The Dying Game

Well, I really liked this book too. I thought Lindsey and Judd had great chemistry and I really liked Judd's character (a typical sullen male)!! The way Judd reacted to certain situations was so male specific, I had to laugh. And of course I can't wait for Griffs and Nics book next year. Hurry up Mrs. Barton!

The latest victim of the "Beauty Queen Killer," has been discovered, this time alive, and hopes to catch the culprit are raised as the FBI and a special private investigative team race to identify her attacker before she succumbs to her injuries. The BQK has stalked former beauty queens throughout the southeast the last five years in an apparent game of murder, which they discover when the victim manages to tell them that she was worth 20 points due to her red hair. PI Lindsey McAllister has been in on the investigation since the beginning; she was a detective in the case of the first victim, Jennifer Walker. Along the way she managed to fall in with Jennifer's grieving husband, who wants nothing more than to find solace in alcohol and wallow in his misfortune. When she is summoned by her boss Griffin Powell (who has appeared as a minor character in many of Barton's thrillers) to bring Judd Walker in on the case, Lindsey's checkered and painful history with Judd must be dealt with head on, just as Judd needs to finally reach out for help. But he BQK is not done, in fact, he is escalating as his five year anniversary of death nears. Though graphic in some parts, particularly the gruesome methods that the killers employ, the story was riveting from cover to cover as the FBI and Powell's detective agency race to unmask and find the motivation of the killers. As always, Griff steals the show and makes for a very charismatic lead. Lindsey and Judd were not as charismatic as her other pairings, but this was more a thriller than a typical romance novel. Barton has cleverly only given small clues to Griff's past, making readers hungry for his story (which won't be out until 2008). One aspect I could have lived without is the ESP and other paranormal activity attributed to Dr. Meng; I hate this overused and trite plot device (and Barton seems to employ it a lot). If you can stomach the cruelty of the BQK, check this one out!

Well, I really liked The Dying Game! I am a big fan of Beverly Barton's and she delivered on this one. It was suspenseful till the end. By giving some of the victims some of their own story, the suspense was more real and it made the killing that much more scary and sad. The characterizations were thorough and interesting. It wasn't exactly a romance, but more of a love story about healing and dealing with emotional demons. Judd wasn't really a hero in the traditional sense, but a main character who is flawed and unstable. Lindsay was a wonderful heroine who stuck with Judd, right or wrong. His healing and journey back from the bottom he had let himself fall to to reunite with Lindsay was heartwrenching and heartwarming. A lot of the story involved Griffin and Nic and Sanders, which will lead right into their book next year. Griffin was the less likable character in my mind. At this point, I have a hard time picturing him and Nic together, but I will trust Barton to pull it off. This was an emotional and suspenseful (very graphic and gory also) read that I highly recommend. This was definitely one of Barton's best.

In Chattanooga though her husband Judd would object to her showing off a house at night, realtor Jennifer Walker agrees to take a potential customer and his wife to see an expensive mansion. However, instead of a sale that she would use to furnish a nursery, the man slices off her hands before killing her. He leaves behind a rose and a devastated spouse, who hires his friend's Powell private investigative firm to uncover the identity of the killer. Over the next three years and eight months, twenty-nine beauty queens starting with Jennifer have been butchered by the Beauty Queen Killer, but so far there is no progress in apprehending the culprit. Judd has stopped living except for his obsession to wrap his hands around the killer's neck. That is until now. Apparently in Williamstown, Kentucky Barbara Jean Hughes visiting her sister saved Gale Ann Cain's life after the killer sliced off her legs. Griff Powell sends former Chattanooga detective, employee Lindsay McAllister to see Judd, whom she fell in love with when she was still a cop while he grieved his loss then but now Judd shows interest as he demands to join the hunt for a deadly deranged predator. THE DYING GAME is an action-packed cat and mouse thriller with several incredible yet plausible twists that will shake readers into leaving the lights on all night. The story line is fast-paced, but it is the psychologically damaged survivors like Judd and the sisters who make the tale real. A romantic subplot is deftly interwoven into Beverly Barton's tense thriller and readers will look forward to the sequel starring Griff and his FBI enemy combatant. Harriet Klausner

A serial killer is on the loose and his victims are all former beauty queens who are found mutilated and with a single rose placed by or on their body. Lindsay McAllister knows the killer's pattern all too well. A former police officer in Chattanooga, Tennessee (now a private investigator), her first contact with the brutal killer was when the beautiful young wife of attorney Judd Walker went out one evening to sell a house, and lost her life instead. When the killer strikes again, Lindsay must put aside her feelings about Judd and convince him to leave his ever-deepening grief to help solve the case. The murderer is picking up speed and leaving an ever-increasing number of dead women behind. If Lindsay isn't careful, her idea to solve the murders just might mean she will become a victim herself. The Dying Game is an interesting twist on the usual serial killer thriller and I didn't see the twist coming. The plot is unique and the characters are to be loved, hated, feared or pitied. At times I felt that the story bogged down in extraneous detail, but overall, this is a novel worth reading. Armchair Interviews says: If you like thrillers, The Dying Game will keep you turning the pages.