The Caller by Chris Carter

Simon & Schuster UK | July 2017 | 496 pgs

Source: Library

The Caller is the eighth book of Chris Carter's Robert Hunter series and I've to say it works well as a stand-alone since I've not read any of the previous installments yet this book provides enough background of our lead character, Detective Robert Hunter of the LAPD Homicide Special Section, which deals solely with serial and high-profile homicide cases. 

The story opens with a horrific crime whereby the murderer has his victim tied to a chair as he makes a video call to the victim's best friend. The rules of his game is simple: answer two of his questions correctly and the victim's life would be spared. The questions aren't that hard as it involves the victim, but the murderer has done his homework beforehand and knew that his questions would stump his target. Not only that, he is vicious to an extent that any wrong answer or refusal to answer or watch the video would result a punishment to the victim. Karen Ward died because Tanya Kaitlin didn't know her best friend's cellphone number. With the convenience of speed dial function and our reliance on it, people would seldom commit to remember the numbers unless necessarily and the murderer knew Tanya's weakness through the social media platform, which is another way to find people's profile and status easily if one is careless with his security setting. 

Before Hunter and his assistant, Carlos Garcia, have found anything surrounding Karen's murder, the murderer has moved on to his second target, then the third in a span of five days. Each victim died terribly and like Tanya, the victims' friend or family members are forced to witness the death of their loved ones after failing to answer the murderer's questions. The murders were brutal and were described explicitly so it is not for the faint of heart. 

While it wasn't easy to read through these parts, I've to say this story was fast-paced and very suspenseful as I raced through the book and wondered how Hunter and Garcia would hunt down this monster without any clues since he was clever and was always careful when evidence traces are concerned. The author has done a great job in fleshing out the characters (in particularly the murderer and Robert Hunter) as well as exploring the psychopath's state of mind and Hunter's profession through his expertise in criminal psychology. While it was satisfying to see there was justice towards the end of story, it was also sad to learn about the murderer's past and what drove him to insanity (not a spoiler since the murderer's identity and motives remain vague until towards the end of the book.) 

© 2018 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Drama Review: Criminal Minds (犯罪心理)

Based on the American television series of the same title, this Korean drama remake will satisfy anyone who loves a good, exciting police procedural and crime thrillers featuring a group of elite agents from the National Criminal Investigation (NCI) to solve crime cases through their expertise of criminal profiling, criminal psychology, white hacking and the like. The cases they solve range from domestic and violence to complex psychological ones.

As the agents work through their expertise in solving each case, a few also portray a personal and vulnerable side of them as some cases involve their friends and family members, or even having been gone through some horrific situations themselves which still left an impact on them before joining NCI.

Although each agent is brilliant in his/her own role, I've to say Team Captain Kang Ki-Hyung (starring Son Hyun-Joo) left a deep impression on me not only of his brilliant acting but also of his role as the lead profiler who guide his team through his sharp insight on how a criminal's mind works as well as offering support as and when needed. Other supporting roles such as profilers Kim Hyun-Joon (starring Lee Joon-Gi), Ha Sun-Woo (starring Moon Chae-Won), Dr Lee Han (starring Go Yoon); and white hacker Nana Hwang (starring Yoo-Sun) as well as the media specialist Yoo Min-Young (starring Lee Sun-Bin) complement the group and no one is a minor role in my opinion as each plays an important part in solving a case.

After watching this I've a deeper understanding of how a profiler works and I truly have great respect and admiration for them given the challenging tasks they have to face everything they solve a case.

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

HarperCollins Publishers | August 2017 | 512 pgs

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

This is my first Karin Slaughter standalone book and wow, what a compelling read! 

Twenty-eight years ago, Samantha and Charlotte Quinn witnessed the murder and death of their mother. Zach and Daniel Culpepper, who broke into their house were actually looking for the girls' father, who is also Pikeville's most well-known and notorious defence attorney. His clients involve robbers, rapists and even murderers and for this, Rusty Quinn has often received death threats but nothing is serious until this tragedy. After their mother's death, Sam and Charlie Quinn fled for their life but each meets with a different destiny as one fight back while the other escape. Nevertheless, that fateful day remains a permanent scar for both Sam and Charlie, physically and emotionally as they grown into adults and each goes on her own way. And the Quinn family is never the same, again. 

Now twenty-eight years later, like a good daughter Charlie follows Rusty's footsteps as a lawyer. Then a mass shooting incident left Pikeville in shock and in rage. Charlie isn't supposed to be at the scene, but she did and it left her traumatised by the sheer violence of it and worst of all being the first witness of the school tragedy. Kelly Wilson, the seventeen-year-old schoolgirl is found guilty for murdering the principal and an eight-year-old girl. As all evidence points to Kelly, Charlie is left with a bit of doubts as the murder weapon couldn't be found and on top of it Kelly's intellectual mind appears to be slightly lower than her peers. Faced with this tragedy which reminds her of the past, Charlie turns to her estranged elder sister, Sam. And both of them will soon discover that Kelly's case would unleash the shocking truth which destroyed their family many years ago. 

Well, let me say The Good Daughter surprised me on many levels. Not only it was a good psychological suspense filled with intrigue and twists but it was also filled with heart, too. I've to confess it wasn't an easy read either, as there was violence and it made me ache reading what happened to the young victims as well as the Quinns sisters. Ms. Slaughter knows how to craft her story well and it shows in her writing, the tone and yes, the character development (of Charlie and Sam) too as this is very much about Charlie's story alongside the mass shooting incident. Reading about the Quinns family also struck a chord of various feelings in me; first empathy followed by a wave of melancholy which left a lump in my throat towards the finishing. It is rare that a crime thriller have that kind of effect in me. I'll have to check out her other stand-alones and her series books as well. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

The Dark Room by Jonathan Moore

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | January 2017 | 304 pgs

Source: Library

SFPD homicide detective Gavin Cain is overseeing an exhumation work when he receives a call from his superior, Lieutenant Nagata. The casket they are digging and a cold case will have to wait. Cain has finally found something which might shed some light on the case they have been working on for years, thus he is perplexed why he is being called for until he realised it is a request from San Francisco's mayor, Harry Castelli. 

When Cain meets Harry, the latter shows him a short note and four photographs he received. The four photographs offer some depictions of what's happening when they were taken, though the actual event isn't clear and they could only speculate. But that's not all, whoever sent these stuff to Harry wants him to take his own life or worse revelations will come by the end of the week. As Harry races against time with FBI agent Karen Fischer to unravel the truth and hunt for the blackmailer, they would soon realise that there is more than meets the eye and that the casket he is digging may connect with Harry's case. 

I read Jonathan Moore's The Poison Artist a while back and was impressed by his storytelling and his writing style. The Dark Room continues his signature of the above and I've to say TDR was more tense and have a multi-layered plot which I didn't see coming from the beginning. Part suspense and part police procedural, I was hooked from the opening featuring a determined homicide detective Cain while he opened up a cold case thirty years ago. With a few pages in, the reader could tell that he is an uncorrupted cop who would not allow himself to waver and crumble under pressure, and certainly not from the powerful mayor Castelli. Aside from that, he is also a considerate and attentive lover when his girlfriend, Lucy, is concerned. One could easily see why considering Lucy was one of the victims and the only adult survivor of a school mass shooting four years ago. That incident led Lucy from a shining talented pianist to a timid woman who hides in her house 24/7. Cain's camaraderie with his two other subordinates and their investigations add intrigue to the story and I found these scenarios are just as intense as the plot as they encounter difficulties and danger as they dig deeper. I'm glad to hear his next release, The Night Market, will be released in January 2018. I'm definitely looking forward to that. 

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

The Dry by Jane Harper

Flatiron Books | January 2017 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

Luke lied. You lied. 

Four words. Yet they are powerful enough to send Federal agent Aaron Falk back to his hometown in Kiewarra where he grew up in twenty years. Luke Hadler, now dead and survived only by baby Charlotte, is believed to have murdered his wife and young son before ending his own life. Now stationed in Melbourne, Falk didn't want to return to Kiewarra despite what happened to his late childhood friend. Kiewarra has brought him too much bad memories; memories that remind him of Ellie Deacon's death and how he and his father were caught in the middle of it twenty years ago. With no concrete proof, the Falks were forced to leave Kiewarra with much contempt from its residents. Till this day, no one really knew what happened to Ellie on that fateful day she ended up drowned in the river. 

However, Aaron knew he owed it to Luke's parents; after all they treated him kindly like their own back then and he knew they all wouldn't rest until the truth surrounding Luke and his family's death came to light. Together with Sergeant Greg Raco who is looking into the case, they go through what's left of Luke's traces and found out that Kiewarra is filled with buried secrets and deceptions and that one could do anything to protect his back, even if it means murder. 

The Dry was one of the best books I read thus far. Part suspense and part police procedural, this story takes readers to the quiet suburb Kiewarra where its residents are threatened by the drought and how they are trying to make the best for their farming business. We have several suspects and at times they are linked with Ellie's death, considering her death remains a mystery and some residents aren't happy to see Aaron's return. 

This book is brilliant and well written in a sense that the story was well developed from the beginning with both the characterisation and the setting. Then suspense seeped in and the intensity rose like the searing heat; and by then the book was hard to put down because you just want to find out the truth. The Dry is Jane Harper's debut novel but it certainly didn't feel like one. I fell in love with Jane's writing and the way she plotted her story beautifully. I also liked it that how the two mysteries are woven together smoothly yet they are on its own and each has a story to tell. In the end, I was left with a hollow feeling not because the book was bad (I loved it, remember?) but how it affected me to see what the victims' had gone through with their wrongful death. The ending was beautifully done too; and I was satisfied to see not only one but both cases (Luke's and Ellie's) closed as well. Highly recommended.

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

Trapeze | February 2017 | 384 pgs

Source: Library

Daniel Cole started off his debut thriller with a bang featuring one of the most horrific/gruesome murder crimes I'd read to-date - a body with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together, thus earning the nickname "Ragdoll" by the media. Assigned to this case are DS William "Wolf" Fawkes and DS Emily Baxter; both of them with the Metropolitan Police with Wolf leading the investigation.

Wolf had a history about abusing a defendant on trial after the sentence. Naguib Khalid, dubbed "The Cremation Killer" had set twenty seven young female prostitutes ablaze after they were heavily sedated in twenty-seven days and though Wolf made his arrest, contradicting surveillance reports and conflicting forensic evidence rendered Khalid a not-guilty sentence which made Wolf lost his cool. Wolf doesn't really care about protocols and as long as he knows he is right about the suspect, he would do anything to bring him down.

Four years later after losing his marriage and that he was vindicated from that infamous trial incident, he's back into his position with a bigger and sensational "Ragdoll" case waiting for him. But this is not all, Wolf's ex-wife, who is a TV journalist, received a list of six names (with Wolf being the last on the list) and the dates which the killer may strike next and this sent the whole media and nation into an uproar. With the clock ticking away and the pressure from all directions, the Metropolitan Police has to race against time with the killer to ensure that no more lives are being lost to the sadistic killer who seems to be a few steps ahead of them.

Ragdoll was a fast-paced thriller filled with intensity and actions with a dose of dark satire. Wolf made an intriguing, flawed character right from the start. His partnering with DS Emily Baxter filled the pages with their love/hate opinions of each other as well as their investigations. They are not romantically linked, yet Wolf's ex-wife assumed they are, which was one reason that shattered their marriage aside from their different life and perspectives. While I enjoyed the developed characters in Wolf and Emily, surprisingly it was Emily's trainee, Edmunds, whom I found the most interesting among all. He is smart and meticulous in his own way, and his devotion to the investigation definitely worth an appreciation from all but I felt his role was a bit underrated.

While this was more of a police procedural and I liked it that readers are offered more than a glimpse of how the media has much influence when controversial matters are concerned, I felt it'd have been better if it includes the killer's perspective and how his mind works. Then again, it may be the author's intention of portraying him as a dire and mysterious figure. Wolf and Emily are set to return in a sequel in 2018 and I've high expectations considering it's clichéd bigger, darker, more shocking but at the same time it's funnier, more poignant and more personal (these are from the author's words.)

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths

Quercus | February 2017 | 384 pgs

Source: Library

The Chalk Pit is the ninth installment of Elly Griffiths' Dr Ruth Galloway mystery and though I jumped into this book without any idea of the characterisations or the writing style, I found myself enjoying this book featuring the main protagonist and DCI Harry Nelson working together during their investigations.

When some human bones are found buried beneath the grounds of an old chalk-mining tunnel in Norwich during an excavation for a new development project, Ruth thinks they are probably medieval although she is skeptical about their translucence appearance; a sign that they were boiled soon after death.

On the other end, DCI Nelson and his team are following up on a case of a missing homeless woman named Barbara after a few fellow homeless people reported not seeing her for weeks. There are some rumours about underground societies, ritual activities and even cannibalism but Ruth remains objective. Then two homeless people were found murdered and two more women were reported missing that make Ruth and the police think that there are something more than meet the eye surrounding the underground tunnels and they may have to dig deeper to unravel the mystery.

Despite my limited knowledge of the cast of characters, I found myself absorbed in this book quickly and it didn't take me too much time to get to know more about the characters and I loved it that way considering I was new to this series and on top of it I read it out of order. Ruth and Nelson are two very engaging characters with their past history and their complicated relationship (Nelson has two grown up children with his wife and another younger daughter with Ruth. Nelson stay married to his wife and his relationship with Ruth is considered more like friends. However, something happened along the way which I think might alter these characters' perspective and I'm very curious to see where this would take them in the future books.)

Another thing worth mentioning is the insight of the homeless people while reading this book. The author has covered several aspects about their circumstances and experiences which I couldn't help but to feel for them and while some were poor and not highly educated, a few had actually led a normal life until some situations pushed them off the edge.

All in all this was an intriguing read. Most of all, the dynamic between Ruth and Nelson kept me engaged throughout the book. I'll be sure to check out the other books of this series.

© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.