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4.0étoiles sur 5
A laugh-out-loud, in-your-face mystery., Mars 23 2009
Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, yes that's her real name, you can check her ID, is a divorced, 40 something insomniac, who is good at her job. And that's it, as far as she believes. At one point, she had it all: marriage to a great guy, a budding career... only, her ambitions took over. She became a great lieutenant detective in the Violent Crimes unit, and believes her marriage failed because of it. In her words, "it was all her fault." Married to her career, she doesn't have a personal life. Her latest boyfriend left a "Dear Jack" letter on her fridge, then left a message on her answering machine asking her to put his things in storage. Instead, she left them in the hall.
A new case pops up; a woman found dumped in a garbage can, um, rear-end facing upwards. Stapled to the victim, a note: "you cant catch ME IM THE GINGERBREAD MAN." And it doesn't end there. More bodies are found, and other than finding twine imbedded in the victims' wrists and ankles, there are very little clues to go on. With pressure from the mayor, Jack her her partner Herb, are now stuck with two FBI agents who are sent to profile their madman, using the ViCAP computer. Only, their profile is off - way off. And nothing they get from the computer is worth a dime.
Meanwhile, tampered candy is left in her car, causing havoc and ending up with eleven stitches in Herb's mouth. Clues have her questioning her ex-partner, and Herb convinces Jack to try Lunch Mates, a dating service. And her lucky first date ended up with a hell of a lot more than he bargained for.
**Laugh-out-loud funny is right. The deadpan jokes had me cracking up. I liked Jack. I liked her in-your-face personality, and you really get the feel for her. No buttered up and overdone descriptions, the entire story is to the point. You get her background quick and easy, and you kind of feel bad for her. Being married to her job, she believes she can't have a personal life, yet we see her make a friend out of a criminal she'd arrested when she was still in uniform, and the new guy, who got more than he bargained for, has kept in touch, even from the hospital. I think there's hope for her yet.
I liked her partner, pushing without being pushy. I see him as her polar opposite, yet they're both just as determined to get the job done and see justice is served.
I liked the mystery. Even though you know who the murderer is, it was watching the good guys going after him that was really well done. Warning: at one point, it does get a little gory. But I'm a Stephen King fan, so that didn't bother me in the least. And getting inside the killer's mind - enough to give me a couple of shivers.
While the story is a little less than three hundred pages, you get all of what a good book is made of. I liked the fact that there wasn't any filler - nothing that draws you away from the plot, even when hitting Jack's personal life. Straight, to the point, and still, it involves the story. Terrific novel, and I plan on continuing the series.
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3.0étoiles sur 5
If You Like Stereotypes, Avril 27 2007
On a rainy Chicago night, a mutilated female corpse is discovered, [...]. side up, in a garbage can outside a 7-Eleven. And this pretty much sets the tone for J.A. Konrath's grisly police procedural, Whiskey Sour.
I've often wondered if there's a handbook for creating fictional psycho-killers. If so, lots of writers are using it. Many times I've come across smug egotistical villains who are convinced they're smarter than everyone else. Also, they're greatly amused by their power over life and death. The Gingerbread Man, as this villain calls himself, fits the stereotype so well that he's far more annoying than frightening. Maybe he would have been more threatening if the author hadn't put us in the killer's head so often, but he did. Too bad.
Less annoying is Lieutenant Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels, a tough, smart insomniac with an abysmal love life. Daniels might be another stereotype, but at least plenty of readers can relate to her sleep and relationship issues. Another stereotype is her partner who never met a donut, or a meal, he didn't like.
Two inept FBI agents assigned to create the killer's profile provide lighter moments, as does an old P.I. nemesis of Daniels. But these characters are such blatant stereotypes that they become caricatures. Maybe this was Konrath's intention - humor through caricature. If so, it didn't quite work for me.
On the upside, the clever dialogue and pacing are great. Konrath does a good job of depicting the methodical and exhausting job of hunting down lead after lead to catch a killer. The last seventy pages are exciting and the ending satisfying. If you don't mind graphic violence and a delusional cocky villain, make yourself a Whiskey Sour and spend some time with Jack.
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3.0étoiles sur 5
Could leave you with a hangover., Juil 14 2004
Lieutenant Jacqueline Daniels comes across as a strange hybrid of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Sarah Paretsky's V. I. Warshowski. Her Plum traits include having man trouble and chronic insomnia, which leads her to max out her credit cards with late-night home shopping purchases. Her Warshowski characteristics include being able to take a punch, and the ability to ignore personal problems when she's got work to do. Whiskey Sour also displays disparate personality traits, alternating between the gruesome activities of the serial killer known as "The Gingerbread Man" and the often comic activities of his nemesis, Lt. Daniels. Combining the bi-polar nature of the storytelling with the bi-polar characteristics of its heroine gives you one mixed up book. Which is a real shame, because first time author Konrath displays genuine talent. Several of the set pieces he creates, both humorous and serious, are quite compelling, as evidenced by Daniels' interaction with two oblivious FBI profilers, and her pursuit of the killer through the Chicago sewer system. Reading the disjointed narrative, one is struck by the feeling that it's not really the first time author's fault, that the book could have benefited from the guiding hand of a more ruthless editor. It could also benefit from less gaudy cover promotion-the dust jacket art leads one to expect something along the lines of a Carl Hiassen or Tim Dorsey romp, and the overly enthusiastic author blurbs create unreasonably high expectations. Sadly, the actual book fails to deliver what's been implicitly promised.
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