The Killing Game

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Summary: Enthralling Suspenseful Murder Mystery
Review: Eve Duncan is a renowned forensic sculptor who can recreate a realistic likeness from a human skull. Her daughter, Bonnie, was murdered by a serial killer 10 years earlier and the body was never recovered. Her good friend from the Atlanta PD, Joe Quinn, is involved in a case where many bodies are unearthed near the Talladega Falls. One of the bodies is from a young girl who might have been Eve's daughter. Joe asks Eve if she would like to reconstruct the head from the skull and she jumps at the chance, because she still wants to bring Bonnie home and put her to rest.

The killer, who calls himself Dom, has become jaded and complacent and no longer feels any lasting thrill or excitement from his kills. He contacts Eve and reveals to her that he has another victim planned and gives her enough clues to track down Jane, a 10-year old girl in a foster home in Atlanta.

Thus begins a cat and mouse game that increases in intensity throughout the book. Eve knows that she is the bait for Dom, and tries desperately to locate Jane before he kills her. Once she has found Jane, Dom lures them to Phoenix where he claims his most recent victim is buried. They team up with a cadaver searching dog and his owner to try to locate the body in hopes that Dom has left some clues that will bring them closer to finding him and ending the spree of killing.

The suspense continues to build until the end of this well-paced thriller, and when the killer is finally exposed it's a shocking revelation. You'll be cheering for Eve and Jane and their newfound friends Monty, the search dog and Sarah, his owner. Joe Quinn and John Logan are competing for Eve's affections throughout the novel, and you can only hope that the best man wins, because she's a prize worth having.

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Summary: enjoyable, go jo quinn
Review: i liked the book, not as good as other books by johansen, but worth reading. Johansens style is great - mixin the romance, tension, mystery...fun ride!

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Summary: Another Winner for Johansen!
Review: The book opens with Atlanta Police Detective Joe Quinn at a serial killer's dump site. The bodies have long since decayed, only bones left. Quinn is desperately looking for the remains of a child, a hook to get Eve Duncan back from the tropical island in the Pacific where she's settled with billionaire John Logan.

This book picks up ten years after Johansen's bestseller "The Face of Deception." Ten years is a long time, but not long enough, it seems, for Eve to put the death of her daughter behind her, and not long enough for Joe to forget Eve. He's divorced now and he wants Eve back in the States, back after a monster.

And Dom, the monster, knows all to well about Eve. She's the victim he wants on his plate and he'll stop at nothing to get her.

We get a good glimpse into Dom's head, see how Johansen views the mind of a monster. It's chilling and it makes for good reading.

I had a little problem with the two rich guys chasing after the girl, who seemed to care less, but it didn't detract from this five star thriller. I loved it.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

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Summary: If i could give this more stars, i would!
Review: This book is an example of iris johannsen at her best. this book kept me up all night reading, and i am only 13 years old! this was by far my favorite novel i have ever read. it was excellently written and the plot keeps you guessing until the very end. i don't know about anyone else who has read or will read this book, but i absolutely fell in love with joe quinn. he is brave and daring, tough, and caring, and he would do anyhting for the woman he loves more than anyhting in the world, eve duncan. when eve was just 15, she became pregnant with her daughter, bonnie. when the boy who got her pregnant found out, he left her. eve's mother was addicted to crack coccaine, so eve was pretty much on her own. but when bonnie was 8 years old, she was murdered by a serial killer, and wanting to help other parents going through the same thing, eve went back to school to become a forensic sculptor. that is when she met joe, a young man just admitted to the FBI. from then on, eve became joe's center, his best friend. everything was for her. the killing game is the continuation.It's been 10 years, Bonnie's killer was executed, and eve was just starting to get her life back on track, when joe shows up on the island in tahiti where she has been living for the past few months. a child's body had been found at georgia's talladega falls along with 8 other skeletons. what if it's bonnie's skeleton? eve thought. she had to be sure. she just had to reconstruct the skull to find out. she returned to atlanta with joe. he kept her hidden away at his cottage by the lake, but apparently not hidden well enough. she is being stalked by a psycho-serial killer who is coming forward as bonnie's true murderer. he calls eve at the cottage and throws eve,joe, the police,and the FBI into the most important game of thier lives. and as the title says, only one can win ,and the loser dies!

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Summary: What A Surprise Ending
Review: The Killing Game was a great follow up to Face of Deception. This book kept you guessing till the very end, and I mean "The End"! Although I was almost positive I had it figured out, I was still shocked in the end. This is a book that will keep you up at night trying to get closer to finding out who done it. That's what makes Iris Johansen's books so enjoyable. It was good to read about favorites from Face of Deception (Eve, Joe, and Logan), and I really enjoyed the new characters (Jane, Sarah, and of course Monty). I see where her next book is going to have Sarah, Monty, and Logan in it. I can't wait to read it if it's as good as Killing Game!

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Summary: I don't get it . . .perhaps it's me
Review: The thing about the plot is that it is excellent. And I can't say Ms. Johansen doesn't do a great job with it. But for me, the characters have to be credible and believable and if I am to have some identification with them, they have to feel as I would or at least, convince me to feel as they do.

Joe Quinn and John Logan seem to act like neanderthals around Eve. Acting like High School jocks in the football locker room at half time might even make more sense.

The woman Eve, a forensic facial reconstructionist, has had her daughter murdered, halucinates, is either having a breakdown or should be on meds, is about to put herself in the cross hairs of the insane serial killer Dom, and her two "best friends" are doing the testosterone tango. Tedious. Boring. Stupid. I can't believe caring men would act that way. And Eve is no better. The most dialogue the reader gets is the dialogue she has with herself and then, the lengthy conversations she has with her daughter.

I know Ms. Johansen is highly regarded and I am willing to assume these are my failings. It's just that everytime I started to like Logan and Quinn, they started behaving like cartoon figures. Sorry. 3 Stars. Larry Scantlebury

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Summary: This One has a Really Great Dog in it
Review: Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan comes back from John Logan's South Pacific island to help Atlanta PD Detective Joe Quinn (who is divorced now and available) try to put a face on a murdered child, she hopes might be Bonnie, the child murdered by a serial killer ten years earlier.

However she's come back only to be targeted by another serial killer who also has a red headed ten-year old in his evil sights. With the help of Joe, Sarah Patrick and her golden retriever cadaver dog, Eve chases Dom (who is after her as well) to Arizona where the book reaches it's climax.

I must say that I had a harder time accepting Eve's loss of Bonnie in this one. It's been ten years, after all, time to move on. And the two rich guys after her, I had a hard time with that as well. But I loved the dog and therefore am giving this book four stars.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

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Summary: Could be a little more believable
Review: I initially liked the story line and the characters, but found myself getting a little disgusted with the book as I became more involved in the story. The author could have tried to make the situations the characters found themselves in a little more believable.

For example, serial killer has killed 9 people and is calling Eve on her digital phone; supposedly they can't trace the calls nor does anyone even bother to attempt to record the calls between her and the killer. After the character Eve has long dialogues with the killer, then gives her emotional outbursts to those around her, she finally tells everyone an abbreviated version of what the call was about. (yeah-right - i think the FBI would find a way to record the call from her cell phone).

Another portion in the book - the house in the middle of nowhere that Eve is staying at is being watched by the FBI, the killer is still able to leave a package at her front door step. (how was this accomplished? by becoming a ghost and moving in thin air???)

Finally, in the middle of all of this is Eve talking to her dead daughter Bonnie who clearly tells her the bones aren't hers. Bonnie tells her shes a ghost, but when Eve wakes up it must have been a dream. .

This books wants you to assume too many illogical movements and attitudes of the key players.

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful and Surprising
Review: The Killing Game is an awesome thriller. Eve Duncan's child, Bonnie, was murdered 10 years ago by a serial killer. The killer refused to reveal the location of Bonnie's body before he was executed. Now some bones have been uncovered, one of which may be Bonnie. Eve wants to use her skills in facial reconstruction to find out if this could be her girl.

In the meantime, a serial killer has set his sights on Eve. Bored and unable to experience emotion, he has set himself a game playing with Eve's emotions by leaving her little pieces of bones and making creepy phone calls. He wants to drive Eve practically out of her mind with grief about Bonnie before he finally kills her.

While trying to find this killer, and discover if these new bones belong to Bonnie, Eve also has man problems. Her old friend, Joe, is a cop who got rich through inheritance. He loves her and wants her for himself. Meanwhile, Logan, a rich computer tycoon, also wants her. Eve doesn't know what she wants. I found this part of the story a little much for my tastes. Being torn between two nice, kind, good-looking, rich men is a problem that all women should have. : )

The Killing Game is well written, fast paced, and full of suspense. I was actually surprised at the end when I learned who the killer was. This is a book well worth it's time and price.

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Summary: First time Johansen reader
Review: The Killing Game is the first Johansen novel I have ever read. It was a little rough getting started and throughout the book I would get confused as to who was talking and have to reread some sections just to get it straight. Because of this, it took me a good while to get through this book. That being said, I really got into it and enjoyed the mystery and suspense. I almost didn't want to finish the book as I looked forward to reading a chapter or two on the stair stepper. I would recommend this book to readers who have the time for and who enjoy leisure reading.