Casee‘s review of Silent Killer by Beverly Barton.
In A Town Full Of Secrets
To most people, men like Mark Cantrell are fine, upstanding pillars of the community, completely beyond reproach. But their killer knows better. They are sinners of the worst kind, and they must burn on earth before they burn in hell…
Trusting The Wrong Person
Eighteen months after her husband’s unsolved murder, Cathy Cantrell has returned to her Alabama home, eager to build a new life for herself and her son. But pieces of her past are everywhere—including Jackson Perdue, the town’s deputy sheriff. The spate of recent deaths—each victim burned in the same horrifying manner—leave Jack and Cathy in no doubt that a serial killer is at work, one whose rage grows more vicious each day…
Can Be Fatal…
Now as a twisted killer moves in for a final, brutal act of vengeance, buried crimes are coming to light once more. And this time, justice will be swift, merciless, and as silent as the grave…
Beverly Barton’s heroines usually drive me batty. They always gasp and say “Mercy!” or are just generally helpless without a man. There are a few exceptions of course. Cathy Cantrell wasn’t one of them.
Cathy had a nervous breakdown after she saw her husband burn to death right in front of her. Checking herself into a mental health facility, Cathy gave up guardianship of her twelve year old son, Seth. While it was a very difficult thing to do, Cathy knew it was what needed to be done.
After a year of in and out-patient therapy, Cathy has returned to reclaim her son and her life. Everything is going just swimmingly when a priest is found burned to death in the local park. That and her father-in-law is refusing to give up custody of Seth. On top of all that, Jackson Perdue, a man she once loved is back in town. Facing him is one of the harder things Cathy has had to do.
Jackson takes a job with the sheriff’s office and is put to work on the county’s cold cases. He starts with Mark Cantrell, though the case doesn’t remain cold for long. The killer that has only struck twice in eighteen months has stepped it up.
There were passages from the killer’s pov. I found the whole “God told me to” part a little over the top. I skimmed most of the passages b/c there were just so out there. I understand that the killer is psychotic, but it just seemed cheesy after awhile. The killer believed that punishing men that are sinners was the work of God. Which brings me to a loophole that was never tied up…did Mark Cantrell actually do anything the killer thought he had done? That was never really clarified. There were a few other things that didn’t add up, which really took away from the story.
The romance was probably the best part of the book, but even that was lacking.
3 out of 5.
This book is available from Zebra. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
|I have loved Beverly Barton’s books but Cold Hearted had fallen really flat at the end and I was disappointed. I bought Silent Killer and I am hoping i will enjoy it more than the previous one.
Luci, IIRC I really liked Cold Hearted. I can’t remember how it ended though.
The best thing about Silent Killer was Nic and Griffin. I like how BB acknowledges that just b/c a couple has their HEA doesn’t mean that everything is perfect.
Am picking this one on at the library today. Cannot wait to leave it.
I’m surprised yall gave this a 3! It sounds… less good than that. 🙂 But then the type is not my thing and the premise would have made sure I didn’t read it, so perhaps I’m biased. 🙂
I love Beverly’s books and realy want to read this one!
Great review and glad to hear that Grif and Nic are back!
Casee, the suspense of Cold Hearted was good, it was the romance that bugged me in that there was no chemistry between the two and i believe ten months or a year passed before they met each other again and suddenly they wanted to get married. Mind you, BB is still an auto buy in fact I have Silent Killer in my pile and will get to it when i get back from abroad.
Casee, the suspense of Cold Hearted was good, it was the romance that bugged me in that there was no chemistry between the two and i believe ten months or a year passed before they met each other again and suddenly they wanted to get married. Mind you, BB is still an auto buy in fact I have Silent Killer in my pile and will get to it when i get back from abroad.
This made me laugh:
Cathy Cantrell wasn’t one of them.
I agree with Mhlia, this sounds like a less than 3 book.
Apparently, I am in the minority here, but I LOVED ‘Silent Killer’. I thought the choice of the killer was brilliant, the suspense was top-notch and Jackson and Cathy’s love story was very believable…I like the ‘reunited after many years’ plotlines. ‘Silent Killer’ is my second favorite BB novel, the first being ‘Close Enough To Kill’.