Cherry Bomb

If you haven't read any of the books in the series, then you need to read the first one and enjoy the ride.

CHerry Bomb is such a great read! The books opens right where the last book leaves off. A psycho serial killer has killed someone in Jack's life that she loves, and in the first sentence of this book we find out who it is. For obvious reasons, I won't say who it is, you'll have to read it to find out.

This is a great cat and mouse between Alex Kork who is taunting Jack by killing everyone she loves and wants a final showdown between her and Jack. And what a show down this is. This book has a way that keeps the reader hooked till the final page. I pretty much read it in a 24 hour period, I hated to put it down, it was that good.

I show more love the character of Harry! Honestly, I was laughing out loud at him, and what Harry said and did. He was just to funny. I also loves Slappy. I won't deprive you on the experience of finding out who he is, but he's a hoot too.

I also liked this book because it shows Jack Daniels darker side. As a reader, we really get to see the toll this cat and mouse game takes on Jack, and it's not pretty. That just adds to Jack's character.

I. Loved. This. Book. I hateed to see it end. If you've read all of the books in the series, you have to read this one. As I said if you haven't read the series, then do yourself a favor and start the series and enjoy the ride. You don't be sorry, I sure wasn't.

I hope there are more in the series. I love Harry, funny as all get out. :O) He's a piece of work that you can't help but to love. show less

Cherry Bomb
3 Stars

In the aftermath of the attack on her home and the death of a loved one, Lieutenant Jack Daniels must confront the darkest side of her soul and decide whether vengeance against the maniacal Alex Kork is worth the price of her badge and her honor.

Not up to Konrath's usual standards.

The characterization takes a weird and irritating turn. Who is the whiny woman who has taken over Jack Daniels' body? Since when did Phin become so smarmy? How could Harry McGlade possibly get even more grotesque? Why can't Alex Kork just die? And where the hell is Mr. Friskers?

The cat vs. mouse storyline between Jack and Alex Kork has gone on for far too long and the descriptions of Alex's sadism and violence are excessive and completely show more unnecessary. They do nothing to ratchet up the tension, and it is impossible to care about any of the victims as they are completely underdeveloped stereotypical placeholders rather than actual characters.

While this series has been enjoyable over all, Cherry Bomb is a lackluster installment and the time has come for me to take a break from Jack for the time being or lose interest for good. show less

Wow! The sixth book took off like a rocket!

A small backstory:

Jack ended up dealing with a tragedy in the last book "Fuzzy Navel" so this book opens up right on the heels of the last book as she has to deal with an emotional upheaval along with tracking down Alex Kork as things went awry in the last book.

Alex goes on another killing spree and Jack has to get help from her friends Harry and Phin to track down Alex before she kills again, but Jack is in hot water with her job so she has to go out on her own and break some laws to track down Alex.

Alex has lots of tricks up her sleeves and lots of weapons to do whatever she needs to do to make Jack suffer. Alex keeps slipping out of Jack's reach while all the time trying to kill off people show more that mean something to Jack. There is quite a bit of a cat and mouse game within this storyline as the closer that Jack seems to get to Alex the further away she slips.

Thoughts:

This book was different as well as the author had every other chapter for the villain Alex and her criminal activities. The chapters go back and forth like that through the whole book.

This book had lots of the humorous banter once again and I found myself laughing a lot with this story. There was lots of action along with a fast paced storyline that kept me guessing and the author threw some twists in there as well. Giving this one five "Vindictive Villain" stars.

For more thoughts on this review, please see my blog:
https://booknookretreat.blogspot.com/2021/08/cherry-bomb-jack-daniels-mystery-6-... show less

Reeling from the death of a loved one at Alex's hand, Jack is caught in a web of hunting Alex down before she kills everyone Jack loves. Dangerous cat and mouse game with McGlade & Phin backing her up, Jack must make a life or death decision. Thrilling page turner with Jack matching wits with psycho Alex, humor from McGlade and his new pet, and Phin's friendship all round out an excellent installment of this series.

In this novel, the sixth book of the eight book Lt Jack Daniels series,
Jack returns with all of her pals, including Herb, her partner who is
apparently the size of a sumo wrestler, Phinn, the pool hall hustler who
is dying of cancer, Harry, the former cop turned private eye who can't
help being obnoxious, and, most importantly, Alex, the female serial
killer who has escaped from prison and more than anything wants
revenge on Jack. The story consists of alternating chapters telling the
tale from both Jack and Alex's point of views. it is a fastpaced, easy-
reading tale. The chase is on when Jack receives a call from Alex at
Latham's funeral and it is nonstop action to the end. On the way, the
road is littered with blood and bodies and show more destruction. This also may
prove to be the end of Jack's career with the police force. show less

I've been reading this series since it started with Whiskey Sour and couldn't stop raving about it. I was eagerly anticipating this book since Fuzzy Navels heart stopping, cliff hanger of an ending. The past books had enough humor and irreverence to make up for all the horror. They were wonderful police procedural's as well as mysteries. The reason why I gave this book such a low rating is that I know that JA Konrath could have done so much better. After all, as I said, he managed to hook me into this series with his other books. So had he made more of an effort to keep our adrenaline jacked with more than just a series of random killings that did nothing to move the plot along I may have been a little less harsh in my review.

But this show more offering is nothing but non-stop gratuitous murder, yes we get the fact that Kork is a nut case and this is her reason for living, but a break would have been nice, there is no humor and the fact that Jack would have had sex so soon (I would explain why this is disturbing to me, but it would mean adding something that would spoil the book for those who haven't read it yet) doesn't ring true and only goes to show that men authors may not really want to write books from a woman's POV.

Too much of this book forces me to suspend disbelief to the point that I may as well have been reading a paranormal. The characters have not developed any farther than they had in the last book and in that one they hadn't changed one iota from the previous books, and the added character in the way of a monkey that throws his feces at everyone is well, maybe it's something a teenage boy would find hilarious, I didn't.

I recommend that if you must read this because you have a compulsive need to keep up with a series, then wait and buy it in paper back. I'm sorry that I got it in hard cover and didn't buy it for my Kindle. At least I wouldn't feel so cheated. show less

Thinking about it, Alex knows that with the mutual destruction of both hers and Jacks families has left them even but, a psychopath can only think that complete painful elimination of all Jack's family and friends is the only balance for her. So she calls Jack and tells her she is coming after her again and of course, Jack repeats the threat back at Alex. After all, Alex had beat Jack to the hospital and killed her fiance when the ambulance pulled up to the hospital emergency dock as well as all the staff on the dock. This is an exciting dual between blood enemies but, Alex has no conscience and Jack has to make provisions to protect her family and friends. Surely, the match doesn't seem too even. Much suspense, tension and excitement show more while the contest plays out. Konrath mixes dark visions with humor! show less