The Killing Hour

This one will definitely stay with me for a while.

Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to read the One-line SPOILER ALERT:

I read a lot. Not many books give me a real WTH moment. The Killing Hour gave me one of those moments, okay, maybe a couple of those. I mean really, a live snake sewed into a corpse? Freaking genius.

The Killing Hour is chalk full of twists, suspense, and crazy What the Hell moments. The story follows Kimberly, a troubled woman with a debilitating past, midway through her FBI training when she stumbles upon the body of a dead woman just off the training course at Quantico. TheEco-Killer has struck again.

The Eco-Killer, a serial murderer whose M.O. is kidnapping young women in pairs who are out on the town, show more kills one immediately with clues to the whereabouts of the other, leaving the second woman in what is described as a “B-rated horror movie” setting, to see if she can (1) find her way out, or (2) be found before she succumbs to the elements.

As Kimberly and her by-chance partner, Mac, race the clock using the clues left by the killer to save one young woman, they come upon horrendous discoveries and face treacherous landscapes.

The Killing Hour moves so fast you won’t even know you are through reading it. An un-put-downable book if ever there was one.

Well done, Lisa Gardner. show less

Given to me as a Christmas gift by grandson, I started and could not put it down. Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite authors and writes several characters, both main and side characters that pique my interest and I want to learn more about. I already have some of her books, both in the Kimberly Quincy and Quincy and Rainie series and this book features all of them, parents and daughter. It gives a glimpse into pre-FBI profiler Kimberly and more about her family history, along with the mystery de jour. I was drawn in from the prologue. It was that good. I really need to get the whole series. While I did guess or half guess a couple of the points, there were still some twists I didn't see and it's well worth a read. I highly recommend. show more LOVE HER. Love the book. More please. show less

We meet Pierce Quincy whose specialty is profiling...and Rainie Connor, who are partners in a private investigating firm that the police have called in to help. The police are beginning to believe that there may be an inside implication. Not only that but this killer leaves clues on the body that points to the next victim. It's an interesting plot and a fantastic story but it did become bogged down with too many characters causing the reader to sometimes have to go back to see how that person fit into the storyline. I was slightly disappointed with the killers motive but that didn't distract from an otherwise well written and compelling adventure.

An article in Libby Life praised this, esp. for the setting.
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Shudder. Yeah, there's a reason I don't read thrillers. I did finish this page turner in one night, and I didn't have nightmares, but still. Unrealistic... the stamina of the heroes and the romance got less and less plausible as it went on, and then the ending was, to me, "oh, really? huh," iow a letdown because less interesting than the investment led me to believe it would be.

Otoh, I do see the appeal for readers who are into the genre. In fact, I'm going to suggest it to my husband before I return it to the library.

Btw, no need at all to read the first three in the series. Though it does help to have some knowledge of the infrastructure of the genre. For example it took show more me the longest time to figure out that ME is Medical Examiner. show less

Possibly the best of her books I've read so far! The Quincy/Rainie series is well and truly established by now. The characters have had a chance to develop and we know their backgrounds enough to feel attached to them.

The crime thriller really explores the 'behavioural analysis' / criminal mind aspects to the fullest potential in this novel, so if that's the genre you enjoy, you'll love this!

The suspense keeps you gripped from the very first sentence to the very last, with more twists and turns than you can ever imagine. What is different about this book, in particular, is that Lisa Gardner hasn't shied away from the more gruesome details of the victim's suffering. It makes for difficult reading at time, with plenty of cringeing and show more certainly isn't something I'd enjoy watching a film adaptation of, but Lisa's outstanding descriptive capabilities and her incredible flair for storytelling really work in this novel to bring every gruesome detail to life.

Well worth reading! show less

Kimberly Quincy, daughter of an retired FBI profiler, is in training at Quantico to become an agent. From the time she was a young child, she has wanted this career. Her intensity sharpened, however, when her mother and sister were killed by the same man. Kimberly escaped, but has never totally accepted that she survived. At the academy, she literally runs into Special Agent Mac McCormack a detective from Georgia. Mac is at the Academy because he's trying to catch a serial killer - one whose latest body is dropped right on Academy grounds. The race is on with Kimberly, Mac, her father Quincy, and his partner Rainie racing to save college-aged girls from the killer's clutches. An excellent read for suspense with enough twists to keep the show more reader engaged until the end. show less

It's been a while since I've read a suspenseful thriller that had me at the edge of my seat for the entire story.

On one of the hottest summer's day in Georgia, 2 women go to a bar and are never heard from again. One of them is found by the side of the road, dead. A few months later, the 2nd woman is found dead in a different area. The following year, on an extremely hot day, another 2 girls go to a bar and are never heard of again. One is found dead, by the side of the road. Her friend is found a few months later in an unrelated area.

The same thing happens twice more and then suddenly ... nothing. The Eco-killer, as the serial killer has come to be known, has gone to ground. Or has he?

Has he surfaced again, 5 years later, when another show more female body is found. Were there and are there, subtle clues on the bodies that are blatantly left to be found easily that could lead to the discovery of the other missing woman before she's dead?

Why is Special Agent McCormack receiving calls from someone claiming to know who the killer is, and warning him of future kills?

A new FBI recruit, with her own traumatic past, teams up with McCormack to find the 2nd girl before dies. Add to this team, a profiler, the FBI, the NCIS, geologists, dendrologist, linguist ... and you have a race against time, with seemingly obscure clues, snakes, vicious bugs, and the killing heat.

There are surprises at every corner, just when you think you've cracked the case, identified the serial killer, or identified one of the girls, a sharp twist flips you upside down and leaves you reevaluating what you thought you knew.

A fantastic suspenseful thriller. show less