Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Next Victim by Jonnie Jacobs

I have been in quite a reading slump and since my last post, I haven't read anything until Friday. Every time I went to go start a book, I would read a few paragraphs and put it down. I planned on getting some reading in over the holiday break and was busy shopping Thursday and Friday, and finally sat down and opened up The Next Victim on Saturday. By turning off the tv and computer, I was able to get into the book quickly and finished it today. I give it a B+.

Back cover:
When wealthy heiress Sloane Winslow is found murdered in her house along with the body of pretty college coed Olivia Perez, the evidence all points to one suspect, John O'Brien- San Francisco defense attorney Kali O'Brien's brother. The last time Kali spoke to John, he was desperate to tell her something but too drunk to get it out. Now he's dead, an apparent suicide by overdose...
Although Kali wasn't close to her brother, she can't believe he was capable of murder. But when she finds a clue hidden in his dictionary- a photo of three attractive young women, one of whom is the slain Olivia Perez, she realizes her brother had many secrets. And when one of the other women in the photo- a stripper and porn actress- is found brutally murdered in a ditch, Kali wonders if her brother really did commit suicide.
As Kali digs deeper for the truth, her search plunges her deep into the sex industry's hidden underworld. Now her only hope for solving the case lies in finding the last girl in the picture, a witness who knows far more than she should, maybe too much to live- and Kali has to get to her before she becomes the next victim...

This was a good book, though I had the killer figured out before the end of the book. Not too soon before the end of the book, but I suspected as much. I thought that Ms. Jacobs did a fantastic job of making all of the characters real and believeable, and even Kali was a bit annoying, she was real. I think Kali's job also allowed for to figure out a lot of the details of the case and gave her a good cover as to who she was and how she could investigate. Sometimes I feel like in suspense books there is a main character who figures out and solves a mystery and there is no way your average person could get all of that information. There were a few curve balls thrown into the story and they were good additions to the story. This is part of a series, and I am pretty sure it is in the middle of the series but it didn't seem to bother me as usual. I skimmed over a couple of paragraphs that talked about previous books in case I read any other books.

I am not sure what I am going to read next, but I do have some library books that I need to get to. My husband and I got new furniture from my way too generous mom today and they will be delivering it tomorrow. I need to get the old stuff out and vacaum and then tomorrow I have to sit around and wait for it, so hopefully I will get in some reading time. Happy Reading everyone!

3 comments:

Literary Feline said...

Those reading slumps seem to be going around. :-( I was going to avoid shopping this weekend, but panicked when I realized I didn't have much time left. We're visiting hubby's family this next weekend and need to have those gifts ready. Plus I need to mail my family's gifts to them.

It sounds like Jacobs' book was a good one that broke through your slump. I like books where the characters seem like real people. It's easier to identify with them on some level.

How exciting about the furniture! I hope you are able to fit in some reading while waiting. :-)

Kristie said...

THey came so early this morning Wendy! So now I have some time to get the furniture organized adn run to the grocery store and bank. The lists never end do they? I hope you had some luck with the shopping!

Staci said...

New furniture sounds awesome!! I have those days where it doesn't matter what book I pick up I just can't seem to get interested. This one sounds good though!