A Perfect Evil

What a gruesomely fun read! A serial killer is killing little boys, carving them up and leaving them on the riverbank. The FBI's best profiler, Maggie O'Dell is called in to assist the local Sheriff, Nick Morelli, on the case. This story moves pretty fast, so you really need to buckle in. I also really like how it wasn't only about the case, there were other issues, feelings, and situations all going on and making it difficult to trust your instincts on who was really the killer. The ending was satisfying in it's dissatisfaction if that makes any sense (I do believe it will when you read it). I most definitely will continue on with the series, I'm hooked!

By page 100 I was ready to give up due to the flat characters and awkward stabs at "sexual tension" between the two emotionally damaged protagonists (Maggie's "voluptuous figure" going up against Nick's "dreamy blue eyes and hairy chest")...groan... Furthermore there wasn't a whole lot of actual police work being done just yelling, heated confrontations, and smouldering looks as Nick and Maggie fumble towards first base like a pair of lovesick teenagers. But by the second half Kava began putting the thrill back in thriller and the pages practically flew by. And then the ending came. Rather than tying everything together she left too many dangling threads plus a cheap non-resolution that read like an ad for the next book in the series. I show more can't help but feel slightly cheated. show less

When I read the last page of A Perfect Evil, I wanted more. No...scratch that....I needed more. And I found myself frustrated that I didn't have the second book sitting right there ready to be read. Because obviously I didn't know that I was going to NEED to read the second book instantly especially when the beginning of this book didn't really blow me away. But by the end....oh the end just left me wanting to continue on and keep reading. But I'm getting ahead of myself so let me tell you what this book is about.

A Perfect Evil is a thriller that begins when a young boy is found murdered after he had gone missing a few days earlier. The murder is eerily similar to a couple of previous killings with the problem being that the convicted show more murderer for those crimes has been recently executed. The question remains if the police have a copycat killer on their hands. And then another boy goes missing....

I'm going to admit that at first I didn't think that I was going to like this book. As a parent it is never easy for me to read books where the crimes being perpetrated are against children. Plus, the author isn't afraid to share all of the gory details that went along with the killings and I started to pull away a bit as a reader. The saving grace of the book for me was Maggie O'Dell and Sheriff Nick Morrelli. Both main characters came across so realistically to me and both were flawed. I loved that! I found it all too easy to connect with both of the main characters which is always a positive in my opinion. I found that for me these two made the book. I loved the chemistry that developed between them, I appreciated the obstacles that they were up against, and I cannot wait to see what future books have in store for them. Because nothing in this book was easy to figure out including the mystery itself. And just when I thought that it was done and everything was figured out, I realized that there was more. And maybe even a little more after that. Let me tell you that these twists and turns really had me turning the pages. I've already mentioned the ending but it bears repeating that the ending left me wanting. I'm so eager to continue on that I'm already planning on grabbing the 2nd book when I visit the used bookstore next time. Or if I decide I can't wait until then a library trip will be in order.

Overall, this was a very solid thriller that was made better because of the main characters. I liked that the author didn't give us all of the answers, and I found that it just made me more curious about future books. My only warning before recommending this book is the violence against children issue. If you are squeamish at all (and I was at times) when it comes to this, then you might not enjoy this book as much as I did. I was able to get past it though mainly because of my curiosity and connection to the characters. Otherwise, highly recommended!

Bottom Line: A thriller that made me wish I had book 2 instantly!

Disclosure: I bought my copy of this book from the used bookstore. I just passed it on to my Mom because I thought it was that good :) show less

Convicted serial killer Ronald Jeffreys was just been executed for the murder of three young boys. Three months after his death, the body of a boy is found butchered in the same style as Jeffrey's victims. Platte City, Nebraska Sheriff Nick Morrelli has no choice but to call in Maggie O'Dell, one of the best special agents in the FBI. Told from multiple points of view, including the killer, we soon discover the boys are being killed as a means of being saved.

The book is fast-paced with enough details to keep the story moving quickly along. Both Maggie and Nick have their own physical and emotional scars. If you're a fan of books feTuring serial killer tracked by the FBI there's not much new here. I did think the characters are show more interesting enough for me to try the second book in the series,Split Second, which supposedly picks right up after this one and deals with Maggie's back story. show less

Read: April-May 2018
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

What I liked:
- The well-rounded main characters; Nick, Maggie and Christine were all complex and likeable.
- The writing style; I found A Perfect Evil easy to read and looked forward to picking it up whenever I had the chance.
- The bad guy(s); there were a couple of candidates for the killer and Kava kept me guessing almost to the very end.

What I didn't like:
- There were a couple of moments when characters made stupid decisions that didn't feel realistic and instead only happened to move the plot along. For example, if Maggie and Nick knew the killer was targeting single mothers with young sons, why didn't they warn Christine earlier? In a similar way, once Christine knew she and her son could show more potentially be targets why did she let him go out to play on his own, not get worried when he wasn't back at the house when she got home, and then just fall asleep without waiting up for him to get back? Another unrealistic action was Maggie's phone call with the elderly priest. When he revealed he had information about the killer and Maggie knew that someone else was listening in on the phone call, how did she not know that there was a chance the killer would now silence him? Two of their main suspects lived with the priest so there was a strong chance the killer was the one listening in on the line but she does nothing about it except arrange to meet him giving a specific time and place over the phone then acting shocked when the priest died in an 'accident' before their meeting! show less

Convicted serial killer Ronald Jeffreys was just been executed for the murder of three young boys. Three months after his death, the body of a boy is found butchered in the same style as Jeffrey's victims. Platte City, Nebraska Sheriff Nick Morrelli has no choice but to call in Maggie O'Dell, one of the best special agents in the FBI. Told from multiple points of view, including the killer, we soon discover the boys are being killed as a means of being saved.

The book is fast-paced with enough details to keep the story moving quickly along. Both Maggie and Nick have their own physical and emotional scars. If you're a fan of “serial killer tracked by the FBI” there's not much new here, but the characters are interesting enough for me show more to try the second book in the series,Split Second, which supposedly picks right up after this one and deals with Maggie's back story. show less

This was an okay book, but I found that I had a good bead on the plot early on. There weren't really any surprises, aside from the fact that the author felt the only way to generate sexual tension between characters was to have the male protagonist 'accidentally' brush a breast or thigh. Often. Like every time the two protagonists were together. That got old fast and felt a little juvenile. I've been in a book drought lately though, so it filled the empty space on my shelf for now. I might try another book in the series to see if the author progressed as the series continued.