Triple Cross Killer by Rosemarie Aquiline
Published 5th December 2017 by Fiery Seas Publishing
Genre - Thriller
Star Rating - ***
Goodreads Challenge - 86/50
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis
Have you ever wondered what really happens to Santa Claus letters? In Detroit and Sarasota some children’s letters are diverted and reviewed by Nick Archer, a religiously obsessed, narcissist. Nick responds, leaving a trail of devastation in the two cities.
In Detroit, co-ed partners and wise-cracking lovers, detectives Jaq McSween and David Maxwell, team up with Sarasota detectives Abel Mendoza and his partner, Rabbit, to find this daunting killer.
When Jaq’s friend, the lovely nurse, Rita Rose, takes a chance on love again, she gets caught in Nick’s web. Working with the ME, she joins in, adding her perspective when events take a sinister turn.
Can this diverse team of characters pool their insights, barbs, and taste for bad food to save Rita when she discovers the final clues or will she become the next victim?
My Thoughts (so far)
So unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control I have been unable to finish this book completely in time for my tour stop and provide you will a full review. However, I am just over half way through so I thought I would give you my thoughts so far.
I'm quite enjoying this one at the moment. It's a genre I tend to enjoy and I haven't read one in a while so it was nice to dive into. For someone who doesn't really read contemporary romance stories it was nice to find a 'Christmas' themed book in a genre I enjoy. I say Christmas lightly however, as I'm not sure anyone really wants to celebrate murder at Christmas time but it was an interesting setting and plot point non the less.
The story is told from some interesting and unusual perspectives. You can see from the synopsis that you already know who the 'bad guy' is before you even begin and for the first half of the book you seem to be one step ahead of the detectives. I've just reached the point in the story where the detectives seem to catch up and I'm interested to see where it goes from there. The revelation of who the killer is and why is usually the plot twist in books like this but that doesn't seem to be the case here so I'm intrigued to see what will take it's place. I'm definitely keen to continue with the story and I will pop back in once I've completed it and update you with my full review and thoughts.
My Final Thoughts
I finished this book the day after I posted this with my initial thoughts. I'm back today with some final added thoughts on the story.
The writing in this book isn't particularly fast paced either. It was quite a slow burn but that was okay. There was however a lot of fast moving information backwards and forwards between the cases and characters. In my opinion this fit with the working of a detective, who often throw around different ideas and theories and follow several different leads all at once. I did find this hard to follow at times along with the use of some technical/detectivey language throughout. This didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story however. I also enjoyed the idea of criminal profiling being used, Criminal Minds is one of my favorite shows, I just wished there was more of it.
I enjoyed reading about the characters as well. They fit well into the story and all had their own personality. I wish I read the synopsis a bit more thoroughly before diving in though as I found myself getting a bit caught up on the comments David made towards Jaq. I found out eventually that they were an item so it wasn't as misogynistic as I first thought. I found Nick really creepy. I didn't like him at all, in a good way you're not meant to like him. The way he acted towards Rita was horrible, I often found myself shouting at her to just tell him to do one. I wasn't overly keen on Rita and Nicks scenes however, sometimes I found they read a bit more like a romance novel and I don't like romance novels.
Overall I found this to be quite an enjoyable story. I enjoyed the plot and the characters were great. I would definitely consider reading more in this series.
My Final Thoughts
I finished this book the day after I posted this with my initial thoughts. I'm back today with some final added thoughts on the story.
The writing in this book isn't particularly fast paced either. It was quite a slow burn but that was okay. There was however a lot of fast moving information backwards and forwards between the cases and characters. In my opinion this fit with the working of a detective, who often throw around different ideas and theories and follow several different leads all at once. I did find this hard to follow at times along with the use of some technical/detectivey language throughout. This didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story however. I also enjoyed the idea of criminal profiling being used, Criminal Minds is one of my favorite shows, I just wished there was more of it.
I enjoyed reading about the characters as well. They fit well into the story and all had their own personality. I wish I read the synopsis a bit more thoroughly before diving in though as I found myself getting a bit caught up on the comments David made towards Jaq. I found out eventually that they were an item so it wasn't as misogynistic as I first thought. I found Nick really creepy. I didn't like him at all, in a good way you're not meant to like him. The way he acted towards Rita was horrible, I often found myself shouting at her to just tell him to do one. I wasn't overly keen on Rita and Nicks scenes however, sometimes I found they read a bit more like a romance novel and I don't like romance novels.
Overall I found this to be quite an enjoyable story. I enjoyed the plot and the characters were great. I would definitely consider reading more in this series.
This book can be purchased from the following links:
Author Bio
Rosemarie Aquilina is the mother of five children. Elected as a
30th Circuit Court Judge serving in the General Trial Division, after having
served as a 55th District Court Judge in Mason, Michigan, she takes pride in
public serve.
In 1986, Judge Aquilina became the first female JAG Officer in the
history of the Michigan Army National Guard, she retired in 2006 with twenty
years Honorable Service. She is an adjunct law professor at both Western
Michigan University—Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Michigan State University
College of Law and has earned teaching awards at both institutions. Judge
Aquilina is the former owner of Aquilina Law Firm, PLC, and former host of a
syndicated radio talk show called Ask the Family Lawyer.
Thanks for stopping by to check out my stop on this blog tour. I'm sorry I was unable to provide you will a full review at this time but hopefully my thoughts so far have piqued your interest. I will be back soon to post a full review once I've finished this one.
