Review: The Postcard Killers by Paterson and Marklund

Scenic Postcards announce the killers in the community but the gruesome murders seem to be unstoppable.
The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; Unabridged edition (August 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607883821
• ISBN-13: 978-1607883821

Genre: Crime Thriller
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Product Description
NYPD detective Jack Kanon is on a tour of Europe's most gorgeous cities. But the sights aren't what draw him--he sees each museum, each cathedral, and each restaurant through a killer's eyes.

Kanon's daughter, Kimmy, and her boyfriend were murdered while on vacation in Rome. Since then, young couples in Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Stockholm have become victims of the same sadistic killers. Now Kanon teams up with the Swedish reporter, Dessie Larsson. Every killing is preceded by a postcard to the local newspaper--and Kanon and Larsson think they know where the next victims will be. With relentless logic and unstoppable action, THE POSTCARD KILLERS may be James Patterson's most vivid and compelling thriller yet. 

Review: This was a really good audio mystery with grim, scarey villains, hapless guardia, a drunken NY detective and a pensive, clever reporter. I don't think the first part of the "product description" is accurate until halfway through the book but when Dessie, not Jacob, puts together the connection between the postcards and the locations. 

The serial murders are gruesome and staged by the twisted killers who are smart, creative, and precise so that they leave no evidence. Detective Jacob Kanon is determined to hunt them down since they killed his own daughter. He has good instincts but would do a better job investigating and analyzing the few clues that exist if he could keep his head out of the bottle.  He is pretty much of a drunk when he first meets Dessie and it is convenient that he manages to clean up pretty fast  ... at least his drinking if not his rumpled, appearance.

Dessie became the real investigative force using her journalistic skills as well as basic common sense to uncover clues piece by piece. She is the person to study the postcards and crime scene photos - the ones sent by the killers - till she sees a pattern connected to famous art works in each city. She is an interesting character with some surprisingly helpful family members.

I felt bad for the portrayal of the Stockholm Guardia (police) as petty and inept. Since the co-author is a Swedish crime writer I hope this isn’t an accurate representation.  There seemed to be no thought to looking for the trail of stolen goods and credit cards, nor checking the backgrounds of the suspects like Jacob did.

I liked the narration done in alternating voices of male and female. Although there were a few slow areas, for the most part the story moved with good intensity.  The climax was very intense and heightened by audio sounds of cars honking, people knocking on windows and gun shots. The problem was I was driving and I had to pause the disc due to the tension created which was distracting in traffic!

If you look with a critical eye you could probably find lots of weak and contrived plot and character issues in this story:  the ineffective police, the quick sobering of Jacob, a few characters (other reporters) uselessly cluttering the story without really getting their comeuppance, and the convenient help from Dessie’s family to catch the killers before they cross the border.  But I was listening for entertainment and not for great literary value or deep crime procedures. I found I could easily follow along and catch the clues while driving and I enjoyed the audio, flaws and all.

 xxx

Thank you to Anna at Hachette for the opportunity to listen to this audio book and for providing three copies for Giveaway.

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