The Killing Hour

This book was hard to put down. Twists and turns. Everything you'd expect in a thriller. Just bought book 1 of the series.

New Agent, Kimberly Quincy, is fighting her demons at the FBI academy with a grueling training regimen. Her mother and sister were killed six years earlier by someone close to her. She has not yet come to terms with it. Her relationship with her father, (former FBI profiler Pierce Quincy from earlier novels) is strained. She has something to prove to herself and to her father. She gets her chance when she stumbles upon a body at a FBI training trail. She takes a leave of absence from the Academy, hooks up with Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent "Mac" MacCormick. Mac had been involved in a Georgia serial killing investigation three years earlier and the trail led him to FBI headquarters in Virginia. Now three new woman are abducted and it a race against the clock to find them before they die. From the beginning of the novel, the reader is drawn into the characters' lives. They are extraordinarily well defined. This is a fast-paced, page-turning, can't put it down kind of a book. A lot happens in a little over 300 pages. Not to say everything was perfect. Clichés do abound, crimes are solved a little too quickly once everyone stops floundering around, and I for one cannot believe a cell phone will work in the middle of a desolate swamp. Despite a few minor problems, I found this to be a totally engaging , heart-pounding book.Besides Kimberly, some characters from previous novels play a secondary role in THE KILLING HOUR. Lisa Gardner does a fine job tying her novels together by highlighting a different character each time, Rainie Conner in THE THIRD VICTIM, Pierce Quincy in THE NEXT ACCIDENT, and Kimberly Quincy in THE KILLING HOUR. The books feel both familiar and original at the same time.Highly Recommended

Driven by the need for redemption for her mother and sister's death, Agent Kimberly Quincy only pushes herself to be the best. Her mother and sister victims of horrific and violent crimes, she and her FBI profiler father have never recovered from their losses. Punished training routines at the FBI academy do not stop her quest. But when she discovers a body on FBI's training grounds, Kimberly suddenly finds herself embroiled in an investigation that transforms her life, especially when Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Mac MacCormick steps in.Involved since the first killing, Mac recognizes the serial killer's patterns. Young women are kidnapped in couples, the first body left in an easy to discover area and serving as a map to the second. Specifically, the killer taunts investigators with obscure clues that could possibly save the second woman's life if they move quickly enough. Of the previous eight victims, only was discovered alive because Mac pieced the clues together quickly enough. Now out of his jurisdiction, Mac dogged tracks the perpetrator with Kimberly's help.Author Lisa Garner pens a taut suspense thriller that leaves the heart pounding in THE KILLING HOUR. Garner's gripping narrative grabs the reader by the throat with the first page and never turns loose, providing a horrific roller coaster ride that will keep readers up way past bedtime. Kimberly's drive for success easily matches Mac's determination to the stop the killer. Their shared chemistry and their shared motivations combine to bring them together under extreme circumstance to reveal gritty, richly realized characterizations. Garner likewise presents a chilling portrait of eco-killer that readers will not soon forget. THE KILLING HOUR is a must read for readers who enjoy a riveting plot, strong forensic detail and a touch of romance. Very highly recommended.

This was an excellent addition to the series, but would also do well as a stand alone. The locations were incredible and the suspense kept building. I enjoyed "catching up" with Raine and Quincy. I did however find Kimberly's admission to the FBI academy a little hard to believe. This girl has some very serious emotional issues. Wouldn't there have been an in-depth psych evaluation? Even with her dad's status it didn't quite ring true. It was still a very enjoyable book and I'm definitely looking forward to Lisa Gardner's next.

I'm not going to go into the plot of the book because it's been done in the other reviews, so I will just say that this is a great read....I couldn't put it down and it was done in a day or so....If you haven't already read Gardners other books "The Other Daughter", "The Perfect Husband", "The Third Victim", and "The Next Accident", I highly reccommend doing so, as some of them will give you a better insight into the histories of the main characters in the book : Pierce Quincy, Kimberly Quincy, and Lorraine O'Conner (Rainie)....and knowing their histories makes the book even more enthralling. Pick it up, Read it and Enjoy it!

Between the years of 1998-2000, eight college kids in Georgia were kidnapped in pairs and the first of the duo was killed immediately. The first victim had clues on their person that if properly interpreted in time would lead the authorities to the other victim who might still be alive. Of the eight victims of the UNSUB, only one was found alive and that was because special agent Michael "Mac" McCormack was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together in time.For three years, the UNSUB goes dormant but when FBI agent-in-training Kimberly Whey finds a dead body on the grounds of Quanta's, it quickly becomes obvious that the UNSUB has become active again. Even though he is out of his jurisdiction, Mac travels to Virginia with every intention of tracking down the UNSUB and capturing him if possible. He has unexpected allies in Kimberly, her father, a famous FBI profiler, and the UNSUB'S only victim that is still alive.THE KILLING HOUR is all about time and the race to find the victims before they die. Thanks to dogged investigation into areas that are dangerous to one's health, two victims are left standing after the UNSUB is revealed. Mac and Kimberly make a good investigative team whose strengths, when combined, make them an unbeatable force out in the field. They also are able to lean on one another in times of stress and it is fascinating to watch their relationship evolve throughout the story and behind closed doors. Lisa Gardner is becoming a major player in the suspense thriller genre.Harriet Klausner