Whiskey Sour: A Jack Daniels Mystery (A Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mystery)

Whiskey Sour is one of the best debut novels in the mystery / thriller genre. Detective Jack Daniels is tough and capable--and she better be, because she's facing one nasty bad guy. I've read extensively in the genre, but few villians have actually made me squirm. The Gingerbread Man is one of them. The cold, clean language that Konrath uses during the GBM chapters makes the scenes terrifically haunting. Though he uses very little explicit gore, Konrath builds the suspense to an almost painful level. There's one chapter, involving a surprise that the Gingerbread Man leaves for Jack, where I had to actually block the upcoming lines with my hand to keep from skipping ahead to see what happened. But what makes the book unique is that Konrath is also very, very funny. This provides a welcome respite from the thriller side of the novel, and it's the humor that elevates Whiskey Sour (and Konrath's second novel, Bloody Mary) way above the average cop-chasing-a-killer mystery. A great read that you won't be able to put down.

No, I won't use any reference to cocktails, jiggers, shots, or mixers ...they've been overused already. If you have a strong stomach for graphic murders, a soft spot for a star-crossed heroine like Jack Daniels, a thirst for the well written crime thriller, an affinity for great characters bruised by life, an appreciation for sharp and funny dialogue, then rush out and buy WHISKEY SOUR ! How many times have you been drawn into a novel by a superb opening, held by a page turning middle, and then dashed by a weak ending. Very often, I'd say. But not with WHISKEY SOUR. Joe Konrath's well crafted ending left me fully satisfied. Totally sated! Joe Konrath has raised the bar. Other writers will have to jump higher to compete with him. I look forward to his next offering.

10. Superb writing - Clean, crisp, and riddled with wit and humor. 9. A terrifying villain called the Gingerbread Man who you do not want to meet. 8. Jacqueline Daniels, the protagonist. What a breath of fresh air this character is. Not some beautifully fake heroine, but a real forty-something woman whose life is in tatters, suffers insomnia and loneliness, but who you will love and respect. 7. Herb - Jack's partner, a man who will let nothing get between him and a donut. One of the funniest sidekicks I've read in a long, long time. 6. A balancing act between humor and fear. You'll be horrified one moment, dying with laughter the next. Quite a hard thing to do, but Mr. Konrath pulls it off. 5. The FBI agents. They're sharply dressed, polished, almost clonelike, and if they're sent to profile your abductor, no one's ever gonna hear from you again. I think Mr. Konrath may have blown his chances at getting into the Academy but it was worth it for this scathingly funny portrait of two of the most incompetent lawmen I've ever encountered. 4. The story itself. This book moves at light-speed. Prepare to read it in one sitting. 3. A life lesson for all you guys out there thinking of dating a woman in pursuit of a serial killer. 2. Another life lesson about why eating candy that "magically" appears in your car isn't the best idea. 1. This is a seriously funny, seriously scary read from a prodigiously talented writer. Take the plunge. You'll love it.

Whiskey Sour arrived in my mailbox yesterday morning and I opened it, not really intending to read it right away. After a while I decided to read a little of it and see what it was about... To my surprise, I couldn't put the book down until I finished it, that very day! I found myself laughing out loud, which I have rarely done with mystery books, and at other times I was terrified. Jack Daniels is my new favorite crimefighter and her lovable, binge-eating partner, Herb Benedict reminds me of someone I'd like to know. I think the book held my interest because of the mix of emotions I felt while I was reading it. I highly recommend this book if you like grisly murders accompanied by witty humor.

What a fabulous book! I devoured it in 2 days. I found it so hard to put it down.Lieutenant Jack Daniels is up against a very hard case. She and her partner Detective Herb Benedict are trying to find the Gingerbread Man before he kills again. The women are dumped in garbage cans outside of 7-11s after they have been tortured. First they have to figure out the connection between the two women. Then some candy is found in Daniels' car. Benedict eats some. He ends up needing stitches due to the blades embedded in the candy. Who in the world would leave her a bag of candy with so many sharp items in the candy? Since she has no boyfriend right now, she decides to take Benedicts advise and call Lunch Mates, a dating service. She has her first date arranged in no time.She meets with Harry McGlade, her old partner. There is a lot of bad history between them. But, she his name keeps coming up in this investigation. How is he involved? Was he just a PI hired?She also runs into Phineas Trout, someone she arrested before, and begins playing pool with him in the evening.It becomes even more personal for Daniels. She has some close calls with the Gingerbread Man, but he always gets away. Normally I don't read books where some chapters are written from the killer's perspective, but this was done so well. You know what is happening to these women, but it doesn't have to be spelled out in gory details.Lieutenant Daniels is a great character. As with most protagonists, she has a lot of baggage to work through while doing her job. This is expertly weaved into the story. Her partner is a real asset to the story as well and brings a different perspective to everything.I highly recommend this book and eagerly look forward to the next in this new series.