marbles66's review
4.0
For Four Long Years, No One Has Known What Became of Julia SayreOn the morning after this mother of two disappeared, her family sought the help of reporter Irene Kelly. But despite Irene's best efforts, until now only one person has known where to find Sayre: her killer.
Nick Parrish, brilliant and sadistic, already faces the death penalty in a torture-murder case. Now he wants to cop a plea -- life imprisonment in exchange for directing police to the isolated mountain grave where he buried Julia Sayre. The D.A. agrees to the controversial deal, and form a specialized team of law enforcement and forensic experts to accompany Parrish on his grisly journey. When the Sayres and the newspaper pressure the D.A. to include Irene on the expedition, their wishes are honored over the protests of the team.
From the start, Parrish makes Irene the object of his unnerving attention. His knowing smile and relentless stares make her wonder if heavy chains, armed guards, and a protective search dog will be enough to keep him at bay.
But Nick Parrish's deadly plan to regain his freedom is already in motion, and Irene will need all her courage and ingenuity to remain the reporter -- not the victim -- in tomorrow's headlines.(less)
This was a good book. Kept you on your toes the whole way thru and never really saw the ending that came. There is definitely a surprise at the end
Nick Parrish, brilliant and sadistic, already faces the death penalty in a torture-murder case. Now he wants to cop a plea -- life imprisonment in exchange for directing police to the isolated mountain grave where he buried Julia Sayre. The D.A. agrees to the controversial deal, and form a specialized team of law enforcement and forensic experts to accompany Parrish on his grisly journey. When the Sayres and the newspaper pressure the D.A. to include Irene on the expedition, their wishes are honored over the protests of the team.
From the start, Parrish makes Irene the object of his unnerving attention. His knowing smile and relentless stares make her wonder if heavy chains, armed guards, and a protective search dog will be enough to keep him at bay.
But Nick Parrish's deadly plan to regain his freedom is already in motion, and Irene will need all her courage and ingenuity to remain the reporter -- not the victim -- in tomorrow's headlines.(less)
This was a good book. Kept you on your toes the whole way thru and never really saw the ending that came. There is definitely a surprise at the end
ahayes1989's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good book. I feel like there is more filler than I would have liked however the story was good!
ncrabb's review against another edition
4.0
This Irene Kelly series is easily among the most immediately appealing I've stumbled across. There's just something that immediately demands your attention.
Irene, a newspaper reporter for a small California paper, is trudging through the Sierra mountains as the book opens. She is there at the request of a convicted serial killer who has bargained with the district attorney that, in exchange for a death sentence commutation, he would provide information on the whereabouts of additional graves of women he had brutalized and murdered. Irene Kelly had to go along, despite the unease of her detective husband, Frank, to report on the story. The killer chose Kelly because she had been long interested in the disappearance of a woman in the community--a disappearance to which she had been alerted by the woman's daughter. The serial killer had admitted to taking the woman's life and had promised to show law enforcement officials the grave in return for the reduced sentence.
But he has a plan of escape once he's in those mountains, and he's going to ensure that Irene is among his cadre of tortured and slowly murdered women. Soon, cops are dead, a forensic pathologist is badly injured, and Irene is literally running for her life in what becomes a hair-raising fast-paced effort to re-capture a killer and prevent more needless loss of lives.
Sadly, I figured out way early how this would all end, but its predictability didn't reduce the overall readability of the book for me. This really is an excellent series, and I look forward to my next encounter with it. Although there are no detailed descriptions of how the women who died were treated prior to the murders, it's appropriate to note that these are not cute cozy suspenseful stories. The f-bomb falls several times here, and there are a couple of scenes that are dark and a bit gruesome.
Irene, a newspaper reporter for a small California paper, is trudging through the Sierra mountains as the book opens. She is there at the request of a convicted serial killer who has bargained with the district attorney that, in exchange for a death sentence commutation, he would provide information on the whereabouts of additional graves of women he had brutalized and murdered. Irene Kelly had to go along, despite the unease of her detective husband, Frank, to report on the story. The killer chose Kelly because she had been long interested in the disappearance of a woman in the community--a disappearance to which she had been alerted by the woman's daughter. The serial killer had admitted to taking the woman's life and had promised to show law enforcement officials the grave in return for the reduced sentence.
But he has a plan of escape once he's in those mountains, and he's going to ensure that Irene is among his cadre of tortured and slowly murdered women. Soon, cops are dead, a forensic pathologist is badly injured, and Irene is literally running for her life in what becomes a hair-raising fast-paced effort to re-capture a killer and prevent more needless loss of lives.
Sadly, I figured out way early how this would all end, but its predictability didn't reduce the overall readability of the book for me. This really is an excellent series, and I look forward to my next encounter with it. Although there are no detailed descriptions of how the women who died were treated prior to the murders, it's appropriate to note that these are not cute cozy suspenseful stories. The f-bomb falls several times here, and there are a couple of scenes that are dark and a bit gruesome.
kliz83's review against another edition
5.0
I ran across Jan Burke and loved her immediately. I started with Kidnapped and quickly worked my way through the whole series. Great female protagonist and wonderful mysteries.
laurla's review against another edition
"ben didnt hide his contempt for me, but being in this line of work, i had my disapproval vaccinations a long time ago and dont expect i'll ever be killed by a snub."
"others with the group, including a search dog, were unharmed."
i thought of bingle, lying listlessly near david's (his dead owners) sweater. i thought of the look i had seen on j.c.'s face. i hadnt seen andy yet, but i was fairly sure he wasnt doing much better. "unharmed."
"from what they're saying on television, you were lucky to get out of there alive."
with an unexpected rush of relief, i realized that i did feel lucky, damned lucky! lucky that i wasnt one of the ones who had been standing next to the grave, lucky that parrish had let me go,lucky to have been spared.
these thoughts no sooner crossed my mind that i was horrified by them, ashamed to find myself rejoicing at all, no matter how silently, ashamed to be feeling good in any way about anything having to do with the last few days.
and worse, to think such thoughts while i sat next to a young woman whose mother had been murdered, tortured hideously by the man who had let me go. christ, what a jerk i was to be calling that luck!
"you've been through a lot lately,"
"other people have been through worse."
"but you survived. all of that, and what happened before."
"landed a mule kick in his groin area; apparently missed the nuts, but not the squirrel"
"others with the group, including a search dog, were unharmed."
i thought of bingle, lying listlessly near david's (his dead owners) sweater. i thought of the look i had seen on j.c.'s face. i hadnt seen andy yet, but i was fairly sure he wasnt doing much better. "unharmed."
"from what they're saying on television, you were lucky to get out of there alive."
with an unexpected rush of relief, i realized that i did feel lucky, damned lucky! lucky that i wasnt one of the ones who had been standing next to the grave, lucky that parrish had let me go,lucky to have been spared.
these thoughts no sooner crossed my mind that i was horrified by them, ashamed to find myself rejoicing at all, no matter how silently, ashamed to be feeling good in any way about anything having to do with the last few days.
and worse, to think such thoughts while i sat next to a young woman whose mother had been murdered, tortured hideously by the man who had let me go. christ, what a jerk i was to be calling that luck!
"you've been through a lot lately,"
"other people have been through worse."
"but you survived. all of that, and what happened before."
"landed a mule kick in his groin area; apparently missed the nuts, but not the squirrel"
giantsdancefarm's review against another edition
4.0
Don't think I've mentioned it, but this series are certainly very quick reads. They keep you guessing and the characters have developed nicely as the series goes on.
bjerz's review against another edition
2.0
I am not a fan of the psychotic-genius-serial-killer trope, and found this tale to be stilted and one dimensional, despite the body count.
I cannot recommend.
I cannot recommend.
julesgou's review against another edition
3.0
So, mom been missing for 4 years and the lovely chap who killed her has gotten out of the death penalty as long as he shows a team where her body is. The biggest problem? His newest obsession is Irene Kelly, a journalist on the team.
Creepy, creepy, creepy. That was what this book was. I've said this before and I'm going to say it again. HOW DO AUTHORS COME UP WITH THIS STUFF????????????????? I mean, I've seen some of this stuff before, but some not so much.
It was a good mystery read. Things were constantly happening. You would think that everything would be good, but bam! Some scary thing happened again. I liked how it wasn't heavy on the police proceedings. Irene was a journalist so we heard her side of the story, and the police happenings were in the background.
My favourite part was that Irene wasn't invincible. She had problems coping with what happened on the mountain and that is completely understandable. I liked how it wasn't just brushed off and we got to see how it started to affect her life. Normally, I find that some will be iron about it and not think of it but this wasn't the case.
This novel was suspenseful with something happening at every turn! A good mystery read!
Creepy, creepy, creepy. That was what this book was. I've said this before and I'm going to say it again. HOW DO AUTHORS COME UP WITH THIS STUFF????????????????? I mean, I've seen some of this stuff before, but some not so much.
It was a good mystery read. Things were constantly happening. You would think that everything would be good, but bam! Some scary thing happened again. I liked how it wasn't heavy on the police proceedings. Irene was a journalist so we heard her side of the story, and the police happenings were in the background.
My favourite part was that Irene wasn't invincible. She had problems coping with what happened on the mountain and that is completely understandable. I liked how it wasn't just brushed off and we got to see how it started to affect her life. Normally, I find that some will be iron about it and not think of it but this wasn't the case.
This novel was suspenseful with something happening at every turn! A good mystery read!
bookjunkie1975's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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