trpeters

A pretty, pregnant housewife is found brutally beaten to death in her home, shattering the peace in the idyllic suburban neighbourhood she lived in. The media immediately runs headlines on the case, it being exactly the kind of sensational crime to sell papers for weeks. But the deeper homocide lieutenant Taylor Jackson digs beneath Corinne Wolff's picturesque life, the more dark secrets she finds to uncover, including a "secret society" full of underaged girls in pornographic videos put together by Corinne and her husband. Meanwhile, Taylor's boyfriend Baldwin, acting director of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, is called in on another case. A serial killer who has vowed revenge on him is suspected to be in the US, on his way to destroy Baldwin's life. The FBI needs to find him, and quickly. Aidan is one of the most dangerous men in the world, and especially good at staying under the radar. On top of everything else, someone is out to defame and discredit Taylor. A slew of explicit sex tapes she hadn't even known were taped have been released on the internet, along with a specially doctored video. With her as lead in the case of Corinne Wolff, the information spreads quickly, jeopardizing her investigation and her job. She's determined not to back down, though, and to dig up some answers, both on who is behind the tapes of her and who killed Corinne Wolff. The three storylines start off as separate, but mostly come together by the end of the book. That's not to say they tied up together in a tidy package of convenient coincidences; not everything was related, and there were some significant loose threads left to be resolved in the next book, due out in September. Readers who hate unfinished plot lines take note: if you're interested in checking out Judas Kiss, you'll want to wait until the fourth book in the series is out so you won't go bugnuts with the abrupt ending. Taylor is a likeable character, simultaneously driven and vulnerable. In fact, I found myself involved enough in her that when the narrative shifted to another character's perspective for a chapter (usually Baldwin), it took me a minute to mentally re-adjust. Some of the other characters had potential for depth or at least quirkiness, but the story revolves so tightly around Taylor, we hardly get to see anyone else, which meant I occasionally had a hard time keeping some of her coworkers and friends straight. Even the serial killers felt a little washed out, just business as usual (with the exception of one awesomely creepy scene). My plot quibble is a spoileriffic one, so suffice it to say I was disappointed with the ending. The resolution of the whodunnit part didn't make sense when combined with an earlier scene, which confused me and had me re-reading the earlier scene to be sure I'd read what I was remembering. For the curious, yes, I did remember it correctly, and it didn't make any more sense after re-reading. Judas Kiss combines the mystery/thriller storylines with Taylor's personal life, giving it a tone reminiscent of CSI or any of the other crime solving shows with letters instead of words for a title. Readers who are fond of these shows or the Kay Scarpetta mysteries will find they'll also enjoy the Taylor Jackson stories.

2023-07-10 07:37