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Formerly a child of the streets, now a brilliant computer hacker and NYPD sergeant, Kathleen Mallory's powerful intelligence is matched only by the ferocity with which she pursues her own unpredictable vision of right and wrong. And she will need every bit of that intensity now, in a murder case that strikes close to home in more ways than one..
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If you're the type of reader who prefers likable, touchy feely main characters, move away from this book (and the entire series). Kathy Mallory is not the character for you. Found living on the streets as a young child, she was taken in and raised by a police officer and his wife, both of whom soon realized that Mallory's sociopathic tendencies required special handling. Mallory does not form relationships like normal people. She doesn't bond; she doesn't chit chat; she doesn't smile; and she certainly doesn't laugh. She's like a hand grenade with a loose pin-- Handle With Care. A small portion of her past is revealed in The Man Who Cast Two Shadows, and although readers will be moved to feel compassion towards her, rest assured that show more Mallory herself will show none to anyone.
The plot is tight and suspenseful, dealing with the woman's death, Mallory's toying with a killer, and a boy who may have telekinetic powers. The setting of New York City could be declared one of the cast of characters. O'Connell shows a touch of poetry now and again in her prose, but the tone of her poetry is bleak. More of the story could be told from Mallory's point of view, and there are a few too many times when we're told about her behavior rather than seeing it for ourselves. All in all, Mallory is like a black hole at the very heart of this book, and if you can withstand her gravitational pull and resist the need for her to change, you are in for a treat involving one of the most fascinating characters in crime fiction. show less
The plot is tight and suspenseful, dealing with the woman's death, Mallory's toying with a killer, and a boy who may have telekinetic powers. The setting of New York City could be declared one of the cast of characters. O'Connell shows a touch of poetry now and again in her prose, but the tone of her poetry is bleak. More of the story could be told from Mallory's point of view, and there are a few too many times when we're told about her behavior rather than seeing it for ourselves. All in all, Mallory is like a black hole at the very heart of this book, and if you can withstand her gravitational pull and resist the need for her to change, you are in for a treat involving one of the most fascinating characters in crime fiction. show less
The badly beaten and decomposed body of a tall blonde woman is found in a New York City park, and when a label inside her blazer states it belongs to Kathleen Mallory the entire NYPD seems to find out in minutes that Mallory is dead. It isn't till her erstwhile partner Riker actually sees the body that he can – with great relief – correct the ID – by which time the press has already gotten the news … The connection makes this personal for Mallory, and – suspension or no suspension (a separate entity from her bereavement leave of the first book), assignment or no assignment, she will be investigating this murder.
The actual victim becomes another character in the cast, as Mallory discovers an unfinished novel on her computer show more which seems to be her own thinly veiled story – a tale of seduction, pregnancy, and loss, terminating abruptly in midsentence with the words YOU LIAR typed over and over. Mallory is certain that whoever the other half of the victim's real-life affair was had to be the killer; from there it is a matter of determining which of a handful of suspects he is, and what the lie was.
There is a secondary storyline in which a boy whose IQ is off the charts is brought to Charles by his father and stepmother in hopes that a seemingly small but increasingly menacing mystery can be solved: objects have a tendency to fly through the air when the boy is around. His mother died; his first stepmother killed herself; stepmother #2 is growing hysterical with the situation, especially as some of the objects tend to fly toward her, and some of them are pointy. Charles, in his capacity as a genius who evaluates other emerging geniuses, is asked to look into this situation.
Once again, as in Mallory's Oracle, there is an element of magic to the story, an almost paranormal edge, only beginning with the possible telekinesis. It's uncomfortable here, because … is what's happening evidence that a character I like is losing his mind, or is it what it starts out to be, a wildly unique method of investigation? We'll never really know, I suppose. Poor bugger.
Mallory herself is an almost paranormal presence. She is repeatedly described as a sociopath, and this takes some getting used to: a sociopath on the side of the law. Conditioning makes me expect bloodshed and mayhem when I hear (or read) the word – which is not to say that Mallory blinks at either bloodshed or mayhem. However, her conditioning has trained her to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and she knows – as schoolchildren know the state capitals, by rote – that one does not harm the innocent, annoying as they might be, and one ought not to harm the guilty either but merely apprehend them. The part of that she seems to like is that "ought not" is less rigid than "shalt not", which makes hunting and apprehending the guilty more her cup of tea.
The writing is graceful and smart. If Mallory remains something of a cipher, the characters who surround her are wonderful – everyone should have such a support system. (It might be heart-breaking in reality to see such love and care squandered on someone who shows nothing in return, but in fiction it's a good plot device.) The story is handled in a manner unique to O'Connell. All in all, it's the supporting cast and the writing which keep me coming back. show less
The actual victim becomes another character in the cast, as Mallory discovers an unfinished novel on her computer show more which seems to be her own thinly veiled story – a tale of seduction, pregnancy, and loss, terminating abruptly in midsentence with the words YOU LIAR typed over and over. Mallory is certain that whoever the other half of the victim's real-life affair was had to be the killer; from there it is a matter of determining which of a handful of suspects he is, and what the lie was.
There is a secondary storyline in which a boy whose IQ is off the charts is brought to Charles by his father and stepmother in hopes that a seemingly small but increasingly menacing mystery can be solved: objects have a tendency to fly through the air when the boy is around. His mother died; his first stepmother killed herself; stepmother #2 is growing hysterical with the situation, especially as some of the objects tend to fly toward her, and some of them are pointy. Charles, in his capacity as a genius who evaluates other emerging geniuses, is asked to look into this situation.
Once again, as in Mallory's Oracle, there is an element of magic to the story, an almost paranormal edge, only beginning with the possible telekinesis. It's uncomfortable here, because … is what's happening evidence that a character I like is losing his mind, or is it what it starts out to be, a wildly unique method of investigation? We'll never really know, I suppose. Poor bugger.
Mallory herself is an almost paranormal presence. She is repeatedly described as a sociopath, and this takes some getting used to: a sociopath on the side of the law. Conditioning makes me expect bloodshed and mayhem when I hear (or read) the word – which is not to say that Mallory blinks at either bloodshed or mayhem. However, her conditioning has trained her to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and she knows – as schoolchildren know the state capitals, by rote – that one does not harm the innocent, annoying as they might be, and one ought not to harm the guilty either but merely apprehend them. The part of that she seems to like is that "ought not" is less rigid than "shalt not", which makes hunting and apprehending the guilty more her cup of tea.
The writing is graceful and smart. If Mallory remains something of a cipher, the characters who surround her are wonderful – everyone should have such a support system. (It might be heart-breaking in reality to see such love and care squandered on someone who shows nothing in return, but in fiction it's a good plot device.) The story is handled in a manner unique to O'Connell. All in all, it's the supporting cast and the writing which keep me coming back. show less
I'm not sure how to rate this novel. I completely despised the main character, sociopath Kathy Mallory, also a member of the police force. I find her detestable which is maybe the point. How would you be if you were out on the streets at age 6 for 4 years before being arrested by Louis Markowitz who adopts you, gives you the best of everything, but he himself is now dead.
Mallory (never Kathy), is reported as murdered based on the clothes of the decedent. Instead, Mallory is determined to uncover the truth about who killed Amanda and why.
I found there to be a somewhat interesting group of supporting characters, but everyone lies, everyone deceives (the good guys and the bad guys), and everyone is in love with the sociopath. Makes no show more sense. She's a bitch and an unforgiving one at that. show less
Mallory (never Kathy), is reported as murdered based on the clothes of the decedent. Instead, Mallory is determined to uncover the truth about who killed Amanda and why.
I found there to be a somewhat interesting group of supporting characters, but everyone lies, everyone deceives (the good guys and the bad guys), and everyone is in love with the sociopath. Makes no show more sense. She's a bitch and an unforgiving one at that. show less
Mallory is a great character - razor sharp, both in intellect and personality. In this second installment, Kathy solves several pending cases at the same time (sardonically likening the schemes she's running to preparing a large dinner and trying to get everything to come out at the same time.) A story line about a kid who may or may not be able to wield knives through the air using only his mind is weird and distracting, though. Some dark humor but a sad and mournful tone throughout - both about Kathy and the victim's tragic end.
This book is one of a series of books by Carol O'Connell about a beautiful, damaged, maverick, and almost sociopathic detective named Kathleen Mallory (who insists on being called simply "Mallory"), and the people that love her despite her flaws: Charles, an intelligent, rich, but ugly family friend; Lou, the cop that takes her in; and Riker, her adopted father's partner. The relationships that develop between these characters as they solve crimes together are the focus of the series.
This story (the second in the series), starts with Riker visiting the morgue to identify what he thinks is Mallory's body; Mallory then goes undercover to discover who killed the woman in the morgue. Riveting, sad, and interesting story.
This story (the second in the series), starts with Riker visiting the morgue to identify what he thinks is Mallory's body; Mallory then goes undercover to discover who killed the woman in the morgue. Riveting, sad, and interesting story.
i liked this at the outset but the middle dipped in energy, and in holding my attention. still, it was a fast, pretty fun read. i remember who recommended that i read this, but i'm not sure why, unless maybe it's the strong female lead character. although she's pretty unlikeable, and could have at least been nice to the cat if not to people. i think she was just a tad too close to being sociopathic for my comfort. also i didn't like the side stuff about calling up the dead. the other "paranormal" stuff felt more like it belonged in the story. i don't know, parts of this were really well written, and then there were parts that she could have done better. but overall it's a decent little detective story.
This is the second in the series and the second I have read.
I now realize that there is a touch of the supernatural here. I didn't quite grasp it in the first novel. Kathleen Mallory's close friend, Charles Butler, with whom she has gone into a partnership in investigations, is a brilliant and odd character. He is in love with Mallory but knows he does not cut the figure he thinks she should have as a love partner. He is funny-looking and has funny habits. It's clear in any case that she values him, though.
Charles has an eidetic memory. Also known as photographic memory. There have been no cases in the real world of adults possessing such a memory, and certainly none as acute as Charles'. He uses his memory in this case to construct a show more "succubus" of a woman now dead, so he can talk to her and ask her questions. It's all very strange. Yet both Mallory and Butler contend that there is no such thing as magic or supernatural powers. This had me shaking my head.
The story in brief: a young woman jumps off a subway platform to her death. Mallory is close by but not close enough to save her when she realizes what she is doing. Meanwhile another young woman dies by the hand of some mysterious person in a park.
Mallory is determined to find out why the subway woman took her own life. Everything seemed to be going well for her until she learned something that changed her. But what? This is where Charles gets involved. He reads a manuscript the young woman had been working on, and discovers the parallels to the woman's own life.
There is much more to it and to Mallory's character. Mallory comes off as uncaring but sticking to her own sense of moral rights. In a way it reminds me of Dexter - who learned how to use his own compulsion to kill into a compulsion to kill only specific very bad guys. Not that Mallory is a killer -at least not yet, now as far as we know - but she behaves in a way that is often at odds with society's norms, but sticks to her own rules, limits.
I was disappointed by the supernatural aspects. Do we really need this? Some people obviously enjoy it. I will finish reading what books I have in this series and that will be the end of it for me. The books are well-written and intelligently plotted, so they do deserve the praise given them. show less
I now realize that there is a touch of the supernatural here. I didn't quite grasp it in the first novel. Kathleen Mallory's close friend, Charles Butler, with whom she has gone into a partnership in investigations, is a brilliant and odd character. He is in love with Mallory but knows he does not cut the figure he thinks she should have as a love partner. He is funny-looking and has funny habits. It's clear in any case that she values him, though.
Charles has an eidetic memory. Also known as photographic memory. There have been no cases in the real world of adults possessing such a memory, and certainly none as acute as Charles'. He uses his memory in this case to construct a show more "succubus" of a woman now dead, so he can talk to her and ask her questions. It's all very strange. Yet both Mallory and Butler contend that there is no such thing as magic or supernatural powers. This had me shaking my head.
The story in brief: a young woman jumps off a subway platform to her death. Mallory is close by but not close enough to save her when she realizes what she is doing. Meanwhile another young woman dies by the hand of some mysterious person in a park.
Mallory is determined to find out why the subway woman took her own life. Everything seemed to be going well for her until she learned something that changed her. But what? This is where Charles gets involved. He reads a manuscript the young woman had been working on, and discovers the parallels to the woman's own life.
There is much more to it and to Mallory's character. Mallory comes off as uncaring but sticking to her own sense of moral rights. In a way it reminds me of Dexter - who learned how to use his own compulsion to kill into a compulsion to kill only specific very bad guys. Not that Mallory is a killer -at least not yet, now as far as we know - but she behaves in a way that is often at odds with society's norms, but sticks to her own rules, limits.
I was disappointed by the supernatural aspects. Do we really need this? Some people obviously enjoy it. I will finish reading what books I have in this series and that will be the end of it for me. The books are well-written and intelligently plotted, so they do deserve the praise given them. show less
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Author Information
19+ Works 8,800 Members
Author Carol O'Connell was born in 1947. She attended the California Institute or Arts/Chouinard and Arizona State University, where she studied art. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a freelance proofreader and copy editor as well as occasionally selling her paintings. At the age of 46, she wrote the first book in the Kathleen show more Mallory series and sold it to a British publisher. Her title The Chalk Girl made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Man Who Cast Two Shadows; The Man Who Lied to Women
- Alternate titles
- The Man Who Lied to Women (UK) (UK)
- Original publication date
- 1995
- People/Characters
- Kathy Mallory; Detective Sergeant Riker; Charles Butler; Lt. Jack Coffee; Harry Kipling; Justin Riccolo (show all 8); Judge Heart; Arthur
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA
- Dedication
- This book is dedicated to an old friend, Richard Hughes, who does not sleep at night, but spends these hours counseling terrified children over the anonymous crisis lines—and to Covenant House, which shelters children who c... (show all)annot go home again.
- First words
- Rain rat-tatted on the plastic hood of her slicker.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And if he could ever bring himself to it, he would tell her yes—for he had believed the gun was loaded when he shot the boy, and shot to kill—for Mallory's sake.
- Blurbers
- Kellerman, Jonathan; Hiaasen, Carl; Vachss, Andrew
- Disambiguation notice
- The Man Who Cast Two Shadows (US); The Man who Lied to Women (UK)
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 691
- Popularity
- 40,996
- Reviews
- 14
- Rating
- (3.84)
- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 28
- ASINs
- 2
