PRR - The Killing Game by J.A. Kerley

The Killing Game by J.A. Kerley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 7 days

Publisher - Harper

Blurb from the back cover

He's coming to get you...

After a humiliating encounter with a cop, Gregory Nieves lauches a vendetta against the Mobile Police Department, Alabama. Nieves can't fight a department, so he selects one man who symbolizes all men in blue: Carson Ryder, the MPD's specialist in bizarre an twisted crimes.

Carson has never seen a killing spree like it: nothing connects the victims, the murder weapon is always different and the horrific crime scenes are devoid of evidence. It almost seems like he's being taunted. Even laughed at.

Carson doesn't know it yet, but he is caught up in a sadistic game of life and death. And there can only be one victor...


My review

The story starts with our killer, a small introduction to him and how he tries to blend in to society and keep him reactions normal. Then we flick to Carson, under cover and about to get into a situation that will hail him hero or reckless. The story flips throughout from the killers view and then back to the police and Carson. We slowly learn more about why Gregory is the way he is and what sets him off on this killing spree.

The story is well done although you are drawn in slowly. Carson soon realizes he has a dangerous killer on the loose and has to work out what has set him off and where he will strike next. An almost impossible task as his kills seem to have to actual motive, weapons and victims are different from one to the next and there is no killer more dangerous than one who strikes at random and with no pattern.

Carson eventually needs to turn to a source for help he would rather steer clear from, his brother who is incarcerated for murder. His brother can give insight that Carson will get nowhere else so he needs to in order to get clarity on the crimes and the killer. I was disappointed at how little Jeremy, Carson's brother, actually featured in this book.

The chapters are fairly short in length which I always like, I enjoy reading Carson's character as he is likable and this time he has a new relationship budding with Wendy, one of the girls from the class he has been helping out with. I felt we could have had more about those two and definitely more about Gregory, his childhood and the horrors he endured and survived that created the killer and psychopath he became. The ending is where the book dropped marks for me, I do enjoy a good twist but this one I didn't see coming at all and it annoyed me as there should have been more on this particular twist, even a few hints rather than shot out of the blue, I feel. I also think it was a tad short and left lacking in regards to Gregory when he is such a huge part of the story. However lots of people have loved it and it is a good story however for me it is a 3/5. Thanks so much to Harper for providing me with a copy and the fun crime competition that is going on to celebrate the book as well.

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