Convicted serial killer Benjamin Fisher has finally offered to lead San Bernardino detective Daniel Ellis to the isolated graves of his victims. One catch: he’ll only do it if FBI profiler Reni Fisher, his estranged daughter, accompanies them. As hard as it is to exhume her traumatic childhood, Reni can’t say no. She still feels complicit in her father’s crimes. Perfect to play a lost little girl, Reni was the bait to lure unsuspecting women to their deaths. It’s time for closure. For her. For the families. And for Daniel. He shares Reni’s obsession with the past. Ever since he was a boy, he’s been convinced that his mother was one of Fisher’s victims. Thirty years of bad memories are flooding back. A master manipulator has gained their trust. For Reni and Daniel, this isn’t the end of a nightmare. It’s only the beginning. (Published: 2020/ Pages: 269/Genre: Thriller-Mystery)
A twisted tale of murder, family secrets, and unforeseen ties. Reni Fisher is the daughter of a convicted serial killer, Benjamin Fisher, Ben used young Reni to lure women to their deaths and then buried their bodies in the desert. Reni unable to cope with her involvement with her father’s murders leaves the FBI after a mental breakdown. After being found Reni learns her father has requested to see her, promising to tell his secrets of where his victims are buried upon her arrival. After agreeing Reni teams up with agent Daniel to unbury the secrets of her father’s past. They never saw what was coming next, with secrets not being the only thing unburied, who is safe and who has been pretending? Reni and Daniel are soon fighting for not only the truth but their lives.
This was my first time reading anything from Frasier and will most likely be my last. This book had a solid start, I loved how it drew me in with such a strong force. You are immediately taken into the world of Reni and her father, learning all about how Ben used Reni to lure his victims in full detail. Jumping from present to past you get a full glimpse of just how deranged the relationship between father and daughter was. Diving deep into the long-term effects it had on Reni as an adult, affecting her personal and work life. This was a pure plot-driven read, focusing mainly on the search of the bodies of Ben’s victims, while likewise searching for whether an accomplice was involved and Daniel finding out the truth of his mother’s disappearance. The plot was quick-paced and thrilling. There were a couple of twists throughout the plot one I saw coming while the other was a bit of a surprise. There was not much character depth or development in this story.
Although the plot had an interesting premise, I usually love cop novels, it was strangely repetitive in many areas. The back story of Reni was talked about a good portion, yet it was only specific murders. There was also an extreme focus on finding the bodies in the desert, without much detail around it, just reiterating over and over that the desert needed to be searched. This was a short book, yet the first two hundred pages were making circles around the same subjects and topics. There were two twists, one was loosely thrown in and not looked at deep enough for it to make much of an impact in the story. The other twist felt forced as if the author were looking for the shock factor but was unsure of how to accomplish it. With the lack of character depth, the twists were dull and did not bring much to the story. I put this down for the weekend and I was not excited about having to come back to it. I got bored about halfway through and just wanted this story to be over with. It started so strong and fell so flat. The writing was fine, the story came off messy and I wished there were more to the characters. Just a very flat tale. I will not be reading the sequel to this novel that comes out in July.
I was not impressed with this book. The synapse gave a description that sounded rather promising, presenting something that I would usually love to get lost in, but this was honestly boring. I did not want to come back to it after finishing each day. I believe this was a try at a cop/criminal story, but it was lacking detail and character depth to come off believable. It was a quick, easy read, however. If you enjoy crime novels or are looking for a quick thriller, you may enjoy this book. I am in the minority of opinion; this is rated high on Good Reads and other review sites. I found it lacking, dull, repetitive, and with loosely added in twists.
Grab your copy today! Click the Amazon link above!
Ali’s Book Nook Corner 📚 