Knock Out

This Catherine Coulter thriller featured two unusual sets of culprits to catch. A little girl named Autumn has gone to a small town with her mother to hide, then run away. She inisits someone awful is after her. When we finally learn the truth, it’s far creepier than one might imagine.

Savich, who has a penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is minding his own business at the bank, when a notorious gang of robbers come in to rob the place. They take hostages, a shootout ensues, and one of the survivors develops a grudge that means he’ll have to find her before she finds him. Another strange culprit in this one, a sixteen year old girl. Following these two mysteries across small towns was quite interesting!

Please show more excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Yes indeedy, I do like Catherine Coulter's 'FBI' series starring agents with grit, smarts, a kicka$$ computer, humor, and the occasional 'gifts'. "Knock Out" is her latest novel set in the world of Savich and Sherlock and it is...a knock out.

This time Savich and Sherlock are working two cases at the same time. The first involves a gang of vicious bank robbers who kill security guards for no reason other than 'fun'. The second involves a special girl named Autumn, who first speaks to Savich in his sleep. Autumn is being hunted for her 'talents' by a paranormal cult group who have named themselves after a devil-worshiping 1500s cult. So which case will be important? When it comes down to it, do you rescue one small girl on the run or hunt show more down two indiscrimite killers?

I'm not sure which group of 'bad guys' were creepier. Both could be classified as 'nutjobs' (that's the clinical term doncha you know), but both treated the lives of others as 'cheap change'. I'm wondering if we'll see more of Autumn in a later novel (which I would LOVE to read); or quite possibly one of the characters from the cult who may have gotten away.

"Knock Out" grabbed me from page one and the action never slowed. There's no real romance or sex in Coulter's recent FBI novels, but that doesn't affect my enjoyment one bit. She almost always manages to throw me a few curveballs that I never saw coming and yet when I'm finished, I can only wonder how I didn't catch on before! Her characters are real to me and their dilemmas and reactions make me think. Smart, sexy, action mysteries. Is that a genre? If it's not, it should be and Catherine Coulter is an author that needs to be at the top of the author list for it. If you enjoy hold-your-breath action, well-plotted mystery, and a little 'woo woo'; and you have a few hours to read...grab "Knock Out" and tune out the world. show less

A fast and entertaining read with two main stories converging. For fans of Coulter, familiar characters Savich and Sherlock continue to fight evil with spunk. A touch of super powers mixed in to spice it up. A second set of protagonists and antagonists makes it seem like two stories in one! I've always felt dialogue is as fast and clever (no one is that witty in conversation all the time!) as the action but at least it doesn't slow up the pace of the story. Bad guys are super evil and crazy to boot. Coulter still knows how to spin a good yarn.

Ok. I was expecting more FBI and less paranormal. I thought it dragged on. They should have killed Blessed as soon as they could have.

I wanted to like this book - I liked the characters, I liked the premise. I abhorred the DIALOUGE. Who speaks like that? Holy contrived conversations to move the plot along! Way too much coincidence! Bones of a great story here, but I was disappointed by Coulter's literary laziness.

I'm usually a big fan of Catherine Coulter but not lately. This book had quite a few places in it where I was thinking why would any intelligent person do that let alone a sheriff or FBI agent. Okay for light reading if you can suspend your disbelief in places.

Summary: 'Seven-year-old Autumn Backman has a gift: She can communicate telepathically with others. Not everyone, mind you, but with a select few with whom she shares a special kinship. When Autumn and her mother, Joanna, take her father's ashes to be buried in the family plot in Brickers Bowl, Georgia, the child witnesses a horrifying sight: her grandmother and two uncles, burying a pile of dead bodies in the middle of the night. They head to Titusville, Virginia, to seek the help of an old family friend, but Autumn senses they need assistance on a grand scale. Using her telepathic powers, Autumn calls a man she'd seen only on television: FBI agent Dillon Savich.

But before Savich and his wife and partner, Agent Lacey Sherlock, can get show more on the scene, Autumn and Joanna flee, fearing the retribution of her uncle Blessed. A huge manhunt ensues, with Titusville Sheriff Ethan Merriweather racing to reach the girl before Blessed can get his hands on her. Blessed's got big things planned for Autumn and her gift, and he'll stop at nothing to force her into his growing army of exploited children. Savich, Sherlock, and Merriweather face their most elusive foes to keep Autumn out of harm's way—before it's too late.'

Review: This was creepy! And rather good. The characters were interesting and much of it was a real page-turner. show less