The Gospel According to Prisco

Rusty Nail by JA Konrath

Another fine turn in the delightful Jack Daniels series.  I really feel like Konrath just keeps getting better with each progressive novel.  The personal life is starting to creep into the story a bit more, which is always vaguely disturbing to me with murder mystery writers.  Patterson’s all but fucked up Alex Cross with his attempts at wooing, and Jeffrey Deaver has committed a crime against humanity with Lincoln Rhyme, but these novels are so tongue in cheek, that it’s actually the love story that keeps it relatively anchored.  

Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels is a Chicago cop (rolling on the same turf as my boy Harry Dresden) who always finds herself pursued by or pursuing serial killers.  This time, she’s facing a copycat to the supposed Gingerbread Man from Whiskey Sour.  Like Paterson, Konrath allows us to see into the mind of killer, which really adds a brutally wicked element to the story.  He blends horribly graphic murder with a quick witted banter, and it makes for a delightful read.    

I would highly recommend this series to anyone who reads murder mystery, especially Patterson fans.  Much like P.J. Tracy, or even Hiassen and Dorsey, the books are gleefully violent and hilarious.  A great beach read or pocket potty book.