Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Heron Park, C K Raggio






BLURB---DON'T WALK YOUR DOG ALONE IN THE WOODS...

A small Long Island town erupts in a panic when a woman and her dog are found savagely killed on a popular hiking trail. And that's only the start. Homicide Detective Cassie Logan and FBI Agent Rick Sanders grow increasingly desperate after another woman is found murdered at the same park, this one more gruesome and disturbing than the last.

HE'S WAITING...
A sadist has chosen his hunting ground. With the help of his unusual, but highly-trained best friend, the bodies start to pile up. Cassie and Rick fight to stay a step ahead of the killer, but how do you catch a predator who evolves with each of his brutal attacks? And what if the killer ultimately decides that you will be his next prey?


Content Advisory - Mature Adult for Violence, Sex, Adult Situations and Adult Language


I loved it!

It had everything, romance, mystery, intelligent writing, suspense and creepiness that made me need a break. And nothing was held back, the murders and sex were in graphic detail and the characters were all human and flawed. Damn it was good. 

With these kinds of book I have a tendency to skim and just read the juicy parts, but there was so much going on I needed to read it all.

The story follows some small town cops investigating a murder, the FBI are brought in after it is suspected he is a serial killer who has a long history of gruesome murders. We follow the detailed police investigation and the chase of our evil guy. 

Oh it was so good!

The first half of the book I treated like a whodunnit which was awesome as far as whodunnits go. There were clues all over the place but they were subtle enough for me to think I was piecing it together myself and working it out. The first time I had a suspicion and thought A-HA! A few pages later we then went to that character and I thought Hmmm....is this acting as another clue to point to this character? Or an acknowledgment that this was what it thought I would be thinking? 
This happened like three separate times over three separate characters and I actually laughed out loud and thought this book is fucking with me! I imagined it laughing at me to be honest so after that point I tried to turn my investigator brain off and went with the ride.

Usually with a whodunnit the "who" falls into one of two catagories....
1) an incredibly obvious character and you want to throw the book at the wall for insulting your intelligence
2) a completely random character and you want to throw your book at the wall for cheating you.

But no not here, it was awesome.

The second half it's revealed who our guy is (which in itself was a great choice I hate it when a book waits until the bitter end to reveal who the guy is) and then we follow the chase and find out his reasons for being what he is, why his dogs are so important (They're really important) and all kinds of little details that enriched the story.

I loved watching the police investigation unfold. All that frustration they felt and seeing people being harmed by pride, sexism and all that human crap piled onto an investigation was quite eye-opening. 

Throughout the book we see things from the serial killers point of view at times and he is a NAUGHTY MAN! NAUGHTY NAUGHTY MAN!!!!
Really, He's quite terrible. The scenes that he appears in are incredibly brutal, and I'm pretty unflappable but really there was some nausea going on. His mentality really comes across too which was amazing and actually quite interesting.

I have huge respect for this book, for not following the bog standard format by having the ending just be the big reveal, and also for leading me to believe I was being a good detective only to laugh at me a few pages later.

All in all, if you're a fan of crime or thrillers this ones a winner. BUT it is GRUESOME. Listen to me....SO GRUESOME! Violent violence, sexual violence, Disgusting violence, bleeuuurghh. But I loved it all! 

Good stuff!

8 comments:

  1. I have to thank you again for this incredible review. I have read this book so many times I've lost count, but you just made me want to read it again. Lol. It's so exciting to see when somebody really 'gets' what you were trying to accomplish. It means so much to me!

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  2. Oh, you liking my review just made my day! This is a genre I love but often struggle to find the right book, so I was so excited to find this one! Thank you for taking the time to read my review and also for writing such an awesome book

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  3. This is a wonderful review of a great book. I too read it worried about walking my dogs alone after dark. As you mentioned, the twists and turns were well done. I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

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    1. Thanks, Dana! And it doesn't have to be dark for Timmy to be lurking! :-)

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  4. Great review! See Christine, I wasn't the only one who had a bout with nausea. I am still envisioning a particular scene in my head. Visual, as can be.

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    1. Haha, I know, I'm pretty excited about all the nausea going on! Thanks, Cathy! ;-)

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  5. First of all Rebecca, thank you for recommending this book. Your right it's so hard when you enjoy these type of stories to find the right book.
    Yes this was the right book, from the first page to the last it kept me hooked. Never knowing what was going to happen in each chapter. Yes it was graphic but I felt you needed that to feel the intensity of the story, if that makes sense.
    The writing was just brilliant and I can't believe this is her first book.

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