Victim Six by Gregg Olsen

Victim Six by Gregg Olsen
Buy Victim Six by Gregg Olsen at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Louise Laurie
Summary: Puget Sound, Washington and the female body count is rising. A chilling murderer is on the loose and it seems that the local media, as well as the police, are highly involved in solving these deaths.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 404	Date: November 2011
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 978-1780331737
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Olsen will have you on the edge of your seat says Lee Child. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed some of Child's books so I couldn't wait to get started on this book. Would it be as good and as satisfying as Child's?

The book opens with 'victim one' - a young woman is out with her boyfriend and friends brush picking. No, it's a term I wasn't familiar with either. Apparently foliage, leaves etc are picked eventually to be part of florists' bouquets etc. It's hard work though. Slippery moss, fog and dense wooded areas are not for the physically unfit. The woods heaved quietly in a darkness ... Celesta needs to stop for a quick bathroom break (behind the proverbial bush of course) and that's the last sighting of her - alive.

Her distraught boyfriend reports her as missing to the police and Kendall Stark, young wife and mother of one, is assigned to the case. Initially she's not unduly worried. Perhaps Celesta has simply gone to visit her family for a spell. Her boyfriend doesn't agree. He's very worried for her safety.

Right from the start I'm liking Olsen's style. He takes time to tell us about the main characters. So, for example, we know a lot about what makes Kendall tick and what makes her good at her job. Olsen has a lovely, natural storytelling voice and I knew early on in the book that I was not only going to like it, but really like it. All the ingredients are there in the early chapters - a missing woman, a dedicated (but also with plenty of human traits and flaws) police woman, a deeply distraught boyfriend (but with quite a few question marks against his name) a persistent local reporter ...

The other detective working alongside Kendall is middle-aged Josh Anderson. They are as different as chalk and cheese and of course, makes for interesting reading. Josh thinks he's a bit of a ladies man This guy's ego is ten times the size of the brain in his pants. And we get the low-down on his love-life. You might just be surprised. I know I was.

The dialogue between characters is natural, very natural. It flows beautifully whether it's the knock-about in-house police banter or more personal and intimate.

The local reporter on the case seems hard-headed and extremely ambitious. Kendall doesn't approve of her 'reporting' methods and doesn't like her. I didn't like her either. But this pushy little madam is crucial to the story. Crucial in a good way or crucial in a bad way though?

Each meaty chaper generally deals with a specific character or moves along the plot. We get up-close-and-personal to all of the victims. Because of the killers(s) personality, we read about some chilling violence and sex scenes.

The suspense level is excellent. I was stopping short of screaming out at bits 'don't go there' or ' don't do that' and I could feel the clock ticking down to the next murder. The portrayal of evil in this book is such that mental pictures popped into my head regularly. A clever storyline of those murdered and those intent on the murdering, with all the whys and hows are satisfyingly answered. Recommended.

If this book appeals then you might like to try All the Pretty Girls by J T Ellison.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Victim Six by Gregg Olsen at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Victim Six by Gregg Olsen at Amazon.com.

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