Crush

Ok, I said I wouldn't read any other Karen Vail novels, but I downloaded this before reading the first one. All was going well until I started to hit inconsistancies and obvious "things women never do or say"...not to mention the "conversations men think women have." Number one on the list of things women never do: call themselves by their last names. I can't even explain how annoying it is that the author refers to his character as "Vail" all the time.

On top of a bunch of little things that annoy is the coup de grâce: leaving a dangling end followed by a "buy my next novel" in a grating, smug, self-aggrandizing tone.

As a fan of mystery thrillers, FBI profilers and wine tours, I was pleased to see all three things come together successfully in this book. Karen Vail (from previous book 7th victim) is an FBI profiler on vacation after a difficult case that got rough. She is with her boyfriend, police officer Robby, in California wine country on a wine tour when they discover a body. Karen is unable to continue on with her vacation as a tourist, but insists that she get assigned to the case and becomes part of the task force trying to find the serial killer that crushes his victims to death on their neck. Her boyfriend is unable to become involved as he is not a fed, but a local officer out of his jurisdiction. She abandons him and their vacation to show more help solve the mystery, putting herself, him and even her teenage son left behind in Virginia at risk. The empathy I had for Karen Vail in 7th Victim is lost as I read this book where she becomes a self-centered, no-one other than me can solve this, nothing in my personal life is as important as my job, I've got to prove something because I'm female, character.

Even though I began to dislike the main character, Karen Vail, and view her boyfriend Robby as weak and unequal in their relationsip, I enjoyed the story. Jacobson writes a good story with plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested. His knowledge of wine making and tasting experiences added a nice side story to the book. I recommend the book, but am not sure that I will read the 3rd in the series, even though this book was a "to be continued" cliff hanger. show less

Someone is murdering people in the Napa Valley wineries. Karen Vail, FBI profiler is on vacation and soon joins the police in helping to track down a serial killer. The killer's signature is cutting off a toenail. As Karen gets closer to solving the case, her life is endangered when the room where she is staying is set on fire. This book ends in a cliff hanger, so you will go on to the next book.

A thrilling ride from start to cliff-hanging finish. If you enjoy "Criminal Minds" or are into FBI profiling, Karen Vail, the heroine of this book and pre-quel "7th Victim," is a finely delineated character with more substance than the average thriller. Glad I have the next book in the series ready to read or I would have been devasted...having to wait until it came out!

Karen Vail, FBI agent, is in California with her boyfriend on vacation. The first winery they visit for a tasting and dinner, closes the tour because a body is found in the wine cave. Karen gets involved in the case as a profiler when more bodies start being discovered.

I enjoyed the interesting facts about wine and the wine growers. The story moved along nicely with interesting characters.

I will pick up the first book, The 7th Victim, next time I am at the bookstore. And I will definitely read the next book in the series after Crush since the author gave us a cliffhanger on the last page.

If it weren't for the total cliff-hanger at the end, I would have given this book 5 stars. I did read the reviews prior to reading the book, but I expected at least a little resolution. I immediately read Velocity and enjoyed it. As long as you view the two books as two halves of the whole and read both, it is a great book.

DNF @ 77% - I just couldn’t do it anymore.

The way Vail involved herself in the investigation was far fetched. Everything she did was against protocol. She was awful.

I really enjoyed book one but this one I did not.