Mallory's Oracle

I love C.J. Box, Vince Flynn and similar action books, and saw recommendations that Carol O'Connell books were a similar genre. So disappointed. I found Mallory's Oracle to be hard to follow and just a little weird.

This reader was immediately sucked into this fast paced murder mystery. There were many suspects presented in this serial killer storyline and the suspense was well plotted. However, the characters in this book were the real gems. They almost became flesh and blood before my eyes as the author painted such loving images of not altogether loveable characters. First off, Kathy Mallory is a tough as nails young cop trying to avenge her sort of adopted father's death - Markowitz - and oh by the way, she was a runaway who was "found" on the streets by him when she was around 11. Her terrible and traumatic background is hinted at but never revealed. Mallory is unconditionally loved by Markowitz and his wife and even though both of these characters are dead as we read this book, the reader can see them as relevant characters and we feel her loss. Then there's Markowitz' band of poker buddies (The Rabbi, the Lawyer and the Doctor) who are three dimensional characters as well. Last but not least, there's her two sidekicks of Charles Butler (a modern day Ichobod Crane figure) and another cop named Riker(a drunkard with redeeming qualities). Sure her characters are flawed, but they all have principals that they hold true to and all of them can be admired. Kudos to the author for her skill in presenting such intriguing characters that seem so real. As soon as I finished this book I immediately picked up the next one in this series (The Man Who Cast Two Shadows).

Others are correct in stating that Kathy Mallory, the center of this novel and the series that follows, is a cold character and difficult to like. If you like mysteries featuring Sneaky-Pie Brown, give these books a pass. But the Mallory mysteries, beginning with Mallory's Oracle, have become my favorite series because of their complex characterizations, perfectly paced plotting, and unblinking realism. As dark and layered as its protagonist, Mallory's Oracle is an intriguing police procedural with an attention to detail, and each book gets better and more engrossing. Love the other characters, Riker and Charles, and watch Mallory like a hawk. It'll pay off richly.

Mallory (she doesn't use her first name) is an extraordinary, complex character. Mallory, a New York City cop, gets tangled up in a very personal murder, which leads to the discovery of a series of potentially linked murders. OK. We've seen this before. Why should you read this? The enigma of Mallory rests in her lost childhood years. But Mallory is not a victim. Emotionally, she is an alien in this world, totally cut off from her humanity, relying on ancient cues of her foster parents to do the right thing. Think about what you would get if you combined the tenacity of a pit bull; a deadly aim; a brilliant hacker and laser sharp intelligence. Well plotted and written. A interesting of supporting characters. This book is gripping, as well as intriguing.

To find one good mystery you often have to suffer 50 bad ones. Mallory's Oracle is so stunning, well written, inteteresting I would suffer 1000 book horrors to have found it. Her images make you laugh,cry and pull you into characters in a way only suberb writer's can and what a plot. Thank you for this gift of a book.

i first bought this book in hardcover about five years ago when it was a Mystery Guild selection, and it took me more than three years to finish it. Maybe i was too young to appreciate the strong characters, the steel-edged imagery, the bite of humanity... i re-read it about a year ago, after a few tragic personal losses of my own, and i found the book to be a lot more true-to-life and more enjoyable with the benefit of a bit of maturity under my belt. it was a lot easier to empathize with a character who could separate herself from her peers, internalize her grief and obsessively bury herself in a search for truth and the meaning of life and death... o'connell has created a most original heroine, and in spite of that, has managed to throw in not one but five more compelling characters that i can't get enough of - Jack Coffey, Charles Butler, Riker, Rabbi Kaplin and Edwin Slope... Somebody has finally realized that an ensemble cast can work in a novel format. i recommend this book unreservedly, but i warn you - once you finish Mallory's Oracle, you will NEED to read the next three books in the series.