The darkness of evil

The darkness of evil

Alan Jacobson, 1961-

eBook - 2017

FBI profiler Karen Vail is on the hunt for an escaped serial killer in the latest jaw-dropping thriller from USA Today-bestselling author Alan Jacobson. Jasmine Marcks was a teenager when she discovered her father was a killer. First, there was the strip of bloody duct tape; then, the bloodstain on his shirt; and finally, the long nights away from home that always coincided with gruesome deaths. Roscoe Lee Marcks killed fourteen people before he was finally put behind bars. But as renowned FBI agent Karen Vail soon learns, Marcks's reign of terror isn't over yet. After writing a book about growing up as the child of a serial killer, Jasmine receives a letter-a single sheet of paper mailed from the maximum-security prison Marcks no...w calls home. The page hides a threatening message from a father who wants vengeance against the daughter who turned him in to the police. So when Marcks breaks out of prison, Agent Vail calls on a legendary retired profiler to help her find the escaped convict-and keep him from making Jasmine his fifteenth victim. Alan Jacobson created Karen Vail-one of the most compelling heroes in suspense fiction, earning acclaim from James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, and Michael Connelly-after seven years of working with two senior profilers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's legendary Behavioral Analysis Unit. Over the years, Vail has tangled with the worst serial killers America has to offer. But none compares to Roscoe Lee Marcks.

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Subjects
United States. > Federal Bureau of Investigation > Fiction.
Criminal profilers > Fiction.
Serial murderers > Fiction.
Children of criminals > Fiction.
Electronic books.
Published
[United States] : Open Road Media 2017.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Alan Jacobson, 1961- (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9781504041706
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

A third of the way into this novel featuring FBI profiler Karen Vail, another agent listens to Vail discourse on a serial killer's possible homosexuality. He observes that the feds already know who the killer is, and wonders, Is this just curiosity on your part or is there some relevance that I'm missing? Readers working their way through this intriguing but overlong novel will likely be asking the same question, wondering why author Jacobson has used yards of psychological speculation to slow down a right-good thriller featuring an especially awful villain. Years ago Vail put the serial killer away, with help from the man's daughter. Now he's escaped, swearing vengeance on the girl, and it's up to Vail to protect her as she works to recapture the psychopath. Between the psychologizing, Jacobson stages some mighty scenes, like a SWAT-team attack on a killer's redoubt and a truly terrifying home invasion that makes the reader feel like a victim. The twists at the end, with the hunted becoming the hunter, strain credulity a bit, but there's enough top-level action here to make it worthwhile.--Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2017 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Jacobson's so-so seventh Karen Vail novel (after 2014's Spectrum) opens in a Washington, D.C., TV studio, where a talk show host is interviewing Jasmine Marcks about the book she's written about her father, Roscoe Lee Marcks (aka the Blood Lines serial killer). Through the years, Jasmine tried to reconcile the fact that the loving father she knew killed 14 people before being sent to prison. Although the police at first didn't believe her, Jasmine is credited with turning in her father after discovering bloody duct tape in his car and other evidence. Jasmine's fears that her father may try to harm her may become a reality when he escapes from prison. As Roscoe continues his killing spree, Karen's hunt for the fugitive is complicated by several arsons that may be linked to him. Law enforcement procedures and profiling details elevate the story, as does the matching of the insightful Karen against the intelligent Roscoe. But the cumbersome plot is marred by too many tangents, banal dialogue, and a preposterous twist near the end. Agent: Joel Gotler, IPG Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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