Left to Die (Alvarez & Pescoli, Bk 1)
Author:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
Helpful Score: 7
Lisa Jackson's latest novel has a chilling premise: a predator is on the loose. He targets single women traveling through Montana in the winter, causes their cars to crash, "rescues" them, and nurses them back to health, only to later leave them in the woods to die of hypothermia and starvation. Sound good? That is what I thought too. Unfortunately, this book is about 300 pages too long, and even after 496 does not answer the question of whodunnit.
The story is told in sections that focus on four different characters. Two are detectives working on the case, one is a potential victim, and there are occasional first person chapters written from the perspective of the killer. The captor's sections are the most interesting, and the only parts that I did not skim. This book is the first in a planned series, and Jackson spends far too much time trying to develop the characters of the female detectives by focusing on the boring minutia of their lives. I don't care what Regan's daughter is eating for breakfast! I don't want to know that Selena is good with computers unless it furthers the plot (which it doesn't)! The fact that Regan's son is grounded does not endear her to me!
In addition, the dialogue in this book is atrocious! The phrase "D*** it all to hell!" appears frequently. Does anyone talk like that anymore?! Jackson seems to be trying to show us how hardened these cops are through their excessive usage of PG-movie swear words. This book could have easily been saved by a good editor.
Instead of the satisfaction of a mystery solved, what awaits us at the end of the book is a "letter to the reader" by the author in which she tells us that we should buy the sequel to Left to Die in August 2009 to find out what happens next. She also plugs three other of her upcoming 2009 releases and hopes that we will "give (them) a look." I don't think so. This was the first Lisa Jackson book I read, and if the rest are like this I will save my money in the future.
The story is told in sections that focus on four different characters. Two are detectives working on the case, one is a potential victim, and there are occasional first person chapters written from the perspective of the killer. The captor's sections are the most interesting, and the only parts that I did not skim. This book is the first in a planned series, and Jackson spends far too much time trying to develop the characters of the female detectives by focusing on the boring minutia of their lives. I don't care what Regan's daughter is eating for breakfast! I don't want to know that Selena is good with computers unless it furthers the plot (which it doesn't)! The fact that Regan's son is grounded does not endear her to me!
In addition, the dialogue in this book is atrocious! The phrase "D*** it all to hell!" appears frequently. Does anyone talk like that anymore?! Jackson seems to be trying to show us how hardened these cops are through their excessive usage of PG-movie swear words. This book could have easily been saved by a good editor.
Instead of the satisfaction of a mystery solved, what awaits us at the end of the book is a "letter to the reader" by the author in which she tells us that we should buy the sequel to Left to Die in August 2009 to find out what happens next. She also plugs three other of her upcoming 2009 releases and hopes that we will "give (them) a look." I don't think so. This was the first Lisa Jackson book I read, and if the rest are like this I will save my money in the future.
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