The Killing Game (An Alexa Chase Suspense Thriller—Book 1)

Written by Kate Bold

Narrated by Justin Price

THE KILLING GAME (An Alexa Chase Suspense Thriller—Book 1) is the debut novel in a new series by mystery and suspense author Kate Bold.

Alexa Chase, 34, a brilliant profiler in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, was too good at her job. Haunted by all the serial killers she caught, she left a stunning career behind to join the U.S. Marshals. As a Deputy Marshal, Alexa—fit, and as tough as she is brilliant—could immerse herself in a simple career of hunting down fugitives and bringing them to justice.

But when a notorious serial killer escapes from a prison transport, it crosses the jurisdictions of the U.S. Marshals and the FBI’s BAU. The two departments are forced to come together on a new joint task force to hunt down the fugitive serial killer and bring him to justice. Alexa, to her dread, finds herself forced to confront the thing she fears the most—entering a killer’s mind. Doing so again, she knows, may just drag her down for good.

Alexa and her new partner, each territorial, don’t take well to each other. Between their tension and all the clues leading to dead ends and the bodies piling up on the killer’s spree, Alexa knows that she, up against a ticking clock, can’t afford to get this wrong. Especially when she realizes that she herself may be the next target.

To find this diabolical killer, Alexa will have to do what she fears most—enter his twisted mind, before he can strike again. It’s a life-and-death game of cat and mouse, and it’s winner takes all.

But will the darkness swallow her whole?

Books #2 and #3 in the series—THE KILLING TIDE and THE KILLING HOUR—are also available.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lukeman Literary Management
• Release date: Nov 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094318967

Reviews for The Killing Game (An Alexa Chase Suspense Thriller—Book 1)

[Catherine Penrod · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s a good story with a strong female lead. Not sure why the narrator is male though.

[Nneamaka M. Payne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I have read by this writer. I thought the story had a good feel to it and it moved at a good pace. I thought the two main good characters were done well and they felt like law enforcement. I thought the bad guy was pretty good and for the most part, was not over the top. I thought it was somewhat of an original story considering the overall topic and had a pretty good ending and did not have the typical ending which was a nice bonus. I was a little tired of the fighting between the two partners at first but it got better as the book moved along. I give this book 4 stars on the dot. I will read the next one in the series. I say go ahead and give this one a big spin.

[Eedge Eeva · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Was nice and intense and good storyline. I liked the dedication of Alexa and how she didn't give up even she needed to overcome herself.

[NNEAMAKA PAYNE · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book summary introduces the MC, Alexa Chase, along with the premise of the primary storyline: chasing down an escaped convict, Drake, that Alexa had previously put away, but got away on Alexa’s watch and who killed her partner in the process. This isn’t a spoiler since it’s revealed in the first chapter of the book. Alexa is temporarily assigned a new partner. an FBI grunt, Stuart, from the BAU unit who disregards Alexa as some podunk, cowgirl playing dress up. This attitude leads to a bunch of chest-thumping between the two and constantly justifying their credentials. Frankly, it all becomes really annoying at times.

The entire story revolves around Alexa and Stuart tracking down the convict, Drake, and his crew of followers, that helped Drake escape. Alexa and Stuart are always a step behind Drake and his crew, and they are always left cleaning up the murder scenes they leave behind them. It’s also revealed in the early part of the story that Alexa is a former BAU agent with a short but impressive solve rate. However, she left because she was losing herself in the work and becoming mentally unstable because of her ability to get into a psycho’s mind.

Anyway, the end comes fast; the story is a quick read at 205pgs (thank goodness). It gets really hairy and scary for Alexa and Stuart, but the ending is very satisfying – sort of. The ending is a lead-in for the next installment with Alexa and Stuart being assigned on a more permanent basis for a joint task force. While Alexa and Stuart are good characters on their own, they are terrible together. They remind me of those two relatives that can't be allowed to be in the same room for more than 15-20min before they’re sniping at each other and making everyone else uncomfortable and annoyed. So, everyone has to make sure they don’t get invited to the same family functions so that everyone else can enjoy themselves. UUUGGGHHH!!!

[Lara Pretorius · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written police procedural, a bit formulaic but still enjoyable.

[Lucia Garcia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gripping and entertaining!
The story is horrifying as to human nature, but also quite real.
I want to know what else comes in this detective's life!

[Lylou · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s a great book to listen to during road trips, I loved it

[M S · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The bad guy is a strong character. But I don't think the main character is as smart or as compelling as the author intended. If the "she has a dark side" aspect were demonstrated more thoroughly it might be a really good story. But her occasional thoughts about revenge just seem pretty normal to me. And some of her 'epiphanies' were just obvious things that a normal person would have thought of sooner. Also I must say the main character's partner is very bland.

[Cilica · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The execution of the story is fine, not great with poor writing. How does a fatal accident become a minor injury? Character development is stifled by superficial traits and inconsistencies of their experience, education and actions of the dumb. Alluding to the deputy marshall's dark side isn't enough to work.

[Ashley Wyngaard · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book was “okay” . Was hoping for a better start to this series but don’t think that I’m going to stick around for the next one.
The narrator just didn’t do it for me. I’m not saying that I could do it better but then, I’m not a narrator. I expected more, I guess. Too many “She said, he chuckled, etc”. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and really like voices for the different characters to “sound” like they’re different. Kinda like a movie… for your ears.