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Whiskey Sour
By J.A. Konrath
Hyperion
Reviewed by: Kevin Tipple Collins
Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is having a rough time of it lately.
Beyond the fact that it is a nasty October day in Chicago as the novel
opens, the crime scene at a local 7-11 is a mess. They have a body of a
white female, blonde, in her twenties with deep stab wounds and
strangulation marks. She was found face down in the trash receptacle with a
note stapled to her chest that taunts the police and identifies the killer
as "the Gingerbread Man." As the freezing rain continues to fall and the
media arrives, it becomes clear that the witnesses didn't see anything that
will help.
The investigation begins and soon seems to stall which does nothing to ease
Jack's chronic insomnia. Late night shopping binges via cable and credit
card only make her feel worse as does the fact that her live in boyfriend
dumped her in favor of his personal trainer, Roxy. Then there is the fact
that the case quickly turns in to a media circus and the arrival of a pair
of humorless profilers from the FBI does nothing to help. The situation
quickly escalates and before long, as he tauntingly kills again, the killer
sets his target on Jack as his final victim. Everything is falling apart and
Jack is doing everything she can to find a killer bent on finishing his work
with her death.
Shifting in point of view from Jack to the serial killer and back again, the
novel rapidly moves forward in what is hopefully a start to a series. The
action is fast paced and Jack Daniels with all her quirks is a very
appealing character as are many of the secondary, in name only, characters.
Unlike many serial killer books, not only is the focus often elsewhere other
than the case, there are many laugh out loud sections that can slip by if the
reader isn't paying attention.
In short, this is a wonderful novel mixing
the best elements of what the genre has to offer and the rare chance to get
in on the ground floor with an author that should be on the bestseller list
before too long.
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