James Carol (1)

Jefferson Winter no es un investigador corriente. Tiene una inteligencia muy superior a la media y es hijo de uno de los más famosos asesinos en serie de Estados Unidos. Jefferson Winter se ha pasado la vida intentando distanciarse del legado de su padre y pone todo su empeño en perseguir a los que son como él. Tras una carrera prometedora en el FBI como experto en perfiles psicológicos, viaja por todo el mundo ayudando a los cuerpos policiales a resolver los casos más complicados.
Acaba de llegar a Londres en medio de una ola de frío para resolver un caso espeluznante que desconcierta a Scotland Yard. Un psicópata ha secuestrado a varias mujeres para torturarlas durante meses. Antes de dejarlas en libertad se asegura de que no puedan contar nada con un sistema especialmente cruel: les practica una lobotomía.
Winter utilizará toda su inteligencia y su intuición para atrapar al criminal antes de que pueda destrozar a otra mujer. Sus métodos no siempre se ajustan a las normas, pero nadie como él es capaz de entender cómo funciona la mente del psicópata.… (plus d'informations)

This is the first novel by James Carol that I've read and I'm impressed! The character of Jefferson Winter, an ex FBI profiler who works as a Private Investigator, is quite interesting; he is the son of a serial killer and seems to have an innate knack of getting into the heads of the killers. The plot of The Quiet Man is clever and the execution is near perfect. I was hooked from the start and I kept on turning the pages until the end.
On the downside, the ending feels a bit rushed, after all the buildup. Also, some more space to the killer would've made it still better. All that said, I enjoyed this one very much and would like to pick more books from the series.… (plus d'informations)

The Quiet Man- Jefferson Winter # 4- by J.S. Carol is a 2017 Faber & Faber publication.

Solid thriller- but a little too restrained.

This set-up is unique- a serial killer’s modus operandi involves attaching an explosive device to his victims, then rigs it to go off when someone, preferably a loved one, opens the door. Therefore, technically speaking, the person opening the door is the killer. Yikes!

The killer repeats this scenario on an annual basis, always on the same day of the year. But, this year, Winter is determined to find the killer before he strikes again.

This means involving the previous victim’s families, one of which was a prime suspect, and still could be. But, the millionaire husband of the first victim seems every bit as obsessed with the case as Winter.

Winter exercises his unique profiling techniques, while teaming up with a private detective, Laura Anderton, whose knowledge of this highly disturbing and chilling case, along with her experience with the rank and file within the local PD, helps him navigate through a few roadblocks.

This crime thriller has a lot going for it. It’s gripping and intense, featuring a cunning and diabolical serial killer, along with a smart, cerebral plot. While this is fantastic on the suspense-thriller side of things, I felt a disconnect between all the characters- including the killer, and by extension, a disconnect with me.

Winter didn’t win me over completely, as I found him manipulative, and a bit overconfident. I do enjoy SOME emotion in my books, no matter which genre, and that includes thrillers- but sadly, I found there was little chemistry between the characters, most of which were one dimensional, showing little or no fervor, with a glaring absence of compassion for the victims and their families.

Other than the story having a sterile feel to it, the plot was clever and unpredictable, with plenty of psychological aspects that gave my brain a nice workout.

I didn’t realize this was book four in a series when I picked it up, but it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the book, at all. However, I did wonder if I was missing some key information about Winter that would explain the significance of his ‘zoning’ out, or perhaps some background about his past that would explain his personality, but other than that, this book can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Despite my issues with the characterizations, I still felt this was a solid thriller and worth the time it took to read it. I’m a little conflicted about how to rate this one- but have decided to go with a 3.5, but will round down in this case.… (plus d'informations)