A Perfect Evil

De: Alex Kava

Narrado por: Richard Rowan

The brutal murders of three young boys paralyze the citizens of Platte City, Nebraska. What's worse is the grim realization that the man recently executed for the crimes was a copycat. When Sheriff Nick Morrelli is called to the scene of another grisly murder, it becomes clear that the real predator is still at large, waiting to kill again. Morrelli understands the urgency of the case terrorizing his community, but it's the experienced eye of FBI criminal profiler Maggie O'Dell that pinpoints the true nature of the evil behind the killings; a revelation made all the more horrific when Morrelli's own nephew goes missing.

Maggie understands something else: the killer is enjoying himself, relishing his ability to stay one step ahead of her, making this case more personal by the hour. Because out there, watching, is a killer with a heart of pure and perfect evil.

©2000 Alex Kava
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A well-crafted page-turner.' (Publishers Weekly)
"This debut thriller pumps the suspense....Maggie is gutsy and appealing as an FBI agent facing constant danger." (Library Journal)

just ok

this book was...well..just ok. It did the job of keeping me occupied at work but that's about it. Both the male and female leads were quite weak and uninteresting. I would say that i had the story figured out by hour four...

Perfect Evil

This is a part of my 2024 Cleaning Out the TR Closet challenge. This one has been on my TR list since Sept2022. Maggie kind of grew on me during the prequel and by the end, I really liked her. This installment takes place about a month after the end of the prequel. Like in the prequel, where the killer became obsessed with Maggie and started to target her, this killer also becomes threatened by Maggie and clearly wants to scare her off.

The book summary introduces the primary storyline of there being another murderer in Platt NE that appears to be a copycat to a killer who was recently executed. It’s very early in the story where it becomes obvious that is not the case and it’s the other way around. It also becomes kind of shocking of how that wasn’t known until Maggie and Sheriff Nick start investigating the killer who was executed.

There is also another storyline of Nick’s sister, Christine, who is tired of being a food writer for the local paper and gets a break to cover the story of the murder of one kid and disappearance of another kid. Lastly, there is sort of another storyline of Nick and Maggie and their growing attraction to each other while working together. Nick is the hometown, former high school, star quarterback and proverbial good-looking, playboy, pushing 40 and Maggie is the quintessential beautiful, smart, sexy, FBI agent with a troubled and deteriorating marriage.

Most of the story revolves around Nick’s and Maggie’s investigation with the other storylines weaved in. It’s in the second half that a new character is introduced, Nick’s father and former Sheriff, Antonio Morrelli. I didn’t like this guy from the moment he entered the story based on not only because of what Nick had already said about him either. While Nick is a grown man now and is responsible for his own life, I still felt sorry for him for having such a crappy father. It’s not long before I figured out who the killer was, but it was still a really scary and intense ending finally catching the killer.

The continuing character development of Maggie was good and the development of Nick and Christine were good too. The development of the killer was not bad, just a little unreliable. The rest of the cast of characters were more like talking heads. The pacing was steady to fast and the storyline interesting, though disappointing and disturbing (see TW). I’m not sure what to say about the writing. I’ll just leave it at that. I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.3 that I will be rounding down to a 3star review.

I won’t be continuing the series. I checked out the book summaries for several installments and many of them seem to have storylines with religious subject matter, with much of the series having a religious overtone to it. There’s even one installment about victims of the Catholic church sex abuse crisis/scandal. Kind of makes me wonder if Kava is possibly a pissed-off disillusioned (maybe former?) Catholic. JMHO The trigger warnings were enough for me.


TW: child molestation, animal cruelty

great story - where's the ending?

Very entertaining - but you should warn people that the crime will not be solved, nor the romance resolved - it's like a cheap way to get people to buy a sequel. I liked it - but I wouldn't have listened to all those hours, waiting anxiously for the resolution, if I had known that there was none!

A perfect spine tingler

Alex does it again. Just when you think you know who-dun-it, she surprises you. I couldn't wait for my next drive (yes, I listen in the car). Maggie is a great character, can hardly wait until her next book. The narrator was a great choice too.

A Perfect Evil

Just a very well-written tale. I definitely want to experience more of Kava's work.

What a Thriller!

I found this book to be "on the edge of your seat" thriller. Even though you suspect who done it, it has enough twists and turns in it to keep you going. I highly recommend this book.

Captivating!

I love, love, love, love it!! I can't wait to start the next one! Awesome!

MORE!

Can’t wait until the next one. It has left me “dangling” I like the flow of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone that hasn’t read Alex Kava books before. If you have read Alex Kava then recommendation isn’t needed.

Great Listen

I thought this was an excellent "read". My attention was held throughout and I did not want to pause it at any time. I wish all of her books were available and in the unabridged version - I would get them all today.

AWESOME, Except for a less then definitive ending

Brilliant Reader, inside twisting, plot thickening, it will keep your attention. But, like I said, not a definitive ending, so I guess I'll be back for the next.