Book One in the mystery series starring FBI agent Kelly Jones.

A serial killer is targeting women on a New England college campus. The campus is crisscrossed by a series of tunnels that date back a century or more. Some students use them to avoid bad weather when traversing campus, but mostly they use them as make-out places. One girl gets lost in the darkness when her “friends” get ahead of her. The next day she’s found brutally murdered, and a second body is also found.

This is a brutal, graphic murder mystery. It involves ancient pagan religions, and one deranged person’s attempt to appease those gods with ritualistic sacrifices. But, of course, no one knows that at the outset.

Jones is a tough lady with some history on this campus, as well as personal trauma in her background which fuels her desire to find the perpetrator.

The pace is fast, the lead character is likeable, and the storyline held my attention, but I’m not sure I’d bother to read another in the series. I felt a bit as though the grotesque brutality and graphic descriptions were overkill. And I was disappointed that Gagnon resorted to the “big strong man” coming to Jones’ rescue, rather than letting this strong woman get the best of the killer on her own. ( )

I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read, but it was no intricately written mystery. There were characters that were introduced and then it seemed they were just abandoned. The plot seemed first to drag in places and then jump too quickly. I liked the main character and I'll read future installments in the series, to see if the writing improves. ( )

Los escenarios del crimen son macabros y esotéricos. Han aparecido asesinadas dos estudiantes. Sus cadáveres están mutilados y colocados en extrañas posiciones en el oscuro laberinto que hay debajo de la escuela; y en las paredes, sobre sus cuerpos, hay dibujados símbolos extraños.
Durante la década que ha pasado persiguiendo a asesinos en serie, la agente especial del FBI, Kelly Jones ha visto ejemplos de lo peor que puede hacer la raza humana. Sin embargo, la tragedia que está teniendo lugar en su antigua universidad le afecta profundamente. las pruebas indican que hay conexión entre las víctimas: ambas son hijas de hombres poderosos, y los mensajes crípticos que hay detrás de las asesinadas proceden de un ritual perverso y antiguo. A medida que aumenta el número de muertes, aumenta la incertidumbre. El asesino está provocando a Kelly, desafiándola a que lo siga a los túneles, por un peligroso camino del que sólo uno de los dos podrá salir.

The Tunnels is published by Mira Books (an imprint of Harlequin, the publisher who pumps out romance novels by the truck load), my experience with books published by Mira is they're usually quite lacklustre. No matter how exciting the blurb sounds, the actual content doesn't live up to the expectations set and you can often tell the author is attempting to expand from romance writing into other genres, usually poorly at that.

Thankfully, The Tunnels didn't come in at these rather low expectations, but rather was quite a good tale of a serial killer stalking students within the historic tunnels under a university. Add in some gory scenes a touch of Norse mythology with the FBI stumbling around seemingly in the dark you have the making of pretty decent story. Whilst there were some seemingly jarring parts to the writing such as the scenes changing mid-paragraph overall it was a decent crime thriller. Quite short at 238 pages, easily read in an evening, but nonetheless a decent story. ( )

The Tunnels by Michelle Gagnon
Book #1 in Kelly Jones
4 stars

Synopsis:
FBI agent, Kelly Jones and her partner, Roger Morrow are called in to investigate when the mutilated bodies of two female students are found in the abandoned tunnels beneath a prestigious college. The ritualistic nature of the killings and the fact that both victims are daughters of powerful men contribute to the need to discover and stop the killer before he strikes again.

Review:
Let me begin by saying that I adore serial killer stories, and I am always looking for ones that contribute to the genre and do not merely regurgitate traditional plot lines. Fortunately, this book falls into the former category. The plot is original and inventive with its roots in Norse mythology, and there is a strong build-up of tension and suspense with an interesting twist at the end. The characters are well developed, especially the female lead who has an interesting back story. There are a couple of minor shortcomings, such as the obvious red herrings and the final scenes, which are a little bit too reminiscent of the Silence of the Lambs. In sum, this an excellent debut novel and I am curious to read the next installment. ( )