The Cutting Room

Set in Miami, this is a corker of a crime thriller.

The main characters, detective Manny Alvarez, Assistant State Attorney Daria De Bianchi and prosecutor C.J Townsend are well drawn and likeable. They all have flaws and baggage which impact on their careers and day to day lives.

The story begins with the discovery of a body in a dumpster. The victim is a missing student and it is obvious that she has been brutally tortured before death.

Manny and Daria are working together on the case and have arrested a hot shot, over indulged playboy Talbot Lunders. Lunders was spotted leaving a nightclub with the dumpster vicitm, but there is no evidence to link him to her actual murder. Enter one William Bantling, an infamous serial killer serving show more time on Death Row. He promises a lead.....but only in return for his death sentence to be commuted. Then, bizzarely, Lunder's doting mother supplies a video which shows a young woman being subjected to what looks like S & M. Is it consentual? Is it a snuff movie? Indeed is there evidence of a so called snuff club where online voyeurs pay a shed load of cash to watch young women being sexually tortured, raped and killed? Does this exonerate her son? Is the dumpster victim more likely a puppet in this snuff club scenario?

One person knows first hand how it is to be raped and tortured and barely make it out alive. That is Chloe aka C. J. Townsend.....or thats her name right now. She is the prosecutor who put William Bantling behind bars. What she didn't reveal is that she was one of his first victims. Living under an assumed name in Chicago and, as a successful prosecutor, still putting the bad guys away, she is the last person who wants to be dragged in to this drama. However, there is little choice..............

This is a gripping story and it keeps it's pace for the most part. A little overlong, it did drag a little about a third of the way through, but warmed up again to the point I couldn't put it down! A great "beach read" and, although not quite as brilliant as "Pretty Little Things" I can still recommend it whole heartedly. show less

When I'm completely honest, I'm disappointed by this book. I had hped when I started, to be reading a book more like book 1 in this series.
I missed the really sitting on the edge of my chair while reading. I was constantly waiting for someting to hapoen, something thrilling. But the story just went on and on, without anything special. And the ending.... Well it was not the one I would have picked, it leaves me with even more disappointment.

A student is found murdered in Florida. She had undergone horrific torture prior to death. Focus centers on Talbot Lunders, a young playboy from a family accustomed to buying its way out of trouble. He looks good for it, and Detective Manny Alvarez intends to get a conviction, with the help of new prosecutor Daria DeBianchi, known for her aggressive prosecutions.

Talbot's mother throws a wrench into the case by showing the police a video of a killing very similar to the one her son is accused of, except this killing took place in New York at a time when he could not have been there. She suggests that the killer is the same person and her son is innocent.

But Manny and Daria have other thoughts. Could Talbot be part of a group that once show more contained notorious serial killer William Bantling? They land on this theory because of what Bantling had once said to Manny in prison.

Tracking down the threads that bring the case together is hard, and not everything goes well. While Daria gets up to speed on her new job her predecessor is working in Santa Barbara under a different name, in hopes of avoiding a killer. She had prosecuted Bantling and she knows he has connections and she knows he is out to get her.

Nothing goes to plan, and our heroes have to move fast to save another life or more. show less

Spannend boek waarbij een nogal bizar fenomeen voorkomt. De snuffclub. Manny Alvarez en Daria Debianchi oeken de moord op een jonge vrouw die behoorlijk toegetakeld in een vuilcontainer is gevonden. Hun zoektocht naar de daders legt nog veel meer van dergelijke moorden bloot. Maar er moet steeds een andere dader zijn. En dan krijgen ze een stukje van een video toegespeeld. Spannend tot het einde. Hoewel die laatste draai een beetje overbodig was.