The Killing Hour

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: The Killing Hour has its moments. It is a fast read, the main plot is good and it is always interesting to be hot on the heels of an evil serial killer. But the characters are not really coming to life, and the usual 'stubborn heroine with a troubled past' is used too often.
Kimberly, the main character and heroine of the story, is a young FBI-trainee, and she is by coincidence and stubborness thrown into the investigation of a killer who has been killing for years. Kimberly is a troubled young woman with many demons, which is not making her life easier. She does not have any real friends, and her relationship with her father is neutral at best. When the serial killer starts dumping bodies close to the FBI training grounds, Kimberly cannot stay out of the investigation any more, even though her superiors has asked her to keep her nose out of it. Her father is an FBI agent who now has his own agency, and he suddenly shows up to help. Kimberly herself is also having personal motives to catch this killer, and while the time is running out, the clues comes together and it ends with a little twist which was just a little bit surprising. Hard core thriller readers will guess the identity of the killer long time before the final revelation.

Rating:
Summary: First Time Reader
Review: The Killing Hour was the first Lisa Gardner book I read and I'm now hooked on her style of writing. She is an absolute genius when it comes to developing a well plotted suspense novel. Ms. Gardner uses her reader's anticipation to a new high by posting the time and location of each chapter. You can almost feel the sweat dripping off your forehead as you read about how hot it is. You're right there as each character manages to deal with the heat and the clock ticking down.

Excellent story. I'm looking forward to reading Lisa Gardner's next book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Read, Excellent Author
Review: This is my first book by this author. I happened to pick it up in a train station on the way out of town and liked the title. While I could appreciate the great details and forensic evidence revealed in the book (much like Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme) the book moved just a little too slow for me and took me a while to finish. I enjoyed the protagonist Kimberly Quincy. She was a complicated soul with much baggage after the murders of her mother and sister at the hands of a madman. I could feel Kimberly's pain as she frantically searched to find at least one victim alive. The only thing in the book that seemed unrealistic to me was the Nora character having slight psychic abilities. It might have been better to bring her back into the realm of things in another manner. I do intend to read other books by this bestselling author because I like her style.

Rating:
Summary: Keeps you on the edge of your seat!!
Review: This is the only book by Lisa Gardner I've read, but if The Killing Hour is any indication of her abilities, I want more. There is really nothing novel about the plot (smart psychopath preys on young women) or the characters (FBI agents, law-enforcement officers, etc.), but the way Gardner plays out both is great. So great in fact that I couldn't stop reading this book. I would tell myself that I was going to read only one more chapter before I went to bed or got to work, but I would end up reading four or five before forcing myself to put it down. (The good thing is that the chapters are short, so you can always read "just one more" and not lose a lot of time.) There are a lot of plot twists and some characters are introduced relatively late in the action, but neither of these things stopped me from trying to figure out who the bad guy was. If you want a good read, The Killing Hour has your name written all over it. Happy reading!!!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: When I read Ms Gardner's first book back in 1999, I was completely utterly blown away by the pace and plotting. I always looked forward to her novels because she was a "quality" writer and you always knew she would always turn out a satisfying thriller. Sadly not this time, like last years " Survivor's Club" this started off quite well but soon become cumbersome with long phrases like " They had to reach Tina because the clock was ticking and the madman was going to kill her" and the hysterical last few pages where everyone is throwing themselves at each other and going on about how much they love each other was plainly boring and I was skipping sentences just to get past that gooey crap. Please don't read this daft book and read any of Dennis Lehane's fine novels instead.