The Stranger You Seek: A Novel (edition 2011)

By: Amanda Kyle Williams
Published By: Bantam
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating:5
Series: Keye Street #1

Review:

"The Stranger You Seek" By Amanda Kyle William was a well written, intriguing, quick paced,mystery, thriller and suspenseful read. We find Keye Street had been 'down on her luck' (former FBI profiler) and running a private investigating service in Atlanta, Georgia and gets a call from her friend(Rauser) at the APD to help investigate a series of brutal, sadistic murders. "Keye Street probably has the most demons living inside of her, and she dances perilously close to the edge on multiple occasions." To the author’s credit, her damaged persona made her even more appealing. Keye was "relatable, enjoyable, and downright frustrating at times." You will find that this novel 'oozes' southern charm in this Atlanta locale where you area taken on a ride of many twist and turns starting with page one. The characters were all fantastically done and brilliantly executed and the ending was really some turn. Also I like how this author was able to add humor that was 'interspearsed throughout the novel.'

If you are in for a good mystery-thriller-suspenseful read I would recommend "The stranger You Seek" for you. ( )

The Stranger You Seek was a book that caught my interest at page one and didn't let go until the very last page. Keye Street is a woman with many of her own demons, but she soon finds herself getting drawn deep into a murder investigation where the killer is taunting the police. Her past as a FBI profiler begins to come back to haunt her as she attempts to help with the ongoing investigation while unknowingly becoming one of the killer's targets. Of course, the question is if she can find the killer before he finds her.

I enjoyed each and every page of this book due to the underlying suspense that was constant throughout the book. From the very beginning, the author pulled me into the story with a creepy and horrifying murder that ratcheted up the suspense level right away. The novel continually kept me turning the pages as I tried to figure out who the killer could possibly be. I loved Keye Street as the main character for a variety of reasons but mainly because she was so scarred and troubled. The author did a great job of realistically portraying Keye's demons which made me want Keye to succeed all the more. I find that I love a good main character that has a few rough edges. That maybe isn't perfect but is working towards getting his or her life back on track. Keye was one of those main characters and I liked her all the more for it. I really appreciated that she wasn't apologetic for her darker past and I felt that the author did a good job of incorporating it into the novel.

The mystery itself was quite good. I didn't see the ending coming from a mile away. And I really liked that because I felt like the author wasn't afraid to pull any punches. I didn't expect that last page but I was presently surprised when it happened (those of you that have already read the book will understand). A good mystery will always suck me in and that is exactly what this book did. It had atmosphere in spades, solid characters with depth, and a killer ending! I couldn't ask for more. Except for there to be another book featuring Keye which apparently there is. How exciting!! I went into this book thinking it was a standalone to find out that it will be the beginning to a mystery series. I cannot wait to grab the second book and see what happens next! This was an awesome read that I highly recommend! And can I just say how much I love when I find a new author that I enjoy this much? So exciting (hence all of the exclamation points)!

Bottom Line: One of my favorite thrillers that I have read so far this year!

Disclosure: Checked out from my local library. I wish I had a bought a copy though because I will be recommending it a lot! ( )

excellent, couldn't put it down ( )

To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much from this book. The last few Netgalley books I've read haven't been much to rave about and it seems I get into these slumps where it takes at least 5 or 6 books to get me to a book I really feel good about. This novel seriously took me by surprise.

The Good: It's been a very long time since I've found a new mystery series with an awesome lead detective that I've fallen in love with. The Stranger You Seek however just fixed that for me. I love Keye Street. She is a feisty, blunt and underdog of a character. She kicks ass and takes names but all in a realistic setting. No paranormal/fantasy aspects in this novel. I hate to admit it but I also LOVE books about serial killers. Don't ask me why. I just do okay? The serial killer in this novel is so smart and evil and the way Williams writes, you can just tell how creepy the killer is. I loved the secondary characters in this novel as well and the romance is kept at a subtle minimum which I enjoyed. The way Williams has the killer interact with the characters is unique and fresh. It's not your typical run of the mill chapters that switch pov's. Williams makes use of technology to help her killer interact with Keye and her team. I can't say much about the twists/plot but all I can say is that I was almost to the end and I thought, "Omg. This is SO easy. Why did she make the killer so predictable!" Only to find out I was WRONG! Score for Williams. I also love the fact that this novel takes place in the South...ya'll know how much I love books set in the south :P The writing was done well, the characters fully developed and interesting, intriguing and likable and of course the plot was wonderful. I think there is a new Janet Evanovich on the scene and her name is Amanda Kyle Williams!

The Bad: Nothing negative to say about this book! It was wonderful!

**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ( )

Confession time (again!) I wasn't going to read this book. Nothing personal. I just looked at the blurb, saw serial killer and thought... over them. But, long story short, there was this homework assignment, I thought ... proof copy, grabbed the first one I saw, and no homework was done. Could not put THE STRANGER YOU SEEK down.

The thing that really grabbed me was the central character - Keye Street. She's got one of those voices that can really appeal to this reader. A recovering alcoholic with a failed marriage, and a partially acknowledged attraction to her best friend, mentor and cop Aaron Rauser she's a fabulously complicated character. One of her own greatest critics, Street's got a very chequered background - going from rising star FBI profiler with two university degrees and an enviable criminal profiling track record, to working for herself, making ends meet serving subpoenas, chasing down bail skippers and looking for missing cows.

Obviously there are going to be comparisons drawn with Grace Smith / Stephanie Plum and the like. Whilst there are elements that are just about identical - the job description alone is enough to get you thinking in that direction. Add a slightly madcap family; romantic tension; a hefty dose of personal lunacy and a rushing around investigation style and there is a point in the book where you do wonder about the similarities. For this reader, however, there are some marked differences. Some nuance about the humour, some of the self-awareness in the character, but probably the biggest difference is a real sense of desire to move on. The madcap family (sans Grandmother, but with a mother and father who fill in the personality requirements quite nicely), is built around the adoption, by her extremely Southern American sensibility parents, of Street (Asian American) and her brother (African American). Both the parents have starring roles in the humour department, which was subtle, and clever and frequently laugh out loud funny. Humour, in particular, is something that does not always travel well culturally, and for this Australian reader, much of the conflict between Street and her mother, and between her mother and father, worked really well - with a stand-out being the father's recitation of grace, which had me roaring with laughter.

The point of these books isn't just the humour. There's a serious investigation going on, although built around a serial killer, that has some hints and tips along the way that could make a reader wonder if there is something slightly different going on here.

Street also isn't just what you see is what you get. There's depth, roundedness, flaws and good points to her character that are very engaging. There's an acerbic, pointed and enlightening internal voice that works, not just to give you a chance to get to know the character, but also makes her quite real. Her supporting cast is relatively well fleshed out also, although, obviously as this is the first book, the concentration is pretty heftily on the main character. The serial killer thread is nicely done this time, with a final twist in the tail that I simply did not see coming.

That's not to say that everything is perfect and there are some rather hamfisted attempts at humour which don't quite hit the mark... not the least is a tendency to see sexual desire in every lesbian character that Street encounters, but all in all, thanks to THE STRANGER YOU SEEK, once again, "over serial killers" needs an equivocation clause..... ( )