Rating: Summary: Couldn't Put It Down Review: I read this book in one day. I absolutely couldn't put it down. This was a wonderful book and I can't wait to read the author's next book.If you like FBI / psychological thrillers, this book is a great one for you. I used to live in Marblehead, where the book is based. The author did a good job of capturing the community and people.
Rating: Summary: AN EXTREME AND DISTURBING THRILLER! Review: If one could create a new category of fiction, say, in the manner of sports, this first novel by Chris Mooney would be at the top of a list titled: Extreme Fiction. As one who is never at a loss for words, this incredibly intelligent and mind-rendering thriller evoked only the most astounding comparisons...such as, "Move over Thomas Harris, Chris Mooney has created a bigger, better, and meaner Hannibal Lecter!" Where once Harris' top-selling book was the litmus test to improve upon, Mooney's "Deviant Ways" is destined to become one to outdo. Jack Casey is a man haunted. Not by your everyday, run-of-the-mill ghosts...but by his own demons: The face of his former wife as she lay dying only feet away from him, bleeding to death from a slashed throat; the images of all the victims that he was too late to save as a criminal profiler for one of the nation's top law enforcement agencies, the FBI. Now retired from the Bureau, but still tormented by his past, Casey is trying to form a new existence, hoping vainly to outrun these demons that insist on following him. And follow him they do, deep into one of the most intense thrillers ever written. Like an evil hybrid of Jack Clancy, Thomas Harris, and Jonathon Kellerman, Mooney writes like a man possessed by his own monsters, and his therapy is to purge them onto the page...much to the benefit of the reader. Pursuing Jack Casey is The Sandman, the result of a horrible government drug experiment gone as wrong as possible. The Sandman is without conscience, remorse, or feeling...but what he lacks in these, he makes up for in cunning and intelligence, and knowledge in explosives. As Casey tries to out-think The Sandman, he is forced to confront all of his own monsters, not only to save his own life, but those of the people he is beginning to care about as well. With as many twisting turns as a mountain highway, "Deviant Ways" is not for those who read to fall asleep. I proudly add this book to the list of my all-time favorite reads!
Rating: Summary: AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING THRILLER! Review: In the early eighties, Thomas Harris wrote RED DRAGON and introduced the reading public to the "serial-killer" genre. Since then, every writer who tries his hand in this particular area of fiction has naturally had his work compared to that of Mr. Harris's. Very few authors have been able to write a novel of equal quality to the above book, or to its superb follow-up, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. A friend of mine, knowing my reading tastes, recently sent me a book by Chris Mooney, a new author whose debut novel, DEVIANT WAYS, surprised and thrilled me like few novels have in the last ten years or so. All the way through the book, I was continuously reminded of RED DRAGON and the writing style of Thomas Harris, and I mean that as a sincere compliment to Mr. Mooney. Chris Mooney wasn't trying to imitate Mr. Harris, but rather was attempting to create a novel of such action-packed, devastating suspense that he would lift this genre to new heights. I'm extremely excited to say that for me, DEVIANT WAYS succeeds in every possible fashion. This is the story of Jack Casey, a detective in the small town of Marblehead, MA. Casey used to be an FBI profiler...that is, until a serial killer named Miles Hamilton (a person of such perverse evil that he could teach Hannibal Lector a few tricks), murdered his wife. When the Sandman comes to Marblehead to seek vengeance and wreak havoc on those who hurt him as a teenager, Casey is the one man who stands in his way. Though a genius at inflicting pain and murdering people, the Sandman may have just met his match in Jack Casey. Casey was no ordinary profiler: he was the best at capturing and killing the inhuman monsters that preyed on the weak and innocent. Before this battle of wits and tenacity is over, hundreds of people will be dead, possibly including the woman Casey now loves. DEVIANT WAYS is a page-turner of the best sort. I found myself hooked in the first twenty pages by its multi-layered plot, its finely textured characters who stay in the reader's mind long after the novel is finished, and by prose so well-written that I found myself literally reading out loud. This is a novel that deserves to be on the bestseller's list. Chris Mooney is an author who's already light years ahead of most of the other writers in this field, and is someone who is surely on his way to achieving stardom. If you're a reader looking for a sharp adrenaline rush, run out and buy this book now, and then hold on to your seat because you're going to be in for the ride of a lifetime!
Rating: Summary: Great book... couldnt stop reading it! Review: It was a great suspence thriller. If your the type of person who enjoys a good mind game, you'll like this book. It's by-far one of my faviorites. It wasn't at all gruesome, but it did have one scene that was a little graphic and it couldve been done with out it. It is a must read!!
Rating: Summary: First Hannibal, now the Sandman Review: It you want Horror and want something a little more powerful than "Silence of the Lambs" this is the book for you. The book has your normal set of characters: Sandman--- Very, very bad man that is seeking revenge for a youth of torture when he was place in a secret ward for the insane run by the FBI. He is now getting even with those who caused him pain., and his main targets are the FBI and Jack Casey. Will stop at nothing to get even, and I mean nothing.. Jack Casey-Former FBI agent caught in the middle of the case.... When jack was with the FBI his specialty was tracking down Serial Killers, now he up against the challenge of his life. If he loses he will lose more than just his life, he will cost others theirs also. Which has happened before. Taylor--- Jacks girlfriend who wants to better understand him... If she is successfully, she might find out that jack is not to much different than the Sandman.. Overall this was a good book. It might of been a little bit to gory for my taste (this is for the hard-core readers and not intended for a younger audience) . The book takes the reader into the life of a man about to go mad (Jack Casey) if he does not stop the killer.. My only regret is that the book did not focus a little more on the Sandman. It could of given more insight into what he was doing and how he picked and followed the families. Again, a good book that will keep you turning the pages.
Rating: Summary: THRILLING AND DIFFERENT Review: Just because it appears to be a serial killer novel, don't let that keep you from it. Mooney's debut novel is a well-crafted, intelligent and disturbing thriller. The hero Jack Casey is definitely a flawed one, but he's also multi-layered, sympathetic and brave. Maurice Fletcher is also quite flawed, but his cool efficiency and participation in the hunt for the Sandman is quite forceful. There are several breathtaking chases, some nerve-wracking suspense, and even though it verges on being ludicrous and unbelievable, Mooney writes so well it carries you right along with it. One peeve, though: late in the book we meet a character in a wheelchair named Matt; he's taken care of, but his friend Phil is never clearly explained. An editor's faux pax??? Any way, I highly recommend this adrenaline charged thriller.
Rating: Summary: THRILLING AND DIFFERENT Review: Just because it appears to be a serial killer novel, don't let that keep you from it. Mooney's debut novel is a well-crafted, intelligent and disturbing thriller. The hero Jack Casey is definitely a flawed one, but he's also multi-layered, sympathetic and brave. Maurice Fletcher is also quite flawed, but his cool efficiency and participation in the hunt for the Sandman is quite forceful. There are several breathtaking chases, some nerve-wracking suspense, and even though it verges on being ludicrous and unbelievable, Mooney writes so well it carries you right along with it. One peeve, though: late in the book we meet a character in a wheelchair named Matt; he's taken care of, but his friend Phil is never clearly explained. An editor's faux pax??? Any way, I highly recommend this adrenaline charged thriller.
Rating: Summary: What a RUSH Review: Mix Stephen King, Thomas Harris and James Patterson, and you get this unbelievable thriller by first time novelist Chris Mooney. Fantastic. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Just read Red Dragon... Review: Not bad, not bad. But hardly original. He fully read and dissected Thomas Harris's Red Dragon, and changed some names, changed some FBI positions, tossed in a little Silence of the Lambs scenery (the tuxedo/dildo scene!), and wrote a pretty good book. I had to put it down many times simply to laugh at how achingly similar it was to Dragon and Silence.... But I did enjoy it. It was a fun read.
Rating: Summary: Just read Red Dragon... Review: Not bad, not bad. But hardly original. He fully read and dissected Thomas Harris's Red Dragon, and changed some names, changed some FBI positions, tossed in a little Silence of the Lambs scenery (the tuxedo/dildo scene!), and wrote a pretty good book. I had to put it down many times simply to laugh at how achingly similar it was to Dragon and Silence.... But I did enjoy it. It was a fun read.
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