The Prologue was captivating, and had me after reading the first sentence. If you don't like gore, stay away from the Prologue. The rest of the first episode, doesn't go in detail about the way "Doc" kills his prey. So you'll be safe to skip that part, if it's too much. Although, I for one, enjoyed the Prologue more than the book itself. It was as if two writers wrote it. The Prologue was well described, and gripping. Quite entertaining, and gave me chills thinking of the ordeal being played out on the pages...deliciously stimulating thinking like a serial killer, and what plays out in their mind.

The book follows two detectives who have 6 months to solve a serial killer case, before it gets reassigned. The main character, Gwen, is the governor's daughter, and a bit of a bully, with a pink mushy inside, which she guards, and conceals from others. The second character is Gwen's partner, Devon Sullivan, who she finds attractive in mind and body. She doesn't dare take it to another level because she has a lot riding on this case, and proving her worth is more than a mere daughter born to a governor.

Another note, and this again is my observation, I know the 'booty call' at the end of the first episode was to make us think it was the killer she took home; however, in real life it was unrealistic. Presumably, it's the authors age, inexperience, or feel for a rush to end the first episode, and keep the reader interested. I felt the whole chapter had no merit. Why would an educated, upper class female, alone, go to a bar, get drunk, invite a stranger home because he was 'hot' and then leave him alone in her apartment? Especially, when she felt a serial killer was watching her? AND her partner the next day stating he'd called her repeatedly; yet, not send someone over to check on her well being?

Gwen is written like she was raised in the Bronx, by a string of foster families that abused her, and now has a grudge against the world. She disrespects authority, looks down at addicts, self-absorbed, lacks empathy, shows aggression, bullies, and attacks like a chained starving animal fighting for its last meal. The two scenarios, thus far, don't add up. Perhaps, in the following episodes this will make more sense....let's hope.

To that end, the story itself is a quick read, and flows effortlessly. It's chock full of police jargon and city life living. The author is very good at keeping the pace, and the action going. I enjoyed it, and am eagerly looking forward to episode 2. I must admit, I think I know who the killer is, and I'd like to share it with you. If you're interested in my guess, take your cursor over the end of this sentence, and highlight from the words here to here. I will type the answer in between in white font (highlighting the area will show my words beneath), and it'll be fun to go back to see if I was correct. Here Page 25: The cop at the beginning of the story Gwen yelled at about the license plate, and asked if he ran it yet. She stated it must be his first day. Then he came back and told her the system was down. I think he's the killer dressed-up like a cop, and didn't know how to run the plate; and then he points out the witness who spotted a female torching the car. Whom in turns, points her to the next vital lead, and next play on Doc's part (I won't spoil it, in case you haven't read it, yet). Here

Now for the negative. There were two issues I had with the writing of the book; however, it's me wearing my old paralegal/writer hats. The first are the redundancy of several words (especially, Valentino County); and second, were some grammar errors. With that said, these issues did not take away from the story, and most folks probably don't/didn't work as proof-readers and haven't an eye for finding flaws, like I do, and may not notice them, nor care.