Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Guilty Pleasures....Serial Killer Novels

Yes, that's right. I'm a huge serial killer novel fan. My favorite author is Jeffrey Deaver, but i am always looking for new authors since Jeffrey only puts out one book a year. I love the whole predictable yet suspenseful setup: the introduction to the serial killer, his or her initial heinous act, the introduction of the hero, the call to action....the surprises and turns throughout the novel....and just when I think I know what's going on, the major twist ending.

One of my favorite serial killer novels is called THE COFFIN DANCER by Jeffrey Deaver. This book is the sequel bestselling The Bone Collector (the book is WAY better than the movie), again starring quadriplegic forensic specialist Lincoln Rhyme and his beautiful assistance, the detective Amelia Sachs. Rhyme is called in to track down a contract killer, known as the Coffin Dancer, who has been hired to eliminate three witnesses in an upcoming federal trial. The trial is set to begin just 48 hours from the novel's beginning. Rhyme and Amelia have just that much time to ID the Dancer and keep him from murdering the remaining witnesses. But there' s a catch...the Dancer isn't what or who anyone expected....

Just when I thought I had the book figured out the last three chapters totally took my breath away.

I love the guilty pleasure of reading a spine-tingler like this over a pint of cake-batter ice cream.
So, do any of you like the serial killer novels? Which ones? I'm always looking for good authors!
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Dona Sarkar-Mishra
http://donasarkarmishra.com

6 comments:

stephhale said...

Hey Dona,
I like serial killer stuff too. I kept hearing about Jeff Lindsay's books Darkly Dreaming Dexter that the Showtime series is based on. I finally caught an episode the other night and quickly added series one to my Netflix que. I'm going to pick up the books first though!

Me said...

Such hidden depths, Dona! I'm not so keen on the whole serial killer thing, though I did like the movie Copycat. But then, there was the whole Harry Connick, Jr. thing, so that might be why =) I think the idea that someone has to find the killer or more people will die just freaks me out. I definitely prefer it when there's one murder and then someone has to figure it out after the fact.

TinaFerraro said...

Wow, Dona, I wouldn't have guessed!

I have a subgenre of this genre: I like TRUE serial killer stories, like Ann Rule writes about. Once I pick up one of those books, I can't put it down until I'm done!

stephhale said...

OOH, I loved COPYCAT! Harry Connick was hot even as a psycho. I still refer quite frequently to the term he used for underwear if anyone remembers that.

stephhale said...

OOH, I loved COPYCAT! Harry Connick was hot even as a psycho. I still refer quite frequently to the term he used for underwear if anyone remembers that.

Marley Gibson said...

COPYCAT was awesome! I should introduce you to my friend, Jen, Dona. She loves the same kind of books, as well as horror novels. I don't know how the woman sleeps at night 'cause she reads like three a week! I'm trying to get her to read YA. :::giggle:::