Why all the fighting when we can think?!It may be an unpopular opinion but now a days a large percentage of detective mysteries cum thrillers tends to emphasise on making the problem somehow personal to the protagonist of the story. Either their past comes back to haunt them or the killer somehow is related to him/her or for some reasons the killer targets our protagonist. The plus point about these type of novels is that they are catchy and can create gripping situations to keep us on the edge; the result- best sellers. But the negativity lies in the familiar taste and repetitiveness. If one reads a certain amount of detective thrillers then this set-up becomes repetitive too fast. That is exactly why Vigilante feels like a fresh breeze!A serial killer is killing other criminals but looks like he is doing it from behind the bars!And that's it! There is nothing more to talk about the premise. Just a pure cop thriller with a good mystery. No overly complicated personal problems, no past and present tying up together and there is nothing personal about the killer. There is a serial killer and DS Jessica has to catch him before the body count keeps increasing. Does it sound purely delicious or not?!? The writing is smooth and soothing but still creates a hidden chill without using any explosive chase or cinematic action! There are many lady detectives in crime thriller field today but DS Jessica instantly stood out of the crowd as soon as I got to know her. She is energetic, goofy, young and so grounded and relate-able that she feels like one of the friends of ours. That is how I like it! What to say more? The focus of the mystery switches back and forth from one suspect to another which creates a nice guessing game for readers too. For me, that is very important in a mystery thriller. If it can keep me guessing till the last, I relate to it much more. Because it feels great to be a part of the search instead of just watching it from distance. Although this is the first book by Mr Kerry Wilkinson for me, I am hundred percent sure that it won't be the last. I suggest any mystery lover to read this and enjoy the forgotten taste of old school mystery novels.
This book was won through Goodreads giveaways.VIGILANTE is the second book in the Jessica Daniel's series. It can be read as a stand alone. I have been debating whether to give this book 3 stars or 4. I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and go with 4. I liked the story overall, but I'm not sure how I feel about the main character, Jessica Daniel. She seemed normal enough, however, about halfway through the book she seemed to change. She became very untrusting of those around her, coming up with theories but not sharing with anyone, and investigating on her own without including her partner, whom seemed to be trustworthy and was not suspicious in any way. Also, she started to become obsessed with the investigation and ended up doing crazy and dangerous things. A police detective should no better. I realize that she was under a great deal of stress and was grieving the loss of her friend, but even then she should have known better and not been so reckless. The thing that bothered me the most though was her treatment of Adam, the guy she recently started seeing. She completely ignored him when he tried to reach out to her when she was grieving. Then she turned around and used him without so much as blinking an eye, even after he pleaded with her not to put him in that position. Only after she got what she needed from him and realized that it wasn't helpful did she seem to feel bad about what she did. I think that more than any of her other actions made me rethink how I feel about her.
Do You like book Vigilante (2013)?
This one was ok - better than the first but still a little irritating in places. I think the main reason for that is Jessica is not a very sympathetic character! It's hard to read a novel where you're seeing it all through the eyes of someone quite so hard-faced. The twist was better handled in the second one & I particularly like the section where you are given a front row seat to a bit of a breakdown - that part was well written and very believable. I'm giving the third one a try and if she doesn't soften up a little (and stop doing stupid stuff), then I'm calling time.
—Victoria Roe
You know how they say that the second book isn't usually as good as the first... well in this case they are most definitely WRONG. Locked In was a great read, but this one is better. The continuing characters are all developing nicely, although I was a little upset that Garry didn't feature as much in this book as in the first, but there's time for that, if future story-lines allow (hopefully!). Once again, I blindly followed Jessica down all her dead ends, and even thought up a few of my own along the way too. It's not often in a book that I do that, but I guess that reflects the power of the writing. Never saw the ending coming either.The pace of the book also reflected the progress of the investigation very well. I could actually empathise better with the characters and feel their frustration when everything seemed to be going nowhere and the pace of the book slowed down. To me, it made the whole investigation more like what I imagine the reality of police-work to be, rather than some books/tv shows that cram it all in at a fast pace. That constant, fast moving action may be exciting, and obviously has its place, but to me just doesn't feel real enough for this kind of police procedural. I prefer this author's way of varying the pace of the book to suit the current plot-line.I wasn't going to buy any more books this side of Christmas as goodness knows I have more than plenty on my TBR list as it is, but I guess they will have to wait just a little longer as I am going to buy and read book 3 now.
—Kath
Second book in the series and another good read by Kerry WilkinsonBlurb A killer behind bars is still killing.Dead bodies are piling up for Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel.Usually when a serial killer is on the loose, the pressure would be building to find the perpetrator but the victims are all hardened criminals themselves.The national media can’t believe their luck with an apparent vigilante on the streets, while Jessica’s new boss seems grateful someone else is doing their job for them.But things aren't so straightforward when forensics matches blood from the apparent killer to a man already behind barsReviewDead bodies are piling up for Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel. A serial killer is on the loose and Jessica and her team are tasked with solving this. Jessica and her team upon investigating the case find prints left on some of the victims matching a killer (McKenna) that is already in prison.The murderer is on a crusade to rid Manchester of dangerous criminals. All victims upon investigation were in prison with McKenna in the past. Is the vigilante McKenna, if so how? Is there someone helping in from the outside? Or does someone have access to his hair and blood?Read the book to find out more. It was nice to have the familiarity of the characters from the first book, with some taking a larger role. Nice to see the characters developing and Jessica finding a love interest with Adam along the way.
—Bev
