Shark Music promises much in the first few pages-but which serial killer novel doesn't?-and delivers an exceptionally high dose of virtually nothing. At times the distinctions between antagonist and protagonist are so rapidly blurred that Kathleen Mallory might as well be the elusive serial killer she's hunting for (given her background she might as well be in the habit of chasing her own tail). After the middle point, it becomes a strange amalgamation of hybrid Nightmare on Elm Street vs. Michael Myers vs. Jason Voorhees with a few churches thrown into the midst and kind-hearted priests leaving us with the impression that maybe O' Connell too likes to run around in circles.

At the end, an updated jousting match is concluded when Mallory literally impales the serial killer with a metal pole-points for innovation? Anyone?-and we find out that the serial killer was disguised as a parent traveling with a caravan of parents whose children were killed by him.

Two stars because while the genre and the first part of the book promises much; it delivers nothing other than a migraine. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12549018

What a way to complicate an unlikely serial killer scenario!

I have read far too many novels about serial killers that operate in such methodical ways that others can actually define what they are looking for and why. In real life it is rarely that straightforward and the killers are probably as confused as we are. Here we have another one - a killer who has killed young girls and strewn their graves along route 66, starting many years ago. And now it appears there is a new wrinkle in the killer's routine.

Even more unlikely: a therapist treats families of lost children through online groups. He organizes a caravan that travels along route 66, spreading "have you seen my child?" posters along the way, and of course talking to each other about their losses. People join the caravan when they can and leave it when they must so its size is not stable.

Enter Mallory. A detective with her own deep, dark past, Mallory disappears for an unknown reason, leaving the apparent suicide of a woman in Mallory's apartment. Her partner does what he must to track her down without sending out alarm bells in the department. She is not an easy person to get along with but her detecting skills are top-notch. He does not initially know where to find her but he is a pretty good detective himself and finally catches a whiff.

The two work on the missing children case, alongside FBI agents who behave in a suspicious manner, to say the least.

The book is not written in a straightforward manner. We learn, along with Mallory's partner, Detective Sergeant Riker, just what set Mallory on her route 66 quest in the first place, and take that quest to its natural conclusion. We get to know a few of the members of the caravan and can guess whether one of them might be a killer. We learn quite a bit about Mallory and what made her the hardcore person she is.
( )

My second foray into the world of detective Kathy Mallory. I'm still not in love with this remote, cold, but brilliant character - though she had a rough childhood, there's not much to like about her as an adult. However, she does solve crimes....this one a series of murders of children over many years and the bodies are now being found all along Route 66.

In addition to working the case, she's also on a personal journey...retracing her unknown father's steps as he drove and wrote about Route 66. Her faithful partner and friend of the family still manage to help her and care about her in spite of her treatment of them which is somewhat unbelievable. ( )

Dynamic suspense ( )

I've been working my way through the entire Kathy Mallory series after a recommendation here on LT, and have to admit that I enjoy them because the characters are so interesting; the mysteries to me are secondary. That said, I am getting a little tired of stories that open somewhere in the middle with characters gradually dropping details throughout the book to flesh out the essential background- it is very frustrating feeling like everyone else knows something you don't (and I don't mean in terms of the clues to solve the mystery, I mean like why Mallory is on Route 66 in a new car being tracked by her partner in the opening paragraphs). Perhaps if I wasn't reading them all so close together, this annoying characteristic of these novels wouldn't be so obvious, but I am so it is.

Still, this is a complex and layered mystery that reveals a lot of interesting details about Mallory's past that help inform her current behaviors, and hold out a hope that there might be shifts coming in her psyche as some old wounds are healed. In the end, I was satisfied with the story and the character development, but all through the read, I was battling irritation at the piecemeal revelation of crucial facts. 3.5 stars. ( )