Rating: 
Summary: Hooked on O'Connell
Review: I had never read Carol O'Connell before and Judas Child was recommended to me by an American friend.From the opening chapter of the man lurking in the lane I was hooked. The characterisation is stunning, especially Sadie and Rouge - I fell in love with both. The novels builds and becomes more complex just as you think you know what is going to happen. The characters change and develop - just as in real life no one is as they first appear and everyone is portrayed in their different and various shades. The passages on the two girls are full of bravery and truth and are heartbreaking too - even thought they are best friends one knows they would put their own survival first. The ending is pheonomenal - I did not see it coming and I found it heartbreaking yet uplifting at the same time. I now cannot wait to read all Ms O'Connell's other books. Judas Child is simply the most imaginative and stirring novel I have read in a very long time. I have rarely felt so excited about a book and recommend it to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING - spoilers ahead!
Review: I can't remember another book that I have started reading again as soon as I finished it, nor another that reduces me to tears as the end unfolds every time I read it. The epigraph of the book should be Ali Cray's grim admonition in the first few pages: "Don't fall in love with the child. She's dead." The twists and turns of the story debouch into a conclusion so startling that returned to the first page and read the entire book a second time to see if O'Connell had cheated (violated the logic of her story's world). She hadn't. And standing with the priest and Becca Green at Sadie's grave, tears came to my eyes a second time. What an extraordinary book. The Judas Child is kidnapped to lure the real target into the killer's hands. Like a Judas goat leading the herd to slaughter. A serial killer has been murdering little girls for fifteen years, each Christmas. His first victim was the twin sister of one protagonist, the policeman Rouge Kendall. His last is the daughter of the Lieutenant Governor, and the Judas child he uses to snatch her is an amazing little girl named Sadie Green. It would make no difference, I think, if I told you when she dies. You would know I was playing games with you, and you would be as astonished and overjoyed at her sudden 'resurection' as I was. Some of the most vivid scenes of the novel take place in a surreal cellar where Sadie and her friend Gwen are trapped. And the last moments of their confinement are at once a nightmare, a ballet, and a puzzle. There is a certain cruelty about O'Connell's literary persona, a hardness that echoes Kathy Mallory's, and it is not evident here, nor is it replaced by the cloying sentimentality so typical of hard people. The ferocity of the priest, the madness of the psychiatrist, the toothy meanness of the killer, and the terrible relationship between Ali Cray and her ex-lover all play against the sentimental touches. Will this world go somewhere? Hard to say. Rouge and Ali Cray deserve another book, but they've gone their separate ways. Rouge's career is beginning; Ali has put her monsters away. There is one plot that could pull them back together. We'll see. Meantime, this is not a book to miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Did You Get It?
Review: I'm giving this book just four stars because I'm inclined to agree with the other reviewers who say it starts out too slow and stays that way too long. (I originally thought it might just seem that way to me because I was expecting the intensity of the Mallory series.) I'm so glad I stuck with it. First, although it takes her awhile in this novel, O'Connell creates really great characters, especially female characters. Second, I've read a lot of mystery and suspense novels in my time. It's rare for one to really surprise me, but this one absolutely stunned me. I think the readers who rated it low either didn't finish it or didn't get it. It's easy to see how the latter could happen. You want to find out who the bad guy is and whether the girls are rescued in time. Once you do, you think, okay, that was pretty good, or not. But believe me, there's a lot more to this story--you need to THINK about it. I can't say more without spoiling it...
Rating:
Summary: Carol O'Connell has done it again
Review: Another unconventional female lead has arrived in the form of Ali Cray, and I hope that Carol O'Connell brings her back for more, a la Mallory. She would need to bring Rouge Kendall and Arnie Pyle along for her to spar with once again. There's no shortage of great characters in this book, and it has a number of slimeballs too! At one point I suspected almost everyone of being the monster who abducted the two little girls, and that's the beauty of the book. Is it the work of a paedophile ring? Certainly the killer isn't alone in the knowledge of what's going on. For once however, my main concern is not whodunnit, but how will Sadie and Gwen get out of this deadly situation. I had so much confidence in Sadie, she really was the hero of the story. And what a Mum she had in Becca, I found her to be such a believable character. She and Father Marie will break your heart. I also loved David Shore (who we needed to hear a little more from) and his house Mom Mary, the herbal tea healer. So many interesting women who had only a small role to play in this unfolding story, Rouge's Mother, Marge Jonas, the Mushroom lady, I loved them all. Even the nasty sub-plot of Rita Anderson, you couldn't be without sympathy for her, and of course Gwen's Mother, who couldn't even be accused of putting her career before her child. I'm off to the Library to find all the books by Carol O'Connell that I haven't had the privilege of reading already. Let's hope there are many more to come.
Rating:
Summary: O'Connell's thrillers refresh,excite and titillate.
Review: Having exhausted the following formula genres: catastrophic diseases, millenium mysteries, clandestine county rewrites, forensic forays, detective fiction disappointments and horrific horror mainstays that have run out of gas, I asked my librarian to recommend something fresh and exciting. "Judas Child" by O'Connell was recommended. I do not find child abuse or pedophiles amusing but I read the book. It was tremendous, well-written, exciting, etc. So, I read all of her previous books. Her dialogue is witty yet savvy. Why aren't you promoting her books more? Someone needs to contact Putnam to let them know they are focusing on the wrong mainstream authors who have "run out of gas" and are now just churning out disappointing story-lines just to meet deadlines. I hope O'Conner reconsiders and continues the Mallory saga. Her two new characters Ali and Rouge should also be developed and promoted. O'Connell has given me reason to read again!
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and unforgettable
Review: O'Connell's Mallory series is good. This book is great. Unlike most thrillers, which mingle in memory with a hundred other books like them, this novel lingers on your mind for years. O'Connell's adult characters are well drawn and sympathetic, but the little girls steal the show. Be warned--you will be late for work, stay up past your bedtime, let dinner burn on the stove, just to find out what happens to these engaging children. The tension is sometimes almost painful, but delicious at the same time. I have never read another book that made me actually want to jump into the pages and help a character. I hate to use a cliche, but this is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Good until the end
Review: I liked this book until I got to the end - I felt it a little too drawn out - but it still kept me interested. However, the author does not wrap things up too well. She leaves us too much in the "lurch". Like what is this whole thing about the priest and Arnie and their eyes? And what about the conversation between Rouge and Mortimer - what was that all about? And what about Sadie? I really HATE it when an author keeps me going and then leaves me FLAT - which is exactly the way I felt when I finished this book! It's kind of like the Grisham novels - he's got you going all over the place - than blam! - Nothing! This is the first novel I've read by Carol O'Connell and it will likely be my last! I only read it because a friend gave it to me a couple of years ago, and I ran out of things to read. What a waste of time!
Rating:
Summary: I SEE DEAD PEOPLE...
Review: This is an intensely gripping, suspenseful, tautly written, psychological thriller. The author, a master storyteller, weaves a compelling tapestry of events, as well as a complex plot in which history seems to repeat itself. Several days before Christmas, in a small, bucolic, tightly knit town, two ten year old girls, best friends, Sadie Green and Gwen Hubble, suddenly disappear. One of the local cops, Rouge Kendall, becomes involved in the investigation and manhunt that ensues. The case calls to mind his own brush with a madman, when fifteen years earlier his own ten year old, twin sister, Susan, had likewise been abducted. She was found murdered on Christmas Day, and his family never fully recovered from the blow they were dealt by Susan's untimely and grisly death. A local priest, Father Paul Marie, was arrested for Susan's abduction and murder, tried, and convicted. Enter Ali Cray, a former classmate of Rouge and Susan, who is now a forensic psychologist. Facially disfigured, she carries with her emotional baggage from her past. Yet, she is determined to make sure that justice is done in this case. She has a theory of the case about which she feels strongly. She believes that one of the girls functioned as a Judas child, a secondary target who is used as bait to lure the primary target into a trap. She also believes that Susan Kendall's fifteen year old abduction and murder and the current abductions are linked, notwithstanding the fact that Paul Marie is incarcerated at the time of Sadie's and Gwen's apparent abduction. Should Ali Cray be proven correct in her theory, an innocent man has been paying for the crimes of another all this time. The author serves up a brilliant narrative, imbuing the two abducted girls with personalities that hook the viewers. Sadie Green is the irrepressible, fearless leader of the two. Creative, resourceful, irreverent, highly intelligent, and loyal, she is a kid who thinks outside the box, as a matter of course. Gwen Hubble is also highly intelligent, as well as sensitive and intuitive, but more timid and reserved than Sadie by nature, a follower not a leader. While all in town are hoping that both will be found alive, it is Ali Cray's conjecture that the child who is designated as the Judas child is quickly dispatched by her abductor. She believes that the child who is the primary target will live for a short time, until she too is dispatched, most certainly by Christmas, so as to wreak maximum emotional havoc. The narrative flips back and forth between that which is happening in the town, not only with the investigation but also with some of the townspeople, and that which is being ostensibly experienced by Sadie and Gwen during their captivity. What happens to the girls is absolutely riveting, as well as heartbreaking. This is a vividly drawn, skillfully layered tour de force that is imbued with intriguing mystery and, at the same time, infinite sadness. The reader is sure to remain glued to the pages of this book, until the very last page is turned.
Rating:
Summary: A Thought-Provoking Thriller
Review: It is probably better to say as little as possible about the actual storyline for fear of giving anything away and concentrate more on impressing upon everyone that this is one of those books that creeps up on you and grabs you. What I will do is give a basic plot outline that gets the story started. A small town in upstate New York is in complete uproar when two young girls go missing in what appears to be a kidnapping and, if history is any guide, will become a homicide. It looks like the work of a serial offender. To add a little bit of poignancy to the story, one of the police officers to be working the case is Rouge Kendall, whose twin sister was a victim of this exact scenario 15 years ago. We then follow the story from two points of focus. The first follows the investigators trying to solve the case and find the girls. The second is from the girls' point of view and we get to experience their fear and confusion over what has happened to them. My reaction to this book surprised me a little. My feelings for the characters were mixed, ranging from annoyance to outrage and disgust; Carol O'Connell managed to winkle them all out of me. I thought I knew where the story was headed and how it was going to finish but, as it turned out, I was so far off base it wasn't funny. It's pleasing to find a story that can continue to provoke thought long after you've closed it on the last page. This book certainly provided that for me.
Rating:
Summary: Heart Stopper
Review: Remorse, loss and survivor-guilt activate this fine novel. Though the basic plot is familiar: an unknown predator is stalking, planning, and killing----nothing prepares even the most jaded reader for what follows. Fifteen years ago, 10-year old Susan Kendall was callously murdered leaving her family who include her twin brother Rouge, devastated with grief. When two local ten-year old girls go missing, it looks like history is repeating itself. The modus operendi seems to be that the second child (the Judas Child) is tricked into luring the first child (the princess child) to a rendezvous where the killer summarily disposes Child #2 and keeps the Princess alive until such time as would cause the parents, family and friends the maximum grief. (Usually Christmas Day) Ms. O'Connell captures the two little girls Sadie and Gwen brilliantly. Sadie is everything we would have always wanted as a childhood best friend: fearless, inventive, a trickster of the first order, intensely loyal and an expert on every horror film ever made. Gwen is a highly intelligent, sensitive, very sheltered little girl who is not near the coward she thinks she is. The adult characters are each so sharply drawn; any one of them could be considered the protagonist. Rouge Kendall, in his detachment, almost appears Christ-like. The sensuous, horribly scarred Ali is a driven dynamo (Question: is wearing a long slit skirt, barelegged with very high heels in the winter time really sexy? I kept thinking how breezy this type of getup would be and wouldn't her feet hurt?) Dr. Mortimer is so bound in his rigid ethics, is he insane? The wrongly convicted priest is a symphony in complicated disbelief, and the FBI agent, Arnie, has so many facets, he is a kaleidoscope. The resolution of this strange tale is so subjective and strange; the reader will frenetically go back to chapters to redefine what they have read to reassure themselves their senses are in place. You can't ask much more from a book than that.
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