Fuzzy Navel

Boo and hiss...copycat thriller, January 17, 2010

Nothing like a copycat -- due to my disinclination to spoil this horrific novel for anyone who chooses to read it, I can't say which author nor what title -- I can say, however, that if you don't like cliffhanger endings, either have the next book, Cherry Bomb (Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mysteries), ready to open or skip this one altogether.

That said, I am also trying to find the advertised "hilarious" thriller within this novel -- which consists of 9 parts murder and mayhem and one part suspended disbelief. The body count rises quickly in this 5th installment of the Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels mystery series that opens with three simultaneous sniper shootings of sex perverts in various parts of the city. Where's the humor?
Meanwhile, a crazed psycho killer whom Jack sent to prison, the infamous Alex Kork, has apparently escaped from prison and has a diabolical plan to destroy Jack and whoever else gets in the way of that endeavor. Funny?

Fast forward to Jack's house in the suburbs; she and her ex-cop mom now live outside the city for the peace and quiet. Kork quickly locates the house, and the murderous vigilantes who vow to leave no witnesses to their sniper spree, converge on the place. As part of Kork's intent to torture and kill all those who caused her ruin and capture, Jack's fiance, Latham, her current partner Herb, her ex partner Harry, and her friend Phin are also invited to this unsavory debacle in the woods. Humorous?

The house then becomes the setting for the rest of the action which consists of shootings and fights and blood and guts. In short, chapter after chapter of more unbelievable mayhem told in different narrative viewpoints -- again my sense of humor didn't find anything funny in this -- and then a completely unsatisfactory cliffhanging, copycat ending. I opened the next book to read the first sentence, just to see if I had guessed right, and then promptly closed it.

I've had enough. I suppose on some level, the interaction between some of the characters could be construed as amusing -- under other circumstances, but when mixed with the detailed description of various injuries and wounds, it wasn't so for me. This is the last one I'll read in the Jack Daniels series.