Book Review: “Silent Stalker” by C.E. Lawrence

(Excellent Short Story)

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I read this short story about a month ago, then life got in the way, so I am late reviewing it.

“The girl was too pretty not to know it. She was….the kind of girl whose whole life was defined by her prettiness.  It trailed after her like the tail of a comet.  …..It didn’t seem fair that someone like her had been endowed with so much.  …life wasn’t fair.”

Unfortunately, for the beautiful, young, Mindy Lewis death got in the way.

The Carver enjoys killing, and it is up to Lee Campbell, Detective Butts, and team to stop him.

“Silent Stalker” is a short story that moves along to a solution much quicker than the longer novels in this series.  As such, this version lacks the intimate macabre details of the killers thoughts and deeds.  That said….”Silent Stalker” is still a wonderful scary story leaving me wanting more.

Download it….you will love it.

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: “Silent Slaughter” by C. E. Lawrence

 

Genre: Thriller

(the best Lee Campbell so far…..)

This was an uncorrected proof ARC sent to me by “C.E. Lawrence”.  It is due in stores momentarily.

Lee Campbell is a NYC Police Department Forensic Psychologist.

He is called in when the most heinous crimes occur (mostly serial) and help is needed finding the murderer.

In “Silent Slaughter”, Lee and his NYC Police Department compadres (Butts, Morton, Krieger, etc) are trying to solve the murders of young women by “the Professor”.  They know he is doing the crimes because he writes letters to various team members detailing how much he is loving the chase.

Math comes into play….if you are a nerd like me, you can figure out the foundation for the murders.  I did….2 pages before I was told.  YES!  It was the last murder that put all the pieces into place for me, even though I had earlier suspicions….

A fun, fast read.  The characters we got to know and love in the first two books are expanded upon…it is really nice to get to know them in more depth.  Lee’s depression is not a factor in this book….great!….he is healing from the murder / disappearance of his sister 6 years ago.  BUT…new evidence in her case is popping up, as is a new lover since dumb-shit Kathy cheated on Lee…..

“Silent Slaughter” will be in stores this month….a great read….go buy it!  :-)

 

“Silent Kills” by C.E. Lawrence

Genre:  Thriller / Mystery

(Lee Campbell rocks!)

Pretty, young, healthy, caucasian girls are turning up dead in New York City.  Their bodies show no apparent struggle, but, curiously, they are completely drained of their blood.

Because of the location, and condition, of the first body, the killer has been dubbed by the New York media as: The Van Cortlandt Vampire.

NYPD profiler, Lee Campbell is called in to help Detective Leonard Butts and Captain Chuck Morton solve the case.  Linguistic and cultural expert Elena Krieger is also called in to help.  In other words, the team has been re-assembled.  I love it!

The body count mounts and the detectives are trying to find a suspect.  Their clues include the fact that the killer is praying on fellow “steampunk” followers (See this WikiPedia article on steampunk), and that he is (according to Lee) white, not hurting for money, very organized, and has some kind of medical training.  Other than that…they have nothing.

“Silent Kills” is the third book in the “Lee Campbell” series and is a rousing, tense, scary, mystery. It takes you around the New York City / New Jersey areas as clues build and the team tries to make sense of them. Very exciting, very scary, somewhat gory.

On a more personal note, you may remember that Lee has been suffering severe bouts of depression and anxiety since the disappearance of his sister (Laura) about 6 years ago.  In books one and two, he made significant improvement thanks, in no small part, to Kathy, his new girlfriend.  Well…in book three, Kathy meets some good looking idiot and dumps Lee (oh yeah, that pisses me off, sorry this is just a book….I forget).  This throws Lee back into depression and significantly messes up his mind.

Not good for finding the Van Cortlandt Vampire…..

Anyway….”Silent Kills” is must read for lovers of this genre.  AND TracyReaderDad is menitioned in the “Experts Praise” section (see the picture below)!!!!  WhooooHoooooo….

Book Review: “Silent Victim” by C.E. Lawrence

Book Review

Genre:  Thriller / Mystery

Rating:  3 Watertowers (NYPD Profiler Lee Campbell returns)

“Silent Victim” by C.E. Lawrence. This is an ARC sent to me by C.E. Lawrence. It was due in stores in December 2010.

Lee Campbell (from “Silent Screams”) still suffers from debilitating bouts of depression.

Helping him fall into the depths of depression is the person who keeps calling Lee letting him know that the caller knows about “the red dress” that only the police know Lee’s sister (Laura) was wearing the day she disappeared.

As “Silent Victim” opens, someone has killed two men (one by drowning, one by electrocution) leaving them in the water (one in the Bronx River, the other in his bathtub) to be found days later with “suicide” notes written by, the police think, the killer.

Shortly after an ex-patient of Lee’s stopped by his apartment to tell him she was being followed and was concerned about her safety, Ana Watkin’s body was found floating in the Spuyten Duyvil body of water between Manhattan and the Bronx.  Attached to her body was another “suicide” note:

“I have been a very bad girl.  Bad things happen to bad girls.  I should have taken the advice to get thee to a nunnery.  Please forgive me.”

Lee’s long time friend Detective Chuck Morton forms an investigative team led by Detective Butts (also from “Silent Screams”) that includes Lee and newcomer, Forensic Linguistic specialist Detective Elena Krieger.

Together the team follows a dizzying array of leads as the death toll mounts and the killer’s MO changes to include cutting the eyes out of his victims.  Lee forms a profile of a man in his late 20′s to early 30′s, who had a traumatic experience in his youth that involved water.

“Silent Victim” is not as exciting as “Silent Screams” but is very interesting favoring a good deal of character development, including a background love affair between Lee and Dr. Kathy Azarian as it develops from their meeting in “Silent Screams”,  as the clues to the multiple murders unfold.

To find out who the killer is, and why he (or she) is killing is a very interesting look into the mind of an insane person.  All in all “Silent Victim” is a very good, complex, thriller giving us sufficient background into the main characters as we move forward to a third novel in the series (assuming the next book will be in this series).

I do not think this will ruin anything, but, at the end of “Silent Victim”, the body of Lee’s sister (assuming she is dead) has not yet been found, and the person who knows about the red dress continues to taunt Lee, as does his depression.

Book Review: "Silent Screams" by C.E. Lawrence

Genre: Mystery

Rating:  4 WaterTowers (Awesome!)

Lee Campbell works with the New York Police Department as a profiler.  A former practicing psychologist, Lee has recently overcome debilitating depression (over the disappearance of his sister five years ago) to work with NYPD.

His friend from college, Detective Chuck Morton, has asked Lee to help profile a particularly gruesome murder.  A young woman was found naked and dead in a church, on the alter, with the words:  ”Our father who art in heaven” gouged into her torso.  The lack of blood indicated the words were written after the woman had died of strangulation.

Based on the evidence Lee gathers from this murder, he surmises that the killer is a virgin, possibly lives at home, that some precipitating life event sent this person over the edge, and, most disturbing, that this is is only one murder of many yet to come.

Lee comes to the conclusion that this is not the first murder.  A Jane Doe was murdered some weeks before.  Although not the same MO, Lee concludes that Jane was the first and that the killer did not have time to complete his task properly.  More evidence comes to light:  the killer is attacking religious women, they seem to have curly black hair, and they wear a cross that he takes after killing them.

Considering the fragile nature of Lee’s state of mind, Chuck is concerned that Lee might be better not investigating this case, but, Lee continues despite his struggles.

One night bones were found in a remote area of a park.  Fearing that they may be the remains of his sister, Lee asks a new acquaintance, Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Katherine Azarian if she could look at the remains.  At the morgue, Kathy instantly knows the remains are not Lee’s sister’s.   Although Lee knows Laura is long dead….there is still some hope that she could still be alive.

The case of the murdered women is baffling so Lee calls on his old mentor, Professor John Paul Farragut Nelson who teaches Criminal Psychology at John Jay University, for assistance.

Teamed with NYPD, and after another murder,  the newly formed task force is working hard to find the serial killer before others are killed.

Unfortunately, more people die and someone decides to stop the investigation by attacking  Lee.  The profile of the serial killer indicates that there may be two people involved.  Are there two killers?  Who is the serial killer?   Who is after Lee?  Why?  You will just have to read “Silent Screams” to find out.

“Silent Screams” is an awesome read.   Lee Campbell is as imperfect a hero as you will ever meet, and the look into the psyche of both Lee and the killer is fascinating.

I don’t remember reading a book where the reader is more aware of the clues than the hero.  As I was reading, there were times where I was urging Lee to pay attention.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of  ”Silent Screams”.  If you love a good mystery, and a great set of characters, you will love it.