Mediocre writing and plot formation, this book heavily relies on existing tropes and stereotypes of butch law enforcement and criminals. It also severely suffers from a man trying to write a lead female character. That would be fine if there was something more to the book that surprised or entertained, but there isn’t. Next time I’ll know better and not bother finishing something so common.

Valerie Hart is a homicide detective from San Francisco and she will stop at nothing to find a serial killer attacking women. The attacks are brutal and have more than one strange signature. Valerie fears for any other woman who might fall into this path.

Two men meet at a farmhouse in Colorado and end up committing a despicable crime, leaving a young child witness to her mother's death. It is quite hopeful that the little girl escape completely, although the tragedy will scar her for life. This is just the first of a long line of violent crimes for the two men.

I admire Valerie Hart. Her determination to bring an end to these killings was admirable. It is no surprise that this places her right in the line of fire. No doubt any future cases that she is responsible for will receive the same dedication.

This debut story by Saul Black is his debut novel. I actually received a print ARC of Anything for You for review, and it is the third book in the Valerie Hart series. Since I wanted to know more about the detective, I chose to read the first book in this series. This may indeed be the darkest book that I have read to-date, as readers are often in the mind of complete psychopaths. Although I have the next book in the series, Lovemurder, I need a break from such intensity.

Reviewed first at Brunner's Bookshelf

I got this weird email from Goodreads one day and it said that my favorite author Jeffery Deaver enjoyed The Killing Lessons. Now I thought this was a little odd because anytime you hear someone enjoyed the killing lessons your first thought might be to buy more locks for your door, espcially if that person is your neighbor. Turns out the email was a review of the book by my favorite author of all time Jeffery Deaver. He had some great things to say about this book and as a good fan I jumped at the chance to add this to my to-read list. Well I finally got around to reading this and I really enjoyed it.

This book follows different characters through the whole story. The constant switching from points of view can be a bit frustrating at times but it wasn't enough to deter my enjoyment. The main plot revolves around our two serial killers, an emotionally damaged detective, and two of the most recent victims. It can get a bit confusing at times but the way these weave together was impressive. I had a hard time stopping when I was listening to this. The suspense is consistent throughout and I was happy to see that a book I felt I took a chance on turned out to be worth it.

We as readers tend to find authors we like and then we base our reading habits off of those authors. Every book we then read is stacked up against our favorite authors and rated accordingly. My favorite author said this book was great and full of suspense so I chose to read it. Still, even though I knew my favorite author, Jeffery Deaver, liked this book why did I still compare every aspect of it to the Bone Collector or Cold Moon? I worried that this book wasn't going to be as good as I had hoped because it was new and I took a chance. Am I alone in this? Do you reading this review base your book choices on your favorite authors and their style? I tend to stick with mysteries like Jeffery Deaver's style and horror novels like Stephen King's.

I got off track here and I'm sorry about that. The long and the short of this post is I really liked this book and have a hard time describing why. It was suspenseful and engaging and I couldn't wait to read more. For fans of mysteries and suspense I would highly recommend this book. I did get confused at the shift in character perspective from time to time but over all I feel comfortable giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. I would read another book by Saul Black. I'll keep my eyes open for futre works.

While this wasn't a bad book, i found myself having a hard time making myself read it. There were so many storylines (so to speak) that it would take forever before you'd get back to certain characters stories.

Pretty good for a debut! I thought the motive behind the killer was very interesting and unique and the killer’s POV actually gave me chills at times.
Angelo’s story was left a bit unfinished for me and I think he really deserved a good ending. The Clara and Valerie beef wasn’t wrapped up well at all imo and I could still think of quite a few questions about that entire situation. I also feel like there were quite a few areas where 100 pages could have been taken out.

I got this one from audible and thought the narrator did an excellent job giving each character a distinctive voice. The story is graphic and at times disturbingly so. Nonetheless I enjoyed it and was prepared to give it 4 stars until the ending. In the last 45 minutes or so characters became superhuman and the story concluded in a James Patterson over the top fashion. It put me off.

This writer has a way with imagery that I really admire, but often the story gets lost in the overcomplicated side notes of the characters thoughts and feelings on EVERYTHING. The plot becomes very predictable very fast, but at the same time is absolutely unbelievable. Many aspects of the plot were too far-fetched for me to fall into. The entire read I held the story at an arm's length because although the writing is very good the plot structure relies heavily on luck and happenstance. Not a great trait for a crime drama.

This wasn't a chore to read and the author really can put you in suspense. But I don't think I would have been terribly upset if I lost it half way through and never finished it. Interesting crime thriller, good beach read, not going to win any prestigious awards.

Just barely squeaked a 4 b/c I felt like the ending was a little overdone.

Really enjoyed this book, found it hard to put it down. This book was quite deep and very descriptive in some parts which all added to the overall suspense of the storyline. A fast paced thriller, which explored the dark mind of a twisted serial killer. Loved the insight to the different characters and how Saul black was able convey the story from each one without spoiling the flow of the story line. Highly recommend and looking forward to reading other books by this author.