About the BookA man in a business suit offers the protection of his umbrella to an unsuspecting woman, and several days later she turns up dead on a river bank, raped and strangled. The terrifying serial killer known in the press as the Rainy Day Killer is now hunting new victims in the city of Glendale ... whenever it rains.
Homicide Lieutenant Hank Donaghue leads the investigation as the killer begins to communicate directly to him through phone calls and grisly packages containing body parts of his victims. Assisted by FBI profiler Ed Griffin, Donaghue and Detective Karen Stainer pursue an elusive predator who leaves no physical evidence behind.
The timing couldn't be worse, however, as Karen Stainer's attention is divided between the investigation and preparations for her upcoming wedding. Distracted and uncertain about her future, Stainer is furious when she learns that the Rainy Day Killer has followed her to Virginia, where the wedding will take place, and that he intends to make her his next victim!
My Review
There's nothing I enjoy more than a male writer who knows how to write a strong female character, and Karen Stainer is my kind of girl. She grew up in a family of four brothers. She curses like a sailor. She can knock a grown man off his feet and have him begging for mercy. Since her father was a cop, it's no wonder that she followed in his footsteps to become a homicide detective. And when a serial killer sets his sights on her, she's not afraid. She wants to shoot the bastard herself.
Karen reminded me a lot of Debra Morgan from the hit TV show, DEXTER (who just so happens to be one of my favorite woman cops of all time). Karen is getting married, but she hates all the frills and fuss. She's no girly girl. She doesn't do bachelorette parties or bridal showers. But her future mother-in-law is making her jump through all the required hoops, making her grit her teeth and bears it for the sake of her fiance, Sandy. She doesn't want to waste time with flower arrangements or dress fittings. She just wants to nail The Rainy Day Killer before he strikes again.
And Karen just so happens to be his type - petite, blonde, slender. She's seen the dead bodies of two of his victims he's killed in her town - the strangulation marks on their necks, their sliced off breasts, the grotesque way he positions the corpses to be found. He makes a mockery of all that she stands for, enjoying how he makes women feel weak and vulnerable and afraid. But Karen doesn't buy into his intimidation tactics. She's too smart for that.
Whether she's running out of a dressing room in her underwear or dodging a bullet to the head, she has the guts to tell off the bureaucratic higher-ups and chastise underlings who drop the ball. She's a no nonsense professional when it comes to her job. Her phone is always on. Her gun is always strapped to her ankle, even when it's under her wedding dress. She's the kind of person who deserves to take down a sick son of a bitch like The Rainy Day Killer. But does she?
As the cat and mouse game intensifies toward the end, it turns out to be anyone's game.
***
The Rainy Day Killer can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, Smashwords, Powells, Amazon UK, Amazon CAN, Fishpond AUS, Fishpond NZ
Prices/Formats: $8.99 ebook, $19.99 paperback
Pages: 290
ISBN: 9780987708786
Publisher: Plaid Raccoon Press
Release: August 30, 2013
Click to add to your Goodreads list.
About the AuthorMichael J. McCann was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. He earned a B.A. (Hons.) in English from Trent University and an M.A. in English from Queen's University. He has worked as an editor and a project and training consultant and manager with the federal government. He is an author of crime fiction and supernatural thrillers. His Donaghue and Stainer Crime Novel series includes Blood Passage, Marcie's Murder, The Fregoli Delusion, and The Rainy Day Killer. He is also the author of the supernatural thriller The Ghost Man and is currently working on another supernatural novel.
Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Goodreads
Blog (mystery)
Blog (paranormal)
Blog Tour Site
About the Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Connie, thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed Karen as a character :)
ReplyDeleteConnie, thanks very much for taking the time to read and review the novel. It does my heart good when a reader understands Karen as a character. She's very special to me!! All the best, Mike
ReplyDelete