealed throughout the story, adding additional layers to the puzzle. I sort of figured out what was going on before it was revealed but the climax was still riveting. The author excels at writing thrilling scenes and I could literally feel my pulse racing. The pacing was outstanding.
The only weakness in the story is the relationship between Kendall and Lance but even that was okay. It was sometimes a distraction but not much. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
(I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review)
This story takes hold of you after the first couple of pages and never really lets you go. Seemingly law abiding, well adjusted people are suddenly and inexplicably committing mass murders in one town. Freelance writer Kendall Jennings, who normally does fillers for lifestyle publications, drifts into covering the story and runs afoul of the chief investigator, Detective Lance O'Grady. Both are trying to figure out a connection between the killers and their motives.
I enjoyed the hunt for clues and exploring the source of the phenomenon. It's an unusual premise, which kept things interesting. Both Kendall and Lance have extraordinary histories that are slowly revealed throughout the story, adding additional layers to the puzzle. I sort of figured out what was going on before it was revealed but the climax was still riveting. The author excels at writing thrilling scenes and I could literally feel my pulse racing. The pacing was outstanding.
The only weakness in the story is the relationship between Kendall and Lance but even that was okay. It was sometimes a distraction but not much. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
(I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review)
chimerraaa's review against another edition
1.0
This book wasn't worth my while. Why? I'll explain right away.Let's begin with the plot:
Plot
A wave of mass murders has struck a peaceful town. Two detectives and a freelance writer are trying to find out why. A powerful drug is involved - drug which gives one person the opportunity to control other people's minds and make them do the killings in spite of their own will. Which sounds like the perfect crime but the execution of the idea was beyond poor. When I read crime/mystery/ thriller I expect some suspense. Not predictability. Given that there was only one suspect (who turned out to be the bad guy.Surprising, heh?) the book really gives the reader nothing to dwell on beyond a stupid cheesy love interest.
Characters
Kendall Whatever-her-name-was
She is the freelance writer, not very talented from what I gathered. What we know about her: she has blue eyes, nice hair, her mother was killed in robbery gone wrong, she doesn't do her dishes and doesn't wash her clothes. It's actually mentioned a few times like it's the most important thing about her. Somehow she stumbles upon a witness of the first mass murder while she writes an article about the event although her sphere is writing fluffy pieces for women's magazines - you know "Hollywood lips without effort" and such.How she ended up investigating and writing about the killings is beyond me. She was so out of place. It didn't suit her character at all. While writing her first article Kendall stumbles upon the file of another mass killing in their city which happened 20 years earlier. And this is the point (about 30% in the book) when the reader already knows who the real murderer -the puppet master- is. I don't like knowing who the perp is before the detective. I like being surprised in the end. I like the unexpected when I can tell: "Oh, it really blew my mind". It isn't the case with this book. Also, we are constantly reminded that Kendall's mother was killed 8 years ago and Kendall's still fighting her grief and whatnot but this story line isn't explored in depth. It's all too shallow like the author had this really good idea but couldn't exploit it.
Detective Lance O'Grady
He's one of the detectives. What we know about him: he has beautiful eyes, he has nice hair (what's with people's hair and eyes in this book?), his brother was driven to suicide by journalists so it's insta-hate/love between him and Kendall. He isn't a good detective as far as I can tell. All he did was have a hunch, watch some videos, read a folder, check something in Google and complain about the lack of sleep. Then he somehow he put 2 and 2 together and it equaled "the perp wasn't really trying to escape justice". Isn't he a genius? He's not exactly your star-detective. And all the time he and Kendall have those internal monologues: "Why I like him/her so much? Why is he/she constantly in my mind? He is rude/ she is bottom feeder journalist. Why can't I stop thinking about him/ her?" Oh, I don't know, you tell me, Einstein! I hate it when they do that. At this point I was ready to take the infamous axegive them both a nice new haircut...maybe trim a little bit of their heads....When I like a man's hair, a man's eyes, when I think he's sexy I at least admit it to myself like: "Oh, he's cute and I would really love to jump his bones, but I'm married so I won't act on it but I like him all the same." It isn't difficult, you should try.
Trip Lindsey
Detective O'Grady's other half. What we know about him: he's bald! What does it mean - Kendall doesn't really like him. But he likes Kendall. Surprise!... Not really.
Overall, all the book was very shallow. The author was clearly out of her depth. This is the first Susan May's book I ever read, so I don't know what her usual genre is but I highly recommend for her to stick to it and don't try to write thrillers which aren't thrilling at all. The idea was good. Really good. Imagine what a real vicious killer could do with a mind controlling drug. He could wreck all kinds of havoc! Impressive. Instead... we have this unexplored in depth plot, those shallow characters and the author's detached tone of writing. As I said - not worth my while.
Plot
A wave of mass murders has struck a peaceful town. Two detectives and a freelance writer are trying to find out why. A powerful drug is involved - drug which gives one person the opportunity to control other people's minds and make them do the killings in spite of their own will. Which sounds like the perfect crime but the execution of the idea was beyond poor. When I read crime/mystery/ thriller I expect some suspense. Not predictability. Given that there was only one suspect (who turned out to be the bad guy.Surprising, heh?) the book really gives the reader nothing to dwell on beyond a stupid cheesy love interest.
Characters
Kendall Whatever-her-name-was
She is the freelance writer, not very talented from what I gathered. What we know about her: she has blue eyes, nice hair, her mother was killed in robbery gone wrong, she doesn't do her dishes and doesn't wash her clothes. It's actually mentioned a few times like it's the most important thing about her. Somehow she stumbles upon a witness of the first mass murder while she writes an article about the event although her sphere is writing fluffy pieces for women's magazines - you know "Hollywood lips without effort" and such.How she ended up investigating and writing about the killings is beyond me. She was so out of place. It didn't suit her character at all. While writing her first article Kendall stumbles upon the file of another mass killing in their city which happened 20 years earlier. And this is the point (about 30% in the book) when the reader already knows who the real murderer -the puppet master- is. I don't like knowing who the perp is before the detective. I like being surprised in the end. I like the unexpected when I can tell: "Oh, it really blew my mind". It isn't the case with this book. Also, we are constantly reminded that Kendall's mother was killed 8 years ago and Kendall's still fighting her grief and whatnot but this story line isn't explored in depth. It's all too shallow like the author had this really good idea but couldn't exploit it.
Detective Lance O'Grady
He's one of the detectives. What we know about him: he has beautiful eyes, he has nice hair (what's with people's hair and eyes in this book?), his brother was driven to suicide by journalists so it's insta-hate/love between him and Kendall. He isn't a good detective as far as I can tell. All he did was have a hunch, watch some videos, read a folder, check something in Google and complain about the lack of sleep. Then he somehow he put 2 and 2 together and it equaled "the perp wasn't really trying to escape justice". Isn't he a genius? He's not exactly your star-detective. And all the time he and Kendall have those internal monologues: "Why I like him/her so much? Why is he/she constantly in my mind? He is rude/ she is bottom feeder journalist. Why can't I stop thinking about him/ her?" Oh, I don't know, you tell me, Einstein! I hate it when they do that. At this point I was ready to take the infamous axegive them both a nice new haircut...maybe trim a little bit of their heads....When I like a man's hair, a man's eyes, when I think he's sexy I at least admit it to myself like: "Oh, he's cute and I would really love to jump his bones, but I'm married so I won't act on it but I like him all the same." It isn't difficult, you should try.
Trip Lindsey
Detective O'Grady's other half. What we know about him: he's bald! What does it mean - Kendall doesn't really like him. But he likes Kendall. Surprise!... Not really.
Overall, all the book was very shallow. The author was clearly out of her depth. This is the first Susan May's book I ever read, so I don't know what her usual genre is but I highly recommend for her to stick to it and don't try to write thrillers which aren't thrilling at all. The idea was good. Really good. Imagine what a real vicious killer could do with a mind controlling drug. He could wreck all kinds of havoc! Impressive. Instead... we have this unexplored in depth plot, those shallow characters and the author's detached tone of writing. As I said - not worth my while.
dom1976's review against another edition
5.0
First of all I would like to thank the author for giving an advanced copy of this novel.
A very fast, gripping and exciting book! it keeps you guessing all the way to the end. What made three people who have ordinary lives do the unthinkable and kill 4 people? They seem to have one thing in common: the twisting of their necks and the phrase "Straight and true", what does it mean? Freelance journalist Kendall Jennings and detective Lance O'Grady are on the case and will be shocked when they are face with the answer.
A truly intelligent suspense/thriller novel!
A very fast, gripping and exciting book! it keeps you guessing all the way to the end. What made three people who have ordinary lives do the unthinkable and kill 4 people? They seem to have one thing in common: the twisting of their necks and the phrase "Straight and true", what does it mean? Freelance journalist Kendall Jennings and detective Lance O'Grady are on the case and will be shocked when they are face with the answer.
A truly intelligent suspense/thriller novel!
mcdawn73's review against another edition
4.0
First I'd like to thank the author, Susan May, for graciously sending me a copy of her book in return for my review.
I was very intrigued with the synopsis of this book and was very eager to read it. In the beginning I had a hard time staying focused on it. I also had many things going on in my life so I put it down for a bit and came back about a month later. Once I got more into the story and saw what was happening I couldn't stop. The subject matter that came about is such a touchy topic. So all in all for me it was slow in the beginning but picked up and had a wham ending.
Thank you again Susan for sending me a copy.
I was very intrigued with the synopsis of this book and was very eager to read it. In the beginning I had a hard time staying focused on it. I also had many things going on in my life so I put it down for a bit and came back about a month later. Once I got more into the story and saw what was happening I couldn't stop. The subject matter that came about is such a touchy topic. So all in all for me it was slow in the beginning but picked up and had a wham ending.
Thank you again Susan for sending me a copy.
asbookreviewsforfun_alicia's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you Susan for letting me read an advance copy! I LOVED this book because it pretty much starts in the middle of the action. It also is a page turner. It's very shocking most of the time. For most of the book I had no idea what was going to happen. I like that a lot. Susan May should be famous. Everything about this book is solid. Her characters are amazing so fleshed out. I really came to care about them all. that's a mark of a great writer in my opinion. the story goes places that a lot of these kinds of stories don't go. I highly recommend this book to anyone. Especially those of you who like murder mystery or crime fiction in general.
foxclouds's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book from the author in exchange of an honest review.
Personal rating: 4 stars
(The review is spoilers free.)
Summary: Seemingly unrelated mass killings are happening in town. A freelance journalist Kendall Jennings gets caught in the middle of investigation as she tries to make sense of what's happening while battling some demons of her own and her attraction to the investigative detective Lance O'Grady.
I really enjoyed the book. It is moderately fast paced and engaging with interesting shift in perspective between the characters. The idea behind the killings is also a rather unique one and the thought that anyone could be manipulated like that is chilling.
I love detective stories and I usually rank them based on how far into the novel I am when I manage to guess the killer. I was almost half way through Deadly Messengers when it all clicked in my head. Good thing that the second half of the book was still very engaging.
I found the reasonings and actions of Detective O'Grady in the last few chapters a bit rushed. He seemed to be making lots of wild guesses and some of that seemed, to me at least, less believable. I also couldn't really feel the attraction between him and Kendell. It was superficial and I was slightly surprised by the way things turned out at the end.
I did enjoy the antagonists though. I must say that it is really hard to write a believable villain that is not simply evil for the sake of being evil but an ordinary man with extraordinary circumstances. The creativity of the murders really appealed to me.
Even though I was left feeling rather indifferent towards Kendell, I liked the detectives and the antagonists. I must say that Susan managed to write the voices in their heads particularly well.
Some issues that I had with the story (including the way the story ended - I liked it but would have preferred a more dramatic ending, yes, MORE) didn't prevent me from enjoying it and even though I can't give it more than 4 stars on GoodReads, I recommend you go and read it. I think it makes for an excellent October read.
Thank you, Susan, for giving me an opportunity to read and review your novel.
Personal rating: 4 stars
(The review is spoilers free.)
Summary: Seemingly unrelated mass killings are happening in town. A freelance journalist Kendall Jennings gets caught in the middle of investigation as she tries to make sense of what's happening while battling some demons of her own and her attraction to the investigative detective Lance O'Grady.
I really enjoyed the book. It is moderately fast paced and engaging with interesting shift in perspective between the characters. The idea behind the killings is also a rather unique one and the thought that anyone could be manipulated like that is chilling.
I love detective stories and I usually rank them based on how far into the novel I am when I manage to guess the killer. I was almost half way through Deadly Messengers when it all clicked in my head. Good thing that the second half of the book was still very engaging.
I found the reasonings and actions of Detective O'Grady in the last few chapters a bit rushed. He seemed to be making lots of wild guesses and some of that seemed, to me at least, less believable. I also couldn't really feel the attraction between him and Kendell. It was superficial and I was slightly surprised by the way things turned out at the end.
I did enjoy the antagonists though. I must say that it is really hard to write a believable villain that is not simply evil for the sake of being evil but an ordinary man with extraordinary circumstances. The creativity of the murders really appealed to me.
Even though I was left feeling rather indifferent towards Kendell, I liked the detectives and the antagonists. I must say that Susan managed to write the voices in their heads particularly well.
Some issues that I had with the story (including the way the story ended - I liked it but would have preferred a more dramatic ending, yes, MORE) didn't prevent me from enjoying it and even though I can't give it more than 4 stars on GoodReads, I recommend you go and read it. I think it makes for an excellent October read.
Thank you, Susan, for giving me an opportunity to read and review your novel.