Killing The Shadows
By Val McDermid
3.5/5
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About this ebook
A killer is on the loose, blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey are the writers of crime novels who have turned psychological profilers into the heroes of the nineties. But this killer is like no other. His bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom surrounding the motives and mechanics of how serial killers operate. And for one woman, the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death.
Val McDermid
VAL McDERMID is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty crime novels. She has won the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; her novels have been selected as New York Times Notable Books and have been Edgar Award finalists. She was the 2010 recipient of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Crime Writing. More than 10 million copies of her books have been sold around the world. She lives in the north of England. Visit her website at www.valmcdermid.com.
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Reviews for Killing The Shadows
192 ratings13 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sharp psychological thriller
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5There is a serial killer who is killing mystery/thriller authors. Fiona Cameron, an authority on profiling, is involved in the search for the perp and her search is pretty personal since her live in boyfriend is just such an author. McDermid turns what could be a predictable plot into one really great story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book. It is very intriguing, right to the end. I never guessed the perpetrator. A psychological crime thriller, it is one of the best.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I thought this book was amazing. Granted that at first I didn't care much for it because it hadn't grabbed me immediately from page one, but by chapter three I just couldn't stop reading. I really liked the character Kit Martin and my heart nearly stopped for him. This book is filled with action and the ideals and motivations behind the human heart, and I can't wait to read more from this author!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very clever, brilliantly written novel with very interesting well-developed characters and a plot with lots of twists and turns! This is my first Val McDermid book but it won't be my last!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a stand alone novel that takes a slightly different look at how a psychologist is able to help police solve crimes. Of course the psychologist is dragged into the crime, if not you don't have a story. It's an enjoyable read though the ending is a big of a let down.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A serial killer seems to be targetting crime writers and Finona Cameron, an academic psychologist who helps the police with geographic profiles of serial offenders, finds herself at the centre of these killings as her partner is a renowned crime writer who has received death threats. Several fairly well-disguised red herrings before the perpetrator is revealed.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5[2010-12-21] Another doorstop of a crime novel from McDermid, this one about a statistics-based psychological profiler who will no longer work with the Met after they ignored her advice because it wasn't what they wanted to hear, and went with another profiler whose advice led to the collapse of the case.Fiona Cameron still works with other police departments. But one case comes only too close to home, with a serial killer who is stalking... crime writers who write about serial killers. And Fiona's boyfriend is on the list of novelists set to meet the same fate as their own characters. It has the potential to be a very silly conceit, but McDermid's far too skillful to let it slip into silliness. Instead it's used to ratchet up the tension in a very convincing way, in a dazzling display of meta commentary. Wonderful piece of work.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5McDermid must be one of the top authors for a good, psychological , gripping thriller. Good plot, chilling - her books just get better and better.Back Cover Blurb:A killer is on the loose and he's blurring the line between fact and fiction. His prey - the writers of crime novels. But this murderer is like no other; his bloodlust shatters all the conventional wisdom on how serial killers operate. And for one woman the desperate hunt to uncover his identity becomes a matter of life and death.Professor Fiona Cameron is an academic psychologist who uses computer technology to track serial offenders. She vowed never to work for the Met again after they went against her advice and badly screwed up an investigation as a result. But when her lover, thriller writer Kit Martin, tells her a fellow novelist has been murdered, Fiona can't help taking an interest.With the killer striking again, Fiona is caught up in a race against time, not only to save a life, but to bring herself redemption, both personal and professional.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I experienced this novel via an audiobook. I must tell you though, that I listened to the whole first disc at least twice through. I had a heck of a time at the start of this one because of the accent of the narrator. Word choices and pronunciations are a little hard to catch at first, but once I got going, it became easier. In fact, I actually began to like the her and her accent!Killing the Shadows is a story about a serial murderer that is targeting serial killer thriller writers. The main character of the book is Fiona Cameron. She is a psycological profiler and the girlfriend of Kit Martin, a writer of serial killer thrillers. It's pretty obvious to conclude that Kit will be targeted at some point of the story and it scares the pants off of Fiona who does everything that she can to save the love of her life. The story actually starts with a murder that is not part of any serial killing. So, there are a couple of story lines going at the same time. But, as the story begins to pull together toward the end of the book, it becomes clear why there were multiple investigations occuring at the same time. The author does a great job with description in this book. Although there were times that I wondered why there was so much detail about what seemed an insignificant part of the story. But bear with it, like I said it really pulls itself together. The book was hard to put down, and had enough going on that I never felt bored listening to it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thrilling from beginning to end, Killing the Shadows is an un-put-downable novel. The twist on the typical serial killer novel is masterful and I was surprised when the author revealed the killer's identity. McDermid reminds us that profilers and investigators are impacting on people's lives and should not rush to place blame simply because a case is high profile. Most of all, she reminds us that murder extends beyond the victim to their family and friends and those around them.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I was worried about this being a book about books with its killing setting taken from plots in fictional serial killer thrillers. But the human relations saved the book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A good story but a very slow moving, took a long time to readTold round criminal psychologist Dr Fiona Cameron and her partner Kit, who is a thriller writer, whose life is in danger from a serial killer