The Killing Hour

Rating:
Summary: Reunited with the Quincys
Review: "The Killing Hour" is Lisa Gardner at her best, revisiting the Quincy family. We first met Pierce Quincy and Lorraine (Rainey) Conner in "The Third Victim". They were reunited in "The Next Accident" wherein Kimberly Quincy, Pierce's daughter, was introduced. Now Kimberly gets to tell her story. Its a pleasure to see this character who we grew to love come into her own in this crisply written thriller that will keep you reading long into the night.

Kimberly Quincy is now at Quantico training to become an agent of the FBI like her dad. While out on a run she discovers the body of a young woman who is possibly the victim of a recently dormant psychopath once dubbed the Eco Killer. Because he has not struck in several years there is some doubt that he is back. However, is modus operandi is to grab two women using the first dead body to leave clues regarding the location of the other victim. Despite the doubts of her superiors Kimberly must risk her career and her life to try to save the next young victim. To be effective she must also come to terms with her past and the brutal deaths of her mother and sister. She gets help from Special Agent Michael (Mac) McCormack of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and from her dad and Rainey who have been called in to consult. Mac has his own reasons for pursuing the killer and their relationship adds spice to the quest.

Gardner deftly weaves the threads of several apparently unrelated incidents into a tale that is as engaging as it is frightening. This is a great summer read.

Rating:
Summary: "The Killing Hour"... a chilling, entrancing read!!!
Review: "The Killing Hour," by Lisa Gardner, NY, Bantam, 2004 ISBN 0-553-58452-9 (pbk), 431 pg.

This a chilling suspense novel entwining lives of FBI trainee Kimberly Quincy & Georgia Police Agent Michael McCormack -- each has a personal agenda but combine forces to aid solving multiple paired serial abductions & subsquent painful deaths of young girls whose bodies are later discovered in desolate Georgia & Virginia outback's.

The murderer, dubbed "Eco-Killer", submits short cryptic 'Dear Editor' notes to local papers & kills the 1st of each victim pair but leaves clues to placement of the 2nd victims in remote locations where local flora, fauna & domain makes passage & escape treacherous. So yes, there's urgency in deciphering clues & locating the 2nd victim before her grisly death. Provocative use is made of many forensic specialists.

We are inundated by Gardner's minutely detailed guesome & macabre autopsy findings, of abused both living & dead bodies by unsavory fauna of flies, maggots, crawling creatures, acids, mud & we experience insufferable heat felt by search party members & victims. We learn of survival & search/rescue techniques used to overcome hostile milieu that tests the strength & fragility of the human condition. A double whammy "Hitchcockian" ending is satisfying & muses "Why Do Murderers Murder?"

The author's alternation of passages between murderer, his quarry & the "good guys" (Kimberly, Mac, et al) is sorta choppy like Huxley's "Point Counterpoint" -- & p. 145 commentary "...to find oxygen in air that was 90 percent water" over-reaches. But, Gardner's command of technical, romatic, & fictional facts made this an entrancing & chilling macabre read. I do recommend!

Rating:
Summary: Reunited with the Quincys
Review: "The Killing Hour" is Lisa Gardner at her best, revisiting the Quincy family. We first met Pierce Quincy and Lorraine (Rainey) Conner in "The Third Victim". They were reunited in "The Next Accident" wherein Kimberly Quincy, Pierce's daughter, was introduced. Now Kimberly gets to tell her story. Its a pleasure to see this character who we grew to love come into her own in this crisply written thriller that will keep you reading long into the night.

Kimberly Quincy is now at Quantico training to become an agent of the FBI like her dad. While out on a run she discovers the body of a young woman who is possibly the victim of a recently dormant psychopath once dubbed the Eco Killer. Because he has not struck in several years there is some doubt that he is back. However, is modus operandi is to grab two women using the first dead body to leave clues regarding the location of the other victim. Despite the doubts of her superiors Kimberly must risk her career and her life to try to save the next young victim. To be effective she must also come to terms with her past and the brutal deaths of her mother and sister. She gets help from Special Agent Michael (Mac) McCormack of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and from her dad and Rainey who have been called in to consult. Mac has his own reasons for pursuing the killer and their relationship adds spice to the quest.

Gardner deftly weaves the threads of several apparently unrelated incidents into a tale that is as engaging as it is frightening. This is a great summer read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Thriller
Review: A serial killer to end all serial killers is stalking young women in pairs; the first he kills, leaving obsure, incomprehensible clues on the bodies; the second, he abandons in inhuman conditions with one jug of water and no other tools with which to save herself. Needless to say, 95% of the women die.

And that's where Kimberley Quincey comes in. The hard-bitten rookie FBI student with an attitude stumbles across a body on the hallowed grounds of Quantico, and all hell breaks loose. Kimberley, the daughter of a revered FBI profiler whom we've met in an earlier Gardener book, is still recovering (if that's the word) from the brutal murders of her mother and sister six years earlier. She has a chip on her shoulder a mile wide, a dangerous disregard for authority, and a drive to succeed that outweighs her common sense. Having discovered the body, she takes a proprietary, and inappropriate (by FBI standards)interest in solving the case.

Joined by a hunky maverick law enforcement officer, Kimberley tries to stay one step ahead of the brutally brilliant serial killer. The reader knows just how brutal he is, because half the book is told from his point of view, and the point of view of one victim dumped in a swamp from which there is seemingly no exit.

Taut, fast, fun. Another grade-A Lisa Gardener thriller!

Rating:
Summary: fast paced
Review: A very fast paced FBI thriller. Book was very interesting to me because I live close to where the story takes place. Would like to of seen more romance between Mac and Kimberly.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning Conclusion
Review: An ingenious killer is on the move again. It's been three years since he's struck. He waits for a heat wave to hit, then kidnaps two girls. He kills one and leaves her body to be found with clues on it leading to the other girl who is still alive. The first half of this book has a few slow paced sections, but the well-drawn and appealing characters hold it together. The second half is a race to a conclusion that is a stunner. Even the acknowledgements at the beginning of the book are entertaining. This is the first book by this author that I have read and it has sparked my interest in her other novels. A very good read.

Rating:
Summary: strong suspense thriller
Review: Between the years of 1998-2000, eight college kids in Georgia were kidnapped in pairs and the first of the duo was killed immediately. The first victim had clues on their person that if properly interpreted in time would lead the authorities to the other victim who might still be alive. Of the eight victims of the UNSUB, only one was found alive and that was because special agent Michael "Mac" McCormack was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together in time.

For three years, the UNSUB goes dormant but when FBI agent-in-training Kimberly Whey finds a dead body on the grounds of Quanta's, it quickly becomes obvious that the UNSUB has become active again. Even though he is out of his jurisdiction, Mac travels to Virginia with every intention of tracking down the UNSUB and capturing him if possible. He has unexpected allies in Kimberly, her father, a famous FBI profiler, and the UNSUB'S only victim that is still alive.

THE KILLING HOUR is all about time and the race to find the victims before they die. Thanks to dogged investigation into areas that are dangerous to one's health, two victims are left standing after the UNSUB is revealed. Mac and Kimberly make a good investigative team whose strengths, when combined, make them an unbeatable force out in the field. They also are able to lean on one another in times of stress and it is fascinating to watch their relationship evolve throughout the story and behind closed doors. Lisa Gardner is becoming a major player in the suspense thriller genre.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Gripping! Very highly recommended
Review: Driven by the need for redemption for her mother and sister's death, Agent Kimberly Quincy only pushes herself to be the best. Her mother and sister victims of horrific and violent crimes, she and her FBI profiler father have never recovered from their losses. Punished training routines at the FBI academy do not stop her quest. But when she discovers a body on FBI's training grounds, Kimberly suddenly finds herself embroiled in an investigation that transforms her life, especially when Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Mac MacCormick steps in.

Involved since the first killing, Mac recognizes the serial killer's patterns. Young women are kidnapped in couples, the first body left in an easy to discover area and serving as a map to the second. Specifically, the killer taunts investigators with obscure clues that could possibly save the second woman's life if they move quickly enough. Of the previous eight victims, only was discovered alive because Mac pieced the clues together quickly enough. Now out of his jurisdiction, Mac dogged tracks the perpetrator with Kimberly's help.

Author Lisa Garner pens a taut suspense thriller that leaves the heart pounding in THE KILLING HOUR. Garner's gripping narrative grabs the reader by the throat with the first page and never turns loose, providing a horrific roller coaster ride that will keep readers up way past bedtime. Kimberly's drive for success easily matches Mac's determination to the stop the killer. Their shared chemistry and their shared motivations combine to bring them together under extreme circumstance to reveal gritty, richly realized characterizations. Garner likewise presents a chilling portrait of eco-killer that readers will not soon forget. THE KILLING HOUR is a must read for readers who enjoy a riveting plot, strong forensic detail and a touch of romance. Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping thriller
Review: FBI New Agent Kimberly Quincy is living her dream. In an attempt to put the murder of her mother and sister behind her, she's training to be an FBI agent. But when she discovers a body in the FBI training facility, she's reminded of her sister's death. All of a sudden, she doesn't care about the FBI or anything else. She wants to find the killer. It doesn't hurt that the lead investigator in the case is hunky Georgia cop Mac McCormack.

The serial killer has a pattern--he kidnaps two young women, murders one and uses her body as a map to the second. The second he leaves alive--but in an exposed location where she'll die if the police don't react in time. In three previous events, the police had been on time only once. But now, the killer has raised the stakes. Since the police 'won' the game last time, he'll make it even more challenging for them.

Author Lisa Gardner writes an intense and emotionally involving story. Serial killers are weirdly fascinating and the ticking clock of the second victim adds to the novel's emotional punch. Setting up Kimberly as a survivor brings the killings close for her and for the reader. Gardner cuts between scenes involving Kimberly and Mac, scenes with the still surviving victim, scenes from the killers point of view, and scenes where Kimberly's FBI agent-father and his lover also try to solve the mystery. Of these, only the father/lover fell short of being emotionally gripping and exciting.

Although THE KILLING HOUR is a thriller, it does contain a strong dose of romance--between Mac and Kimberly and between Kimberly's father and his lover. From a story perspective, contrasting life-affirming love and murder makes sense. Gardner walked the line carefully between overwhelming the plot with romance and, except for one scene with dad, did the job.

Gardner's strong writing kept me fully involved in the story, hoping for victim Tina, and intrigued by the killer's motivation and background. I couldn't put this one down and recommend it to anyone who likes woman-driven thrillers.

Rating:
Summary: Heatwave madness
Review: For three consecutive Summers, a serial killer struck terror into Georgia communities when he kidnapped and murdered pairs of young girls. Then came a respite for a couple of years until a paticulaly persistent heatwave again gripped the Southern states. Once again pairs of young girls disappeared, to be found miles apart and with weird clues upon their bodies. A rookie FBI agent, Kimberley Quincey who was taking part in an intensive training course at Quantico,stumbles across one of the girls bodies and teams up with Special Agent MacMacormack in an all out effort to track down the killer before more nurders can take place. Both Kimberley and Mac are defying proper FBI procedures and are risking both of their careers, but feel passionately that they can't wait for the long, drawn-out rules of procedure to come into action as several more bodies surface and the mthods of killing become more and more bizarre. The final chapters are very exciting and tension filled, making me want to read more by this talented author.