Saul Black

I have to laugh at all the 1-star reviews because the beginning is rude, crude, and sexually explicit at times.

Well...yeah. Read the entire damn book, and you'll understand when you get the payoff at the end. Oh, and you're reading a book about a murderer, so all that death is good, but mention the words "cock" or "anal" or some such shit, and suddenly your heart's all aflutter with barely suppressed rage?

Whatever.

This is, as is usual for Saul Black, an incredibly well-plotted and show more well-paced novel that delivers its surprises and treats slowly, just as it should. Valerie Hart is a fantastic character, flawed, and completely self-aware of her flaws, but often willing to cede to them anyway.

Black always provides strong antagonists for Valerie, and I'm going out on a limb here and stating that Sophia is likely the best of the three books.

At the same time, Black is a master at setting up the subplot that mirrors the main plot. If the first book was about hope, and the second was about trust, this book is about loyalty. And Black is brilliant in holding up those objects of loyalty and twisting them this way and that, letting the reader see both the clean, shiny side, but also the ugly, twisted, dirty side of them.

This is a seriously good author and a seriously good series. show less

Valerie Hart and her boyfriend Nick Blaskovich are adjusting to a new dynamics where she is a homicide detective, available at all hours, and he transferred to forensic technology with consistent hours. They are trying to have a romantic weekend when a murderer who hasn't killed in 6 years strikes again out of nowhere. His accomplice Katherine Glass was given the death penalty and waits in jail. The mystery killer demands the she be released or he will continue to kill. With each murder, show more they get closer and closer to Valerie and her loved ones. The only clues sent are ones that Katherine can decipher due to shared memories and references. Can Valerie catch the killer before he does irreparable damage to her family?

Lovemurder is the second book in the Valerie Hart series. The first was good, but I had some problems with it. This second one is so much better. Valerie is in a much better place. Her relationship with Nick is stable and she's even thinking about having kids. They're adjusting their dynamic since Nick transferred out of homicide. He's the househusband, cooking dinners, making plans, and being left alone when she has to rush off on an investigation. Since he's done the job, he completely understands her and there's really no conflict there, just a bit of guilt on her part for becoming so absorbed with her job. I love their relationship. They fit together so well and there's no hidden resentment or grudges. It's heartwarming and balances the dark parts of the book.

On the other side, Katherine Glass captured public hatred due to the brutal nature of crimes she committed that contrasts with her beauty and intelligence. She knows how to get under someone's skin and enjoys mind games especially with Valerie. I liked seeing how their dynamic had changed since the first time they interacted with Valerie beocming much less easy to shake and Katherine a bit cowed by her time in prison. Katherine's relationship with her murderous partner looked so similar to a loving relationship in the videos they made while they raped, tortured, and murdered women that it's grotesque. Working with her is a nightmare since she enjoys making everyone as uncomfortable as possible and it gives her leverage for getting things she wants. You never know if she's just bored or if she has some sort of plan going on underneath it all. The only think known about her partner is that he's amazing with technology and as well educated as her. I didn't know who he was at all and I was pretty surprised when it was revealed.

Lovemurder has a bit of a silly title, but contains lots of twists and turns that I didn't expect. Black's writing kept me reading for hours and replicated a Lecter-Starling-esque relationship that wasn't a carbon copy. The tension builds as it goes along and gets more intense. I found it far superior than the first in the series and I would love to see where it goes next. There's no sequel listed anywhere, but I'll have my eye out for it. show less

I was ready to anoint The Killing Lessons a new classic in the psychological thriller genre about 2/3 of the way through. It had such vividness, brutal yet humane, finely drawn characters and just absolutely word perfect prose, deliciously crafted sentences I wanted to eat with a spoon. However, the book stumbled somewhat down the stretch with a somewhat anticlimactic and overlong denouement. But still, a quality thriller with well above average writing.

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Saul Black (aka British author, Glen Duncan) delivers THE KILLING LESSONS, a dark, taunt, and shocking psycho-crime suspense literary thriller, which will leave your head spinning! Making it difficult sleep after reading this one, with heart-pounding adrenaline.

As the mutilated bodies mount and the objects collected inside them scream, sicko-- a poor little girl barely escapes, injured, show more collapses and lands on a cabin door in the remote woods in the snow.

The man at the cabin is crippled, can barely walk; no phone, electricity, and a bridge washed out. Grieving his late loving wife, and all the while an alcoholic detective cop in San Francisco, is fighting against all odds, desperately trying to track down two serial killers before their next kill.

Flashing back and forth with three powerful parallel storylines, crossing several genres, Black's writing is pure spellbinding!

Set in the brutal cold harsh winter of snow, in a small town of Ellinson, pop. 697, outside of Colorado, two armed and dangerous men turn the Cooper family house into a blood bath. A mother, Rowena is left for dead, and her thirteen-year-old son, Josh, upstairs with his headphones listening to music, oblivious to the events unfolding downstairs.

Nell, the ten-year-old daughter, happens to be outside feeding the deer, and hears a gunshot and rushes into the farmhouse, while the men are upstairs. Her mother did not have time to get to the gun to defend herself, and she knows there is no time for her daughter to save them, without being harmed.

The mother tells Nell to run as fast as she can. All Nell can see is blood everywhere and the man, is soon following her out into the woods- her red coat. She fears for her life. She has to escape. She has to get help for her mother and brother. She has to stay alive. She always carries her bracelet in her pocket; her mother gave her to protect herself, handed down for generations.

The Old Mystery Guy lived in a remote cabin across the ravine. His name was Angelo Greer. He had moved in the previous week, to the derelict place over the bridge, a mile east of the Coopers. They had not met him. The bridge was not safe and had been closed for more than two years. He walks with a stick, an author, which is grieving the love of his late wife who died of cancer.

A woman is found dead, raped and mutilated with a piece of a crystal unicorn inserted in her body in the California area. SFPD homicide detective Valerie Hart links this crime and another Bay Area slaying to a string of murders of women in several states across the western U.S., in each of which the killers—DNA evidence suggests there are two --all with an embedded object.

Detective, Valerie has issues, from being an alcoholic and a love life gone wrong. Carla is an FBI agent, which does not get along with Valeria, (undermining her efforts) causing further problems,a nemesis, and her ex- fiancé cop, Nick –all to distract her. However, Valerie is tenacious and will stop at nothing to catch these cold-hearted killers.

Meanwhile, most of the book is about the two sadistic serial killers and their demons traveling across country in an RV. Monsters created by horrific child abuse, Xander/Leon and Paulie -on a mission; to rape, torture, and murder aided by some elements where letters of the alphabet are involved.

Flashing back and forth from the Xander-Leon/Paulie, to Nell/ Angelo, to Valeria/Carla/Nick, a race against time as poor Nell and Angelo will break your heart (this was my favorite part), as they try to help one another, both at a disability, before the killers come to get them for an explosive ending.

THE KILLING LESSONS is one fast-paced, edgy, disturbing, twisted, and terrifying dark crime, cop, psycho-thriller combined with characters you root for, and some you want dead soon, rather than later. Mind-blowing, entertaining; film worthy and can only imagine the cast of stars. Gives new meaning to edge-of-your seat in all categories.

Loved, loved the author/recluse, Angelo and Nell. Priceless. The sacrifices he made to try and save Nell (she can identify one of the guys), all the while talking to his dead wife. I found myself skipping over the violent scenes with the killers, and the cops, rushing to get back to the cabin to learn the fate of these two stranded victims.

“All fear was, in the end, fear of death. Once you knew you were dying, there was nothing left to fear. It gave you the last great gift; infinite courage.”

I am all for reinvention; however, in this case, not needed, as no matter the name chosen for the book cover; It is Killer. It Rocks. Oh, BTW, did I mention, Black’s writing is captivating! Can't wait to see what's next. show less