Lala’s Book Corner: ARC Review of The Killing Edge by Heather Graham

 

 

“Chloe Marin was lucky. She was just a teenager when a party at a Florida beachside mansion turned into a savage killing spree and she was one of the few to survive. Bloody handwriting on the walls pointed to a cult whose rituals included human sacrifice. Chloe’s sketch of one of the killers linked two dead cult members found in the Everglades to the massacre, closing the case as far as the cops are concerned.
Ten years later, Chloe’s works as a psychologist specializing in art therapy to help traumatized victims, and on the side she finds release in her passion for the martial arts. Police who hire her as a consultant know she’s a literal kick-ass advocate for victims who can’t always speak for themselves.
The current disappearance of a young swimsuit model ranks low on the cops’ priority list. Everyone assumes the girl has run off for some fun in the sun, instead of getting ready for a photo shoot. Everyone but Chloe, who suspects a killer is using the modeling agency to stalk his prey. When the ghost of the model appears, asking Chloe for help, she knows that she has to do everything she can.
So does Luke Cane, a British ex-cop-turned-PI investigating the disappearance of the model on behalf of her father. Chloe and Luke have trouble trusting each other but they can’t help their strong attraction for each other. Luckily, they agree on the important things: someone needs to find those missing girls, and if a few laws have to get bent so lives can be saved, too bad.
When Chloe arrives late for an appointment at the modeling agency, she discovers a gruesome mass murder eerily similar to the one she witnessed a decade ago–and can’t help thinking that if she hadn’t run late she would have been there when the killer arrived. Ten years ago, she hadn’t been convinced the police had identified the real killers and now she’s sure of it. The same evil mind is behind the current murders, and she’s afraid she’s the target–and terrified that she won’t be able to cheat death a third time.
She has no choice now but to trust Luke on every level, because with a killer closing in, he’s the only one who’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive.”

From Goodreads.

• Publisher: Mira

• Release Date: April 1st, 2010

• My Copy: ARC given to me by NetGalley.

• Author's Website

• Pre-Order This Book:

The Killing Edge

 

If you look at the my reviews and the books I am usually reading, it is pretty obvious that my favorite Genres are basically anything that is related to the paranormal and fantasy. I have been trying to branch out and checking out different genres recently, then I saw this Romantic Thriller and decided to give it a chance.

I don’t have much experience with reading thrillers, hence I don’t have much to compare this novel to, but I have to say that though i did enjoy reading The killing Edge, I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with it.

Right at the first page we get sucked into the mind of a killer and witness the beginning of a massacre. We then are taken to the POV of Chloe and her fight to run from the killers, stay alive and save her friends.

That was a very promising start and it did grab me. We then get to see Chloe 10 years after those killings and I have to say that I really enjoyed her as a character. A strong woman, who witness something horrible and despite being damaged, was able to work through it and become successful and well rounded.

A disappearance and new murders put Chloe and Luke together. Luke is an ex cop from England that has been living and working as a P.I. in the U.S. for almost a decade. I found him to be the perfect fit for Chloe, being that he also had a terrible experience in his past and is damaged from it as well. His way of dealing with it was different though, and that is where I believe he and Chloe bond, being different and similar all at the same time.

I enjoyed Heather Graham’s writing, i liked that she alternated between Chloe’s, Luke’s and the killer’s POVs and she was still able to keep the murderer’s identity a secret until the very end. I was completely surprised by it and that is quite an accomplishment nowadays, when i find myself guessing the perpetrator more times than not.

A couple things did bother me though, one of them was when the author over described a situation or a place, It got to a point where i found myself skimming forward. The other thing was the line she straddled on when it came to the sex scenes. Not smut and not Not-Smut, there were points when the scenes were almost crossing the line and then we got some others where she just scanned it, skipping it all.

I don’t mind the skipping, specially since the book is not erotica, but if there is going to be a couple more explicit scenes, it’s better to go, at least, almost all out, I felt like she held back and some of the imagery she used to describe feeling during those scenes were a bit overdone.

All in all, The killing Egde, was a fun read. It didn’t keep me at the edge of my seat at all times, but it had its moments. I loved the main couple and would like to have had more time with them at the end. The mystery was very well done and I loved being surprised by the end.

I give it 3 out of 5 Loveys!

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