Really liked the beginning of the book. Loved the different perspective and there was a good amount of suspense to keep one hooked. But after I was halfway through. I was just over it. While in someways it might deserve a higher rating, 2 stars the the highest I will give to a book I couldn’t wait to put down.

 

Warning: Read at your own risk.

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I have a thing for scare the shit out of you psychological thrillers. So when I saw the blurb on the back said "do not read this. nobody should be this scared," I knew I had to buy it. It did not disappoint.

The Killing Lessons is told from multiple perspectives during a month-ish long time span. I don't know how one author can write from the POV of a little girl, two different serial killers, a reclusive author and a FBI agent, and nail every one of them. But Saul Black does just that. (Side note: Saul Black is supposedly a pen name.)

The story moves very quickly. It flashes between past and present as well as the different narrators. Black weaves together many lives which unfortunately meet during the killing spree. Plus the guy knows how to terrify you. Quite literally. I had to stop and put the book down at times because it was just way too real. Like when he describes, in detail, how the victims are tortured and murdered. I got anxious and tachycardia, had to stop reading and remind myself it's just a book.

For me, that is the hallmark of a fan-freaking-tastic story.

This is how I picture Saul Black while he wrote The Killing Lessons. But really, WTF goes through author's heads when they write things like this?? Like did we need in-depth analysis of a killer shoving articles into his victim's orifices?

Ok, sorry for the sidetrack. But you get it, it's scary. So only read it if you are prepared for that, and you don't get PTSD from rape, kidnapping etc.

I'd have to say that my only real drawback from the book is the ending. There was this big lead up of whether the police will get there in time to save the last victim. I was skimming the pages, reading as fast as I could to figure out how it ends. And it was just anti-climatic...Not terrible, just not on par with the rest of the story. Because of this semi-let down, I give it 4 stars.
 This review was originally posted on The Country Bookworm

Fast-paced thriller; wasn't all that in-love with the main character (Valerie Hart), felt like she has too many personal issues; but overall, enjoyed the book.

It started out really good and by the halfway point it just slowed way down. So 4🌟 for the first half and 2🌟 for the last half for an overall average of 3🌟

amazing!!

Slow in the beginning but you get hooked really fast!

The Killing Lessons is so close to being that of a classic crime fiction book. So close, but it falls short. Still, I enjoyed the book very much while at the same time was somewhat disappointed.

The book follows the investigation of a serial killer. The main investigative character is a troubled woman with her own streak of self-destruction accompanying her search for the killer.

Some aspects, such as character development, of the book could be described as being cliche-like, however, Saul Black is able to avoid such criticism by creating numerous characters and their story line like they are individual spokes on a wheel and eventually will converge in the middle.

One thing I liked was how Saul Black's main character comes to her conclusions in plausible discoveries.

The main criticisms I have include while Black hints at the horrors that helped moved the villain along to what he became, they were some what left incomplete and full resolutions for characters at the end were not fully fleshed out.

Still, Saul Black's (a pseudonym for Glen Duncan) next venture into crime fiction will be looked for.