The Last Victim
By Karen Robards
eISBN: 978-0-345-53544-3
An August, 2012 releasefrom
Ballantine Books.
This first novel in a new series by this veteran writer is a
ghost story. A romantic hot ghost story. I’m not a fan of ghost or paranormal
stories. It’s not that I don’t believe in the possibility of another dimension
or two. I do, but too often the paranormal element in a good crime fiction
novel breeds sloppiness. Not in this case.
All too often, the inclusion of a strong romantic element in
a good crime novel is just a way for the novelist to beef up a weak plot line.
Not in this novel. There’s enough good emotional sex in this story to satisfy
the most prurient reader, but it’s handled in a precise way that adds to the
character of the principal actors, and it comes in logical sequence in the
story. The plot line, an increasingly frantic search for a kidnapped teen aged
young woman by a serial killer, is tension-filled from the first page and it
peaks in the final resolution at precisely the right moment.
The writing is clean, the story line almost impeccable,
although some FBI agents lose a little polish in some scenes. The love story
between shade and serial killer specialist, psychiatrist Dr. Charlotte
“Charlie” Stone, is, well, hot and nicely realized. She had me, almost from the
first sentence. Highly recommended.
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