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paulabrandon's review against another edition
1.0
Oh, dear. I'm really not having a good start to the year!
This was awful. Just truly awful.
The plot involves the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering former beauty queens. He has racked up quite a few kills over the years. Judd Walker hired a private firm owned by Griffin Powell to find the killer after Judd's wife was one of the victims four years ago. He has never gotten over his wife's death. He is driven by rage and revenge. This is bad news for Lindsay McAllister, one of Griffin's agents, who was assigned to the case. For reasons that only exist in romantic-suspense-land, Lindsay fell in love with Judd. (Seriously, I don't understand how anyone in their right mind could fall in love with Judd. He is so awful.)
Lindsay and Judd have had several months apart when the book starts, after he nearly raped her. (Yes, you read that right.) They're "forced" to work together again when the latest target actually survives for a while after the attack and reveals some important information. Also, this victim's sister got a look at the killer leaving the scene. So for reasons that only exist in romantic-suspense-land, Judd gets brought back in on the investigation, where he continues to act like an immature, belligerent asshole at every given opportunity. I'm guessing it's an accurate representation of a man driven mad with grief and rage over his wife's murder? All I can say is that it sure got tired reading about him and his selfish actions and attitude.
I just did not take to Judd at all! How could anyone? The characters all openly acknowledge the fact that he nearly raped Lindsay. I mean, that's just appalling! How can any character who's supposed to be the "hero" in a romantic suspense novel, possibly come back from that? Only in romantic-suspsense-land, I guess! And I just couldn't really bring myself to care for Lindsay either, who just pines like a lovesick puppy over Judd and is just in general a complete doormat when it comes to his treatment of her. I prefer a more take-charge heroine, who's not miserably in love with the guy that tried to rape her.
Yuck, yuck, yuck.
The plot outright sucks. If this book had approached the subject matter from, say, FBI agents tracking the killer, it could have worked better. Instead, we get lots of extraneous details about Griffin and his agency and how they try to outsmart and outwit the FBI. Why? I really don't care about that sort of jurisdictional stuff. It just gets in the way. Not that any of the investigators really do much investigating in the end! For 80% of the novel, it's, "that victim's sister saw the killer and might remember something important!" Yay. Real exciting. Things only come to a head because the killers are reaching the end of their titular game and basically out themselves to the protagonists! It's all so stunningly pointless! The investigators discover NOTHING!
And did I say killers? Yes, I did. There are actually two killers! This is not a spoiler. The blurb tells you. The blurb also tells you that Lindsay figures this out. Nope. Not at all! While the reader knows there are two killers essentially competing with each other, murdering beauty queens and getting points based on their hair colour, our protagonists - Lindsay, Griffin, the FBI agents - are all completely clueless about this fact right up until the very end! So, to add insult to injury, after 440 fucking pages, the book only reveals the identity of one of the killers. The other killer goes on to create The Murder Game, the next book in the series. Oh, and I have no idea why the killer whose identity was revealed was kept secret in the first place. He didn't have a single line of dialogue in the book and was only mentioned in passing twice!
I was face-palming hard by this point. I really felt like I had wasted my time with this stinker.
For all the focus put on Barbara Jean, the sister who saw the killer, she basically disappears from the story about halfway through. Most of the book is just the two killers killing one victim after another, while Lindsay, Judd, Griffin et al just flounder around uselessly, trying to catch up. Proceedings hit the bottom of the barrel when Griffin's team's psychiatrist/counsellor/plot device Yvette Meng shows up, and we learn that she can read thoughts.
WTF?
If you want to read a thriller about a detective pining over the guy who treats her like shit and nearly raped her, while the protagonists uselessly and cluelessly flounder around after two serial killers as countless women get murdered, you might find some value in this game. Otherwise, I would recommend you throw in the towel and pick up the Monopoly board. The arguments that game generates would be a lot more fun!
This was awful. Just truly awful.
The plot involves the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering former beauty queens. He has racked up quite a few kills over the years. Judd Walker hired a private firm owned by Griffin Powell to find the killer after Judd's wife was one of the victims four years ago. He has never gotten over his wife's death. He is driven by rage and revenge. This is bad news for Lindsay McAllister, one of Griffin's agents, who was assigned to the case. For reasons that only exist in romantic-suspense-land, Lindsay fell in love with Judd. (Seriously, I don't understand how anyone in their right mind could fall in love with Judd. He is so awful.)
Lindsay and Judd have had several months apart when the book starts, after he nearly raped her. (Yes, you read that right.) They're "forced" to work together again when the latest target actually survives for a while after the attack and reveals some important information. Also, this victim's sister got a look at the killer leaving the scene. So for reasons that only exist in romantic-suspense-land, Judd gets brought back in on the investigation, where he continues to act like an immature, belligerent asshole at every given opportunity. I'm guessing it's an accurate representation of a man driven mad with grief and rage over his wife's murder? All I can say is that it sure got tired reading about him and his selfish actions and attitude.
I just did not take to Judd at all! How could anyone? The characters all openly acknowledge the fact that he nearly raped Lindsay. I mean, that's just appalling! How can any character who's supposed to be the "hero" in a romantic suspense novel, possibly come back from that? Only in romantic-suspsense-land, I guess! And I just couldn't really bring myself to care for Lindsay either, who just pines like a lovesick puppy over Judd and is just in general a complete doormat when it comes to his treatment of her. I prefer a more take-charge heroine, who's not miserably in love with the guy that tried to rape her.
Yuck, yuck, yuck.
The plot outright sucks. If this book had approached the subject matter from, say, FBI agents tracking the killer, it could have worked better. Instead, we get lots of extraneous details about Griffin and his agency and how they try to outsmart and outwit the FBI. Why? I really don't care about that sort of jurisdictional stuff. It just gets in the way. Not that any of the investigators really do much investigating in the end! For 80% of the novel, it's, "that victim's sister saw the killer and might remember something important!" Yay. Real exciting. Things only come to a head because the killers are reaching the end of their titular game and basically out themselves to the protagonists! It's all so stunningly pointless! The investigators discover NOTHING!
And did I say killers? Yes, I did. There are actually two killers! This is not a spoiler. The blurb tells you. The blurb also tells you that Lindsay figures this out. Nope. Not at all! While the reader knows there are two killers essentially competing with each other, murdering beauty queens and getting points based on their hair colour, our protagonists - Lindsay, Griffin, the FBI agents - are all completely clueless about this fact right up until the very end! So, to add insult to injury, after 440 fucking pages, the book only reveals the identity of one of the killers. The other killer goes on to create The Murder Game, the next book in the series. Oh, and I have no idea why the killer whose identity was revealed was kept secret in the first place. He didn't have a single line of dialogue in the book and was only mentioned in passing twice!
I was face-palming hard by this point. I really felt like I had wasted my time with this stinker.
For all the focus put on Barbara Jean, the sister who saw the killer, she basically disappears from the story about halfway through. Most of the book is just the two killers killing one victim after another, while Lindsay, Judd, Griffin et al just flounder around uselessly, trying to catch up. Proceedings hit the bottom of the barrel when Griffin's team's psychiatrist/counsellor/plot device Yvette Meng shows up, and we learn that she can read thoughts.
WTF?
If you want to read a thriller about a detective pining over the guy who treats her like shit and nearly raped her, while the protagonists uselessly and cluelessly flounder around after two serial killers as countless women get murdered, you might find some value in this game. Otherwise, I would recommend you throw in the towel and pick up the Monopoly board. The arguments that game generates would be a lot more fun!
marbles66's review against another edition
4.0
I could not put this book down. I really enjoyed reading this book. Since I very rarely give 5 starts I wish I could give it 4.5 stars.
dyaneka's review against another edition
4.0
Satu pikiran yang always muncul setiap aku baca novelnya beverly; apa daerah tenesse itu emang banyak psiko? sarang psikopat gila? karena latar tempat yang diceritakan selalu di sekitar situ. Tenesse, Knoxville, Chattanooga....... ya it's oke sih sebenernya, mungkin beverly udah terlalu paham dengan daerah-daerah tersebut, makanya setiap aku baca rasanya detail banget.
Kali ini psikopatnya ada dua. Pinkie dan Pudge. Saudara sepupu yang saling berlomba, mengumpulkan poin dengan cara membunuh, poin ditentukan dengan warna rambut korban. Oh, kayaknya aku pernah baca serial setelah novel yang ini, kelanjutan cerita tentang Pudge, dan setelah tamat baca ini aku berniat re-read the murder game.
Wanita-wanita yang dibunuh ini mantan ratu kecantikan. Miss Tenesse, Miss Birmingham, etc...etc.... Pinkie dan Pudge bergantian melakukan pembunuhan mereka. Setelah Pinkie, baru Pudge yang mencari korban, begitu seterusnya. Mereka punya prinsip kalau sebelum para wanita cantik ini menua dan layu alangkah baiknya 'dipetik' saat masih segar (?), sehingga para wanita ini tidak akan merasakan menjadi tua dan tidak cantik lagi.
Dan ya, cara mereka 'memetik' cukup sadis. Memenggal bagian tubuh para wanita sesuai bakat mereka. Jadi, kalau bakat menari ya kaki dipenggal, main biola tangan dipenggal....... *sigh*
Salah satu pembunuhan yang paling sadis menurutku waktu pembunuhan penyiar berita, kepalanya dipenggal ><
Men...kepala men......
Diantara Pinkie dan Pudge, yang paling sadis dan genius jelas Pudge. Terbukti dia berhasil lolos dari FBI setelah membunuh Pinkie karena yea Pinkie kalah. Bahkan di pembunuhan terakhir yang dilakukan Pudge, dia nggak cuma memenggal salah satu bagian tubuh, tapi membantainya habis-habisan, potong sini, potong sana....
Di akhir-akhir cerita dijelasin kalau makin akhir Pudge sedikit bermain curang. Pinkie juga, tapi lebih curang Pudge (?). Karena ya itu, Pudge mendewakan kejeniusannya.
Fix nih aku bakal nyari dulu ke toko buku yang the murder game, seingetku Pudge di novel selanjutnya dia bakal lebih sadis.
Kali ini psikopatnya ada dua. Pinkie dan Pudge. Saudara sepupu yang saling berlomba, mengumpulkan poin dengan cara membunuh, poin ditentukan dengan warna rambut korban. Oh, kayaknya aku pernah baca serial setelah novel yang ini, kelanjutan cerita tentang Pudge, dan setelah tamat baca ini aku berniat re-read the murder game.
Wanita-wanita yang dibunuh ini mantan ratu kecantikan. Miss Tenesse, Miss Birmingham, etc...etc.... Pinkie dan Pudge bergantian melakukan pembunuhan mereka. Setelah Pinkie, baru Pudge yang mencari korban, begitu seterusnya. Mereka punya prinsip kalau sebelum para wanita cantik ini menua dan layu alangkah baiknya 'dipetik' saat masih segar (?), sehingga para wanita ini tidak akan merasakan menjadi tua dan tidak cantik lagi.
Dan ya, cara mereka 'memetik' cukup sadis. Memenggal bagian tubuh para wanita sesuai bakat mereka. Jadi, kalau bakat menari ya kaki dipenggal, main biola tangan dipenggal....... *sigh*
Salah satu pembunuhan yang paling sadis menurutku waktu pembunuhan penyiar berita, kepalanya dipenggal ><
Men...kepala men......
Diantara Pinkie dan Pudge, yang paling sadis dan genius jelas Pudge. Terbukti dia berhasil lolos dari FBI setelah membunuh Pinkie karena yea Pinkie kalah. Bahkan di pembunuhan terakhir yang dilakukan Pudge, dia nggak cuma memenggal salah satu bagian tubuh, tapi membantainya habis-habisan, potong sini, potong sana....
Di akhir-akhir cerita dijelasin kalau makin akhir Pudge sedikit bermain curang. Pinkie juga, tapi lebih curang Pudge (?). Karena ya itu, Pudge mendewakan kejeniusannya.
Fix nih aku bakal nyari dulu ke toko buku yang the murder game, seingetku Pudge di novel selanjutnya dia bakal lebih sadis.
mackenzierm's review against another edition
5.0
I read this novel out of the order of the Griffin Powell series. This is the third book and so I was confused where the relationships and the story's time line was concerned.
The Dying Game is about the Beauty Queen Killer. He's called that because he kills only people whom have been a Beauty Queen in their past. As Lindsay McAllister works to find out who killed Judd Walker's first wife and all the other BQs. As the novel goes on the kills begin to escalate, coming sooner and more brutal. Lindsay decides the only way to stop the game is to become part of the game herself.
I really enjoyed this book apart from being confused at the beginning, but that was my fault. :) I always end up liking one of the main characters. This held true, Lindsay was my favorite character.
The book itself was fairly fast-paced and thrilling. I always had this bit of excitement inside as I read, hoping that none of the main characters would be injured. All in all, great book!
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