• The Love Killings

  • Detective Matt Jones, Book 2
  • By: Robert Ellis
  • Narrated by: Nick Podehl
  • Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (627 ratings)

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The Love Killings  By  cover art

The Love Killings

By: Robert Ellis
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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Publisher's summary

For the past six weeks, LAPD detective Matt Jones has been recovering from the wrong end of a hit man's bullet. Before he can look for payback, Jones finds himself enlisted in the manhunt for an old foe. Dr. George Baylor, the serial killer who escaped after murdering three coeds in LA, resurfaces on the East Coast. This time, an entire family has been slaughtered in their home outside Philadelphia, and the doctor's fingerprints are all over the crime scene.

With panic rising, the FBI seeks Jones's help, and the hunt for this brutal mass killer is on. But so is the hunt for the man who paid to have Jones shot. When a second family is found murdered, the search for the killer becomes frantic, and Jones's shocking personal history explodes before his eyes. With his two missions welded together as one, Jones enters the madman's world - a place of unimaginable terror - and hopes that if he survives, he can find his way out.

©2016 Robert Ellis (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What listeners say about The Love Killings

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyed 2nd book in Matt Jones series..

Any additional comments?


This is an excellent follow up to the first book on this series: City of Echoes. This book picks up right where the first left off however, you don't need to read the first to understand the second because the author weaves the highlights of the first throughout the second - WHEW! Anyway, this book takes you deeper into the life and hard times of Detective Matt Jones. He learns some truths (all the dirty laundry) about his mother and her family and all the reasons no one would ever speak to him about it. He finds out he has an uncle he didn't know he had and doesn't want for a relative but it does explain some mysteries.
The main plot is a little creepy and deals with some topics that might put off some readers -incest. Someone is murdering whole families and posing mothers and sons to look like they have been intimate. At first the police have it all wrong and are looking for the escaped killer from the first book, but Matt know it's not him. I can't tell why with put spoiling a big part of this book.
The book ends with a great cliffhanger leaving you wanting to know what happens next.
Nick Podehl does an excellent job narrating.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Truly dysfunctional family; dark suspense thriller

In The Love Killings rookie LAPD detective Matt Jones goes to the east coast to help the FBI apprehend serial killer and cosmetic surgeon Dr. George Baylor. This book picks up where the first book in the series, City of Echoes, ends The Love Killings as better than City of Echoes, but it is even darker. Its ending while totally satisfactory for a stand alone novel sets up the next novel in the series well. In this novel Matt Jones finds out much about his very early years and his family. The picture is a rather depressing one for him; his family is well outside the normal range.

Narrator Nick Podehl delivers what is for him a disappointing performance. While better than adequate he is usually better.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Completely ridiculous plot and unbelievable characters

I made it through the first book in this series DESPITE the horrible narration. I had hopes for this sequel, but was really disappointed.

I was hoping that there would be more to the investigation than in the first book. That murder was solved by mere chance, and it was no different in this book. The only way the murders are solved is because the killer announces himself - Matt Jones does no real investigating. His character is annoying and not realistic.

There are repetitive sentences and endless repeating of small details (like the lockbox code is the California Penal Code number for murder - we got it the first time, there's no need to repeat it every single time you go in the door.)

I didn't find any of the characters' actions realistic for their roles. The FBI agents all seem to be too jumpy and nervous. They go through rigorous training to NOT be that way. And once you've done one story with incompetent superiors, do we really need the sequel to be the same.

And the narrator...every other voice except the main character sounds the same. They are all whiny and spoken with some strange accent I can't quite put my finger on. One sounds like a horrible imitation of George Takei. I can't express enough how bad this narration is. I won't be getting another book he narrates for sure.

All-in-all, you're better off finding something else.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome story by an awesome narrator..

** spoiler alert ** Spoilers, maybe..

Well, as of 25% I really didn’t think I’d like Matt in this book. His thoughts of murder and how to get away with it just don’t do it for me. But it turned out OK. But, man, every time you turned around he was in trouble. AND, I know, I know, Dr. Baylor was a serial killer but when he was with Matt I really liked him. Whereas, Rogers and Doyle were real jerks and Kate turned out to be even worse. What a piece of work she was. And the info that came out about Matt was just incredible.

And, OMG, what this new serial killer had his victims doing was soooo horrible. And what Andrew and his mother were doing was totally disgusting. And when Andrew hooked up with Avery Cooper…EWW. She was some kind of sick!

This book had an amazing storyline and ending, although it was left open for another book. I just hope we can have a story without Matt smoking or chewing nicotine gum.

There was no sex that was described but there was some really gross sex hinted at.

The F-bomb was used 28 times.

This was a really good murder/suspense, I enjoyed every word of it AND this time the author gave you a few more descriptions of what people looked like.

As to the narrator: Nick Podehl was just as amazing in this book as he was reading City of Echoes. He laughed, yelled, whispered, everything he was supposed to do. I love his narration.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Infantile. Among the Worst

What disappointed you about The Love Killings?

No element involved in the authorship of a novel was even close to acceptable in this joke of a story. With so many to choose from, it would be simpler to address the things that did not disappoint. Oh well, not a single one of those worthy of note.

Has The Love Killings turned you off from other books in this genre?

This thing is beyond classifying as for 'genre'. Is insulting my intelligence a 'genre'?

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator must have been desperate for money and new to reading.

What character would you cut from The Love Killings?

This should have been a (bad) cartoon book for ages 2-4.

Any additional comments?

It is astonishing to me that tripe such as this is even remotely considered for publication. Anyone even remotely involved with this thing should be run out of town, post haste.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Solidly just OK

Any additional comments?

I will start by saying that this book has a lot of background occurring in a previous book, so you may want to start there. The previous action does not make this book impossible to follow on its own, but neither is this book a "stand alone" story.
From that, I will just say that this is NOT a story that anyone requiring true to life action and choices for characters should read. It is a not a plausible scenario and one must first believe that all cops are basically lazy creatures incapable of independent thought. Also, one must believe that supervisors and prosecutors demand all "team members" to lock in on the one and only AUTHORIZED suspect and crime solution. We also must believe that a crazy loser 21-year-old mama's boy can do things like subdue multiple family members at one time, or kill 4 cops and 2 armed body guards to get at a target. In fact, the lazy cops get killed in their car, despite being warned that the crazy guy is coming to the location they are guarding.
Clearly written by an artist and not someone with much insider knowledge of police, lawyers, or federal law enforcement, much of the action and drama is laughably inaccurate based on what outsiders may perceive. As an example, the author has the killer using a .45 Glock that is fitted with an oil filter as a "silencer". In this story, silencer apparently means SILENT. In real life, properly manufactured SUPPRESSORS reduce the report and muzzle flash, but are ANYTHING BUT silent.
So after all that... it is a story that I didn't feel I wanted to tag out on, and I found it to be an ok listen that at some points did get me wanting to hear what happened next. Just don't read or listen to it expecting to find a serious thriller with life size characters and plausible action.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

OHHHH MYYYY!

Good book but the performane was distracting. Couldn't help but imagine a certain Star Trek character

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Could not stop listening.....

Matt Jones never quits thinking or moving forward to uncover the truth. He is .... Amazing

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This is doubly awful.

If this was a book I could burn it. The story is formulaic and stupid. As an audio the performance is cartoonish and just terrible. It's that simple. I can't remember what spurred me to try it. Not sure if I'll finish the last two hours or not. Very painful.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not Scared Stupid!

Beware: Read the reviews if you have triggering issues with sexual abuse descriptions. As Shelly stated, if you are fan of Karin Slaughter books then this book is a bit tame in-comparison. I felt the death descriptions in book 1 were awful and gruesome. This book had focused on the sexual abuse rather than gruesomeness, but because l feel the author tried to please Michael Connelly fans, he has lost his focus and the direction that l found great in his Lena Gamble series.
This narrator does a good job with books 1&2. I will have to decide if book 4 with a new narrator is worth a listen. Book 3 is not on audible. I will have to go surfing again in reviewer Shelly’s library to find another good series. I wish l could sort it by narrator. Now l will have to listen to a lighter novel to dilute the darkness and abuse that reviewer Wayne mentioned in his review.
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