A Man to Slay Dragons

Five years ago Wall Street attorney Claire Green's twin sister Zoe was murdered in New Orleans, in a crime that had all the hallmarks of a serial killing but was never tied to any other murders. Zoe's killer is still free. Claire is haunted by the death of her sister. She works herself to the bone and avoids her parents, who see her dead twin whenever they look at her. Before her sister's murder, Claire had a normal love life, but now she finds it difficult to trust men. To cope with the pain of losing her twin, Claire started a victim's support group named after her dead twin. Now the group's other members have pooled together their resoruces ande started a "lottery" in which they can "win" the opportunity to have those who victimized them killed. By the time Claire learns of this conspiracy, it is too late to stop it, and the latest lottery winner is Claire, whose dead sister the group plans to avenge. FBI agent Liam Jameson, investigating this plot, follows Claire to New Orleans. Like Claire, Liam is driven by the murder of someone he cared about long ago, and despite the fact that they are at odds, the two work together to catch the man who murdered Claire's sister, and a powerful attraction flares between them. On one level A Man to Slay Dragons is a story of opposites attracting. Claire is a Jewish Manhattanite who hails from New Orleans; Liam is a self-described redneck who grew up in an Oklahoma trailer park. But Claire and Liam are both more complicated than they seem at first glance. Claire is an attorney who considers breaking the law in order to catch her sister's killer, as well as a complex combination of fear and courage, unwillingness to trust and a powerful need to do so. Liam seems casual and tough at first glance, but he knows that he understands the impulses that drive the killers he tracks a little better than is healthy, and at the same time he still remembers all too well what it is like to be vulnerable and scared. The push-pull between Claire's attraction to Liam and her fear of the violence men are capable of, and between Liam's attraction to Claire and the knowledge that he should not get involved with a suspect he is investigating combine with Liam and Claire's awareness of each other's contradictory feelings to create some wonderful sexual and romantic tension. Fear and desire intermingle here, as McKinney captures the resistance that accompanies attraction to a stranger perfectly. I was impressed with several aspects of the book, including the vivid depiction of New Orleans, McKinney's rendering of the work of an FBI agent, and the questions that the book asks of its readers. Questions like: What is the nature of heroism? What is it that makes someone a hero, and what is it that makes someone a monster? Are Liam and Claire heroes or anti-heroes? Are women safe with men? And do women need men to "slay dragons" for them? Instead of providing simple or superficial answers, McKinney shows tha

Claire is a high powered New York attorney in self-imposed exile from her family in New Orleans, unable to come to grips with the murder of her sister and its impact on her family. She becomes entangled with a secret society which uses a lottery to offer the victims of crime their opportunity for revenge. Her life intersects with that of Liam, an FBI agent assigned to investigate the revenge ring, and a sadistic serial killer who collects souveniers from his victims. Against the backdrop of carnival New Orleans, the reader is treated to a memorable tale of good and evil, love and hate, romance and homicidal sexual obsession.This is my favorite of Ms. McKinney's books; different from her earlier works, it's not at all historical in the classical romance sense, but down to earth and populated with characters with the strengths and flaws of real people in contemporary times. As a result, it moves faster and with freshness. Good and evil; black, white, and shades of gray; love, lust, ugliness - it has it all, crafted a little like a modern day fairy tale. I recommend it highly!

When I first received this book I was disappointed because I wanted a historical novel. Ms. McKinney writes wonderful historical novels, and I wanted more of the same. I was not disappointed after reading. This book was a page turner! The hero in the story was a little cliche, but I overlooked that. Otherwise it would have been a 6 star!

This book is the about the choice the heroine has to make between loyalty to a family friend who is over the edge and the complex man she is falling in love with. This book is a must read because Claire, the protagonist, is human enough to struggle with the blinding need to kill her sister's murderer or let justice run it's course. The plot twists will surprise you