4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
That beautiful woman can’t take her eyes off me. I’m almost beside her. She is gorgeous. I would not get your hopes up. Everything is not as it appears in The Embalmer by Vincent Zandri. This is a light-hearted police thriller that will keep you turning the pages.
Multiple embalmed women staged in various poses, have been found across the city. Detective Miller has been tasked with finding the killer. There is a reason to believe the killer is unemployed. He enlists Steve Jobz, an employee in the fraudulent unemployment claims office, to assist with research. Steve is a former policeman and jumps at the chance to do police work again. The decision would change his life if he didn’t lose it in the bargain.
He quickly finds himself involved way beyond simple research. He is participating in autopsies and interviewing witnesses. Despite their efforts, the bodies keep coming. Little do they know, they have the killer rattled. Tragedy suddenly strikes close to home, and Steve realizes the culprit is closer than he ever imagined. A rip-roaring finish finds Jobz struggling to avoid becoming the latest human mannequin. An unorthodox rescue sets the characters up nicely to continue their adventures in future books.
I did have to adjust my perspective of reality for this book. Why would a serial killer only have one detective searching for him? The police tactics and investigative process employed by Miller were not realistic. Steve had too much access to information and active participation in the investigation for a common citizen. Why would he need to see an autopsy of a victim?
Regardless of reality, this book was fun. The dialogue was sarcastic and witty. Steve had some great exchanges with his boss. The “Steve Jobz” jokes never got old. The story was well paced and kept you engaged. I enjoyed the glimpses into the mind of the killer. I found his story disturbing and fascinating. The characters grew and evolved as the story progressed. There was a nice twist at the end that tied Jobz and Miller together.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The book made me laugh. I didn’t want to stop reading. There isn’t anything else I want out of a book. I will be reading the next book in this series. The lack of realism was annoying, but not enough to drop a star. The book is for adults. It contains crude language and adult situations. Lovers of light-hearted, thriller stories will devour this book. This is not a book for romance or fantasy fans.
******
The Embalmer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like jcoad's review? Post a comment saying so!