Douglas BortonRezensionen

“The sound made him shiver.”

The sound being that of bones cracking. Courtesy of The Gryphon, a serial killer that is terrorizing Los Angeles. A serial killer that Detective Sebastian Júarez Delgado is determined to stop!

The Gryphon decapitates his victims and then leaves a clay gryphon in one of their hands. Pretty gruesome stuff. Some a bit hard to read, including necrophilia, rape, and the aforementioned beheadings. As to the story itself, it starts strong, and slowly, slowly gets weaker. The love story is terrible, and the meek victim turning into the super tough-as-nails survivor is hard to believe. I don't think that 24 hours is enough for either plot point to be possible. But none-the-less, they are in here. I did like that the point of view shifted often between the killer, the detective, and the heroine and it moved the story along at a nice pace. Gross, but good!½

In Dark Places was a fast moving, entertaining thrill ride. But in this book like the last one I read, I found a few issues. Again, in this book, none of the characters were all too like able. I mean, when you are actually rooting for the serial killer part of the time, even though it was part of the plot twist, something isn't right. Which brings up another problem, too many plot twists, it started getting old near the end. My final problem again, was overdetailedness. So much needless info packed into an already long book just makes it feel that much longer. For example, when Dr. Cameron meets Wolper at the cafe or whatever, why did we need to know about the comic book shop across the way getting hit? We didn't, and I'm glad I just skimmed that paragraph.
Now it might seem that with all these complaints I didn't enjoy the book, which couldn't be further from the truth. It was a very enjoyable read, and I always wanted to keep going to know what would happen next. The complaints are pretty minor, and if you don't get "creeped out" to easily, this book is a fun read. Oh yeah, that was another thing, this author also seemed to be trying to go heavy on the "creep out" factor. Again I didn't mind to much, but sometimes it feels like the authors try to pack it in as much as they can just for the heck of it.

I recently discovered Michael Prescott. I couldn't get past the 1st 50 pages of his first book, Comes the Dark, but I had this one, too, so I gave it a go. Much better. Abby Sinclair works for security companies and specializes in going under cover to catch stalkers. The plot has lots of satisfying twists and turns and only a few leaps of credibility. Prescott has a third book out and I'll likely give it a shot.

When I first started reading, I thought that maybe I had read it before. A serial killer who rips off people's faces? Was that in a different book? Or had I just read this book before? I don't know. As I kept on reading, the book started to seem new to me. I didn't remember reading all of the stuff in the middle before. The ending was slightly familiar.

I enjoyed reading this book. I shared in the main character's frustration that nobody believed that Dr. Cray was evil. And that poor Kaylie could not go to the authorities because everyone thinks she is crazy. The plot moved along at a nice pace, and there were several suspenseful moments. A story set in a mental institution is always creepy, and the fact that Cray is in charge of one makes him all the more creepy. I will definitely seek out more books by Michael Prescott in the future.

This book started off great. The prologue was truly scary and creepy. After that, the book settled into the usual hunt for a serial killer procedural. I liked the main character, CJ. She was a strong woman who didn't give up. Even though the plot was a little predictable, it still moved along nicely, and kept up the action through out. This was the second book by Michael Prescott that I have read, and I plan to read more. He is a very entertaining author.

Graphic, hard hitting police procedural featuring a too-good-to-be-true female FBI agent. Fast paced action with a far fetched reveal, imo. Decent enough but a touch flat for me.

I can’t say I was TOTALLY unexpected by the ending but there were a few twists in the finale that added some surprises. Characters are somewhat fleshed out in the beginning but as the story goes the reader does discover more about each of the key players. The storyline is fast paced; the entire 400 page book covers only about 24 hours. My rating of 3 stars makes this a GOOD read for me. I would recommend this to someone who likes thriller/suspense novels.

I love Michael Prescott, he has a sick and wicked mind. He does some sick ish to his characters and I love that about him. I want to be afraid and I want to be on the edge of my seat and he does it every time. He doesn't beat around the bush and write unrealistically. He gives it to you raw. His serial killers cut off faces and heads. They rape and bite. They are evil. This isn't your mama's thriller. Prescott is the real deal.

Jennifer Silence is a police consultant, she is a psycholinguist. A psychologist who specializes in written documents that add to the profile of a murderer.

Living in Venice Beach, CA she is not surprised by an earthquake shaking her home. She is surprised by finding a bricked up section under the stairs of her cellar. She is surprised by finding the skeletons of several women. She is surprised by finding a journal hidden in a tin box, left with the skeletons. She is surprised when she begins to read the journal that it seems to have been written by Jack the Ripper detailing his crimes in London.

Her family has owned the house since the early 1900’s, is one of her ancestors, Jack?

A thriller that takes you from London at the turn of the 20th century to the present 2010’s in California. A fascinating tale of a serial killer.
Highly recommend!

Pretty good fair. There were some pretty good surprise here. One had to really stretch things about Dr. Cameron, a pschiatrist who believe that she can "reprogram" convicted killer, Justin Gray. Gray has other plans and wants to use the freedom his treatments give him to plan his escape. There are lots of twists with dirty cops being a major one.

C.J. Osborn was ten years old when the boogeyman came for her. Ever since, she has feared his return.

Now an LAPD cop, C.J. faces danger every day on the streets of Newton Division - Shootin' Newton," the city's roughest territory. But the greatest danger lies in C.J.'s own home, where a stranger's eyes are watching her - a stranger who plans to finish what he started sixteen years ago ...

Suspenseful, fast-moving with twists and turns you don't see coming. I can always depend on Michael Prescott to keep me on the edge of my seat!. Very enjoyable."

Rookie police officer Trish Robinson isn't expecting to see any action during another routine night with her training officer. Then they respond to a prowler call from a remote estate.

Wow! The suspense never stops it just keeps hurtling you from one precipice to another. Excellent.

John Cray has spent the last twelve years stalking women, kidnapping them then releasing them in the mountains of eastern Arizona. Then he tracks them, kills them, removes their faces. He has left no clues behind, and only one has gotten away from him.

Now, as he searches for his next victim, he is aware someone is stalking him.

This is a suspenseful well-written, mystery.

What is really unique about this book is the complexity of the characters and the inability to really make them either good or bad, although certainly the villain is definitely bad. This is good reading.

This is the second Michael Prescott book I've read, and this author can surely write good action scenes and create suspense. I have only a few minor criticisms of this thriller, which introduces us to Abby Sinclair. I liked the angle of having her use psychology to get next to the perp. She's an interesting protagonist. The characterizations were decent enough. Nice twisty plot which satisfied this reader. Will look forward to the next books in this series.

WOW, what a page turner! AND it had me going in a different direction, definetly worth the read.

Stealing Faces by Michael Prescott was a great thriller - I really enjoyed it. I don't always like knowing who the killer is from the beginning, or reading from the POV of a serial killer, but this was really well done, although still pretty creepy. And a fair amount of tense action - kept me on the edge of my seat.

I don't recall ever reading Michael Prescott before, but after reading this, I am anxious to read another. I loved this book, and literally could not put it down! I liked how we not only get to see inside the killer's head, but we also get to see inside Kaylie's head, too. 12 years ago she escaped, and is back to take Cray out, once and for all. Having been in hiding and on the run, using multiple aliases over the past 12 years, Kaylie is ready to be set free. It's amazing how many times this woman manages to escape Cray, and it's fun to read about his escalating fury over it. I felt bad for the patient Cray used, and then discarded, especially when this patient viewed Cray as God. There are some plot twists that I suppose one could figure out sooner, rather than later. I tend to just go with the story and try to not purposefully figure things out before their time. This is definitely a book I would recommend to mystery, suspense and psychological thriller lovers.

This was an incredibly by-the-numbers thriller. And sadly, I don't think the author meant for it to be. It seemed to be trying so hard to burst out of the mold, but it was formulaic and boring as anything you'd find in this genre. Worse yet, the killer was a long-winded blowhard who wasn't in the least intimidating. The female lead seemed intent on making every rookie mistake she could. And the final hero of our story was the same old cop with the same old sordid past you'd see in any cop drama. The most I can say for it is that it was actually well written. Aside from that, it's not worth the time really.

Superb thriller! Heart racing action and great characters.

Jack Dance is the cleverest, nastiest, and most accomplished sociopath ever to grace the pages of a thriller. With no conscience and a devil-may-care attitude, this smiling, tune-humming, horribly handsome serial killer will make you shudder. His cavalier attitude when engaged in murder, his complete and utter lack of humanity, and the pairing of these attributes with the most cunning criminal mind of the century will linger in your mind long after you’ve finished the book.

Jack had a bad experience when he was eleven. It had something to do with a blue-eyed blond named Meredith. And after stewing in hot rage for many years, he finally takes action. Her murder—his first—whets his appetite for what is to becomes a ritualistic re-killing of Meredith, over and over again.

Aside from being a superb writer—I say this with complete honesty and zero exaggeration—Mr. Prescott is a talented plot twister who maintains tension and never, ever lets it slacken. Once you’ve read (or listened) to his books such at Stealing Faces, Blind Pursuit, or Mortal Pursuit, you’ll learn that you’d best store up some extra adrenaline for the guaranteed ride to come. Deadly Pursuit is relentless in its suspense, and your favorite protagonist will be sure to partake of many successions of satisfying chase scenes with the villain. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: when it comes to writing thrillers, Mr. Prescott leads the pack.

Steve and Kirstie Gardner head for a vacation on Pelican Key, the place of Steve’s childhood summer vacations, where he and his pal Jack Dance explored and clambered over the ruins of the old lime plantation. Now the house has been restored, and it beckons to Stephen with an inexplicable urgency. He needs to be there. He craves the connection to his youth. And he worries that maybe—just maybe—secrets from his past might follow.

The problem arises when Jack Dance happens to seek refuge on the same island when the feds begin to link him to the murders of the now infamous “Mister Twister.” When Jack bumps into Kirstie on the beach, his thirst for blood surges, because as luck would have it, she looks a lot like Meredith.

I won’t spoil the plot by telling you more. Just rest assured that the ride is torturous and deliciously scary.

This book is much more than a thriller—it’s also a story that transports you from your armchair to a tropical island. I love novels with a sumptuous “sense of place.” Deadly Pursuit propels the reader smack dab in the sultry humidity of the Florida Keys. I’ve never been there, but felt thoroughly connected thanks to Mr. Prescott’s descriptions of the lush flowers, trees, wildlife and ecosystem. I am certain he must have frequented the location in person, so beautifully drawn were the scenes.

I happened to experience this book in audio book format. The narrator, Christopher Burns, has an uncanny knack for voices, especially for the carefree, jaunty inner voice of a serial killer. It “creeped me out” as my kids would say, to listen to this sociopath in such an intimate fashion. Well done, Mr. Prescott and Mr. Burns!

Highly recommended for adults by Aaron Paul Lazar, lazarbooks.com

If you are fascinated by the Jack the Ripper legend you should enjoy this book. I did. It's not ageless literature, but it is good to entertain you over a few days. There are two stories: a current times one involving the investigator who specializes in graphology (wonderful subject, by the way) and the journal of Jack the Ripper who supposedly immigrated to the US after his crimes in London took place. I can't say that I cared much for the protaganist. She is just a little too defensive and cruel without a reason to people who are trying to help her. However, her devotion to her schizophrenic brother makes some of her behavior understandable. Lots of action and tension and an ending that I didn't see coming.

Trish Robinson is a rookie patrol officer in a quiet southern California town. The sum total of the latest crimes in town were petty theft of money from vending machines and stolen bicycles. So when Trish and her training officer respond to a possible burglar call she has no idea that this will be the longest night of her life.

Originally written in 1997 under the name Brian Harper, Mortal Pursuit was an enjoyable read. The story moves along at a fairly fast pace with some very tense moments. Although there were a few moments of cliche dialog here and there it wasn't enough to interfere with my reading experience. I did occasionally have to remind myself that the story takes place in 1997 with the technology of that time. Some of the minor characters could have been fleshed out a bit more but it didn't really detract from the story. I found the main character of Trish to be quite engaging and likable. Overall, a decent thriller/suspense novel.½

Rookie patrolman Trish Robinson goes out on her fifth patrol with her training officer in a supposedly crime free area in Santa Barbara county when they are alerted by the dispatcher to investigate a 911 call reporting a prowler in the yard at an exclusive home, in a wooded area, at the top of a dead end road. They ring at the gated drive and are invited up to the house. They identify themselves and are assured that it was a mistake an the owners wife was spooked and mistakenly thought an olive tree branch might have been an intruder. The alarm system hadn't been tripped so the owner assured them everything was ok. The training officer insisted on talking to the wife who had initiated the 911 call and they were invited into the house and met another couple seated around a dining room table that was set with partially eaten deserts for five people even though only four people were present. When asked, they said their teenage daughter had taken sick and left dinner and had taken to her room to lay down. Trish noticed an expended brass cartridge on the table and some paint flakes where a shot into the ceiling had caused some residue to fall onto the table cloth. With the owner and guests assuring the officers that everything was normal and with apologies for a false report, they were being escorted to the door to leave. Officer Wald (the training officer) had noticed the brass too but, decided that without knowing how many assailants and their level of armament it would be better to leave and call for backup before trying to control the situation. As they were passing through the hallway past a closet with the door partway open, a couple of armed men push open the door and another armed man appeared behind them. Officer Wald was shot through the head before he was able to clear his weapon from his holster and Trish had a gun pressed to her head as she was disarmed and handcuffed with her own cuffs. This began an intense evening where the rookie and the fifteen year old daughter worked together to save themselves and frustrate the thieves in a series of escapes, recaptures and attempts to kill them. A series of edge of the chair tense moments with the girls proving to be much better foes than their assuming captors gave them credit for. They are survivors largely because of their will to live, ingenuity and memory of their Girl Scout Leader's maxim, "no Medals for quitters". This is a book for readers that like characters with spunk and can identify with the girls in danger bonding. The story and characters with stay with you after you finish the book. Well worth the investment of imagination and time!½

The author, Michael Prescott, is exceptional at building tension. This is a riveting thriller that kept me in suspense right up to the very end.

Stealing Faces is definitely not for the squeamish. After reading the prologue, I was not sure I could continue, but am glad I did. The novel is set in Arizona, and refreshingly, the killer, a published author and psychiatrist, is revealed in the first chapter. Another unusual aspect to the novel is that the detective is only introduced a third of the way into the book.

Twists and turns abound, as the predator hunts the prey and the tragic backstory is revealed.

Stealing Faces is an easy, fast read that's sure to please.