Grey Liliy reviewed The 7th Victim by Alan Jacobson
Review of 'The 7th Victim' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Goodreads needs half-stars. This was a real close call between a three and a four, but the ending bumped it down.
Overall, it's a well written story. It was easy to read, and a page turner once the story got moving. The characters were likable, as well (Particularly Bledsoe, and Hancock, as he was my favorite character.) Karen Vail could get annoying here or there, but for the most part I had no issues with her.
Story wise, book has a slow start, but picks up about a quarter of the way in--from there it's a quick read to the finish. The main serial killer plot is right up there--lots of clues, a few twists, and the little peaks into the killer's point of view were fun.
It's the other half that caused the story to suffer. While knowing some facts of Vail's personal life is good for identifying her …
Goodreads needs half-stars. This was a real close call between a three and a four, but the ending bumped it down.
Overall, it's a well written story. It was easy to read, and a page turner once the story got moving. The characters were likable, as well (Particularly Bledsoe, and Hancock, as he was my favorite character.) Karen Vail could get annoying here or there, but for the most part I had no issues with her.
Story wise, book has a slow start, but picks up about a quarter of the way in--from there it's a quick read to the finish. The main serial killer plot is right up there--lots of clues, a few twists, and the little peaks into the killer's point of view were fun.
It's the other half that caused the story to suffer. While knowing some facts of Vail's personal life is good for identifying her character, it almost felt like there was too much going on and as such, a lot got over looked. The storyline with her husband, in particular, feels like it just dropped off shortly after it was introduced, even though being accused of an assault charge should have taken up more of her time than it did. Add that in with another storyline with her son and her mother, and I start wondering where she found time for the case and everything else that was going on.
Oh, and the romance on top of that (which was sweet, so this one gets a pass).
While it was a bit annoying, it didn't hurt the story as much as you would think. The main reason the start dropped from four stars to three was the ending and the reveal of the killer.
Well, I was personally let down, I should say, I'm sure others were fine with it.
After the big twist at the end, where they started to lead us in the direction that the killer could be Hancock, or even Vail's husband I got really excited. Particularly since I was waiting for Hancock to make a return after he went off with his tail between his legs. But then we had another twist and it turned out to be...something else. I honestly ended up rolling my eyes and the ending lost my attention.
So, overall - it's a good book. I might pick up the next one in the series if only for hopes that my favorite character might make a return. :)
