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: 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.
Rating:  Summary: Lisa Gardner at her Very BEST! Review: I have only one word to describe this book:
"FANTASTIC"
Rating:  Summary: A Helpful Serial Killer? Review: Kimberly Quincy, daughter of legendary FBI super agent Pierce Quincy, has single-mindedly pursued a dream of becoming a FBI agent. Now in the intense sixteen-week training at the FBI Academy, her goal is severely setback when she discovers the body of a young female in a woodsy area while on a training run on the supposedly secure military base. Not only does the victim resemble her older sister Mandy insidiously murdered six years before, but she meets GBI agent Mac McCormack who has been led from Georgia to Virginia in the pursuit of a cunning serial killer and is certain that this is his latest killing. Kimberly feels called to put her future FBI career in jeopardy by taking an unprecedented leave of absence to help in the investigation with Mac, though they are not welcomed by the agencies in charge.
The author reintroduces Pierce Quincy, whose specialty is profiling, and Rainie Connor, partners in a private investigating firm, to help in this puzzling case because of its "insider" implications. In addition, Quincy's expertise is needed to contend with the operating motif of the killer, which is to purposely leave clues on the victims to point to the next one and to leave cryptic messages in newspapers. Some readers may be disinterested in the scientific details of the killer's clues, but they are reasonably well integrated into an interesting plot, though the perpetrator remains incompletely drawn. The Kimberly-Mac relationship takes center stage in the book. For those familiar with The Next Accident and The Third Victim, Kimberly parallels Rainie in having issues that inhibit her from becoming deeply involved with a male, regardless of the attraction. In addition, Quincy and Rainie unexpectedly have some questions about their relationship.
This is another good Lisa Gardner effort, though it is not quite as compelling as say The Survivors Club. But it is recommended.
Rating:  Summary: Gardner keeps getting better with every new novel she writes Review: Lisa Gardner mentions nary an arachnid in her latest novel, THE KILLING HOUR, you have to know that they're there, just an inch or two off the page, as she leads you deeper and deeper off the beaten path and into rural Virginia. I'm glad she didn't bring them up; if this story had any more suspense, the book jacket would need a warning label affixed to it. THE KILLING HOUR may remind you, very vaguely, of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but that is only because both books feature an overachieving female FBI recruit as the primary character. What is more significant for fans of Lisa Gardner, however, is that THE KILLING HOUR is a sequel of sorts to THE NEXT ACCIDENT. Kimberly Quincy, who survived the events of that fine book, is now at the FBI Academy and is causing a bit of a stir --- for all the wrong reasons. While she technically shows all of the makings of a fine agent, her people skills leave much to be desired. When Kimberly stumbles upon the body of a murder victim, literally at the back doorstep of the FBI's Quantico, Virginia headquarters, it has repercussions, not only for her but also for her father, Pierce Quincy, and his business partner and lover Rainie Conner. Pierce Quincy, a former FBI profiler, and Conner are brought into the case as consultants. It is soon established, however, that the murder has similarities to a series of killings that took place several years before in Georgia. The Georgia murders involved a fiend who would kidnap pairs of young women and leave the body of one in a place where it would be discovered quickly, while leaving the other alive, but in a place of great peril. The murderer would leave clues to the location of the second victim with the first. There were eight victims...and then the kidnappings and the murders stopped. It now appears, however, that the murderer has changed location and begun again, only this time he has upped the ante. Special Agent Michael McCormack, who tried unsuccessfully to solve the first series of murders, is drawn back into the investigation --- and incidentally, to Kimberly --- by a mysterious contact who seems to know what the killer will do, and when. The trail ultimately leads to a desperate and cataclysmic confrontation in Virginia's Dismal Swamp --- where nature can be more dangerous than any human killer. Gardner sets up some interesting internal tension right out of the gate, giving the reader a protagonist that the reader can't quite like but sympathizes with nonetheless. Gardner doesn't pile the suspense on all at once, but adds to it gradually --- a murder here, a mystery there, a personal conflict or two --- until by the end of the book the reader feels like a bunch of raw nerves racing for the comfort of the finish line. Gardner is a fine writer who gets better with every novel, and by changing the focus of each book among a cast of occasionally recurring characters --- Rainie Conner in THE THIRD VICTIM, Pierce Quincy in THE NEXT ACCIDENT, and now Kimberly Quincy in THE KILLING HOUR --- she lends an air of familiarity to each new novel while keeping her stories original and fresh. She will undoubtedly continue to be an author whose future novels will be eagerly anticipated. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:  Summary: Another great read Review: Living half my life in GA and half in Va, I really loved the familiar names of landmarks and roads. The details really fascinated me and her knowledge really made the suspense/mystery of the book. It was cleverly done. The romance was kept to the bare minimum, but I suppose that's the trade-off of picking up a romantic suspense. It's either too much romance or not enough.
I do agree with another reviewer that the involvment of Nora and her "dream" was a little off. She could have been added in without her ability. (I don't think anyone does paranormal like Kay Hooper). Also, I did enjoy the Quincy/Rainie parts as well. It's always nice to see characters from previous books. I really liked the way their story continued with their own problems.
All in all, I read the book cover to cover. With my huge read stack, that's saying a whole lot for me. I really enjoyed this one.
Rating:  Summary: Good but not great thriller does the job. Review: Rookie FBI agent Kimberley Quincy is keeping it all in the family, for the family. Her father was once an agent himself, and now works as a consultant back to the authorities he once served. Both of them will always carry hurt. Kimberley's sister and mother were killed by someone who was supposed to be their friend, innocently brought into their tight family circle by an unsuspecting Kimberley. Joining the FBI to fight out her demons, and preferably with a nice big gun at hand, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Veering off the jogging path at Quantico, Kimberley finds the body of a young woman and with that finds the mission she has been unwittingly looking for. The military police do not want to attach the kill to someone who works on the base of the academy. A visiting agent from the Georgia Bureau knows immediately that this kill is the work of a killer he has been chasing for years, a deviant known as the Eco-Killer. This killer always hunts for pairs, and this time he has outdone himself. The victim had been out on the town the night she disappeared with not one, but three other friends. They are all missing. From experience Agent Michael McCormack knows he has to find the clues on the body that will lead him to the next victim - who will be already dying.
This is one of those thrillers that if you could enhance some aspects of the read (the captive scenes) and delete other inclusions (blah romance that was totally unnecessary) you would come up with an ideal read. Lisa Gardner excels in getting inside the minds of her victims and gives them their own starring roles, ensuring you never forget what all this frenetic clock-ticking activity is all about - saving someone's life. The tension as it all comes to a head near conclusion is of the fingernail biting variety. There's plenty of relationship sub plots going on to distract you from the chase, but knowing that someone will die unless the good guys get their acts together will always drive you forward. A highly entertaining read, not at all gritty but with plenty of the human drama that makes it all work well.
Rating:  Summary: Fast-paced action, suspense and sparks of passion. Review: The killer has struck before. At the beginning of a heat wave, he sabotages the car of two women out having a good time. He kills one of them, and leaves clues on her body how to find the other. Messages left in the newspaper by the killer read "Heat kills." Between the years of 1998 and 2000, seven women died before the police found one victim barely alive, and then the killings stopped. Kimberly Quincy is a New Agent in training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The summer heat is stifling, yet she pushes herself to the limits of her endurance to help block the memories of the brutal deaths of her mother and sister. During a physical training exercise, she stumbles off the path and finds a dead woman in the bushes. Michael "Mac" Macormack, special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, was a key player in the inquiry of the first murders. After receiving phone calls from someone claiming to know the identity of the murderer, he travels to Virginia to research the case, even though it's been years since the crimes were committed. When he hears the details of the body discovery in Quantico, he knows this must be the same perpetrator, dubbed the Eco-Killer by police. Kimberly and Mac join forces to find the missing woman before it's too late. Fighting the bureaucracy that wants to analyze each piece of evidence for weeks, the two know they don't have that kind of time. A woman's life hangs in the balance. Will they find her in time? Will they discover the identity of the Eco-Killer before he strikes again? THE KILLING HOUR combines fast-paced action, breath-holding suspense, and sparks of passion. Kimberly conquers her inner demons in the hopes that she can help find the missing woman alive. Lisa Gardner creates a cast of believable characters and a plot that doesn't stop until the last page. THE KILLING HOUR is everything I have come to expect from Ms. Gardner's novels and more! Mystery and suspense lovers will not be disappointed in this latest offering from Lisa Gardner. Buckle your seatbelts and dive into THE KILLING HOUR, it will keep you guessing until the very end. Melissa Parcel
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