At some point in my life, all I read were thriller and mystery books. I loved the intellectual challenge, but I think the main reason was that at a time when there wasn’t as much choice in lesfic, mainstream thriller and mystery novels were where I found badass women. A few years ago, I had a burn out / melt down / whatever and couldn’t deal with the evil on which these stories are built anymore. I’ve going back at it lately, and I try to be more picky. I’m older, I know what I like and dislike.
Killer Instinct opens with a pretty traditional scene, where a woman escapes her killer. I don’t need the author to give me all the all the gory details to understand the killer is an awful person and I was happy to find that Barbara Winkes seems to be on the same page as me. In a few sentences, I got that this woman had just been through a very traumatic experience and was running for her life. It was just enough and the story could begin.
The most interesting part of the book is the main character, Joanna. She’s a former cop who had to spend a few years in prison for killing a serial killer in cold blood. She shares an unlikely friendship with the Internal Affairs inspector who sent her to jail at the time, Vanessa. What happened to the woman from the first scene reminds her of an old cold case. She can’t help getting involved, especially when her new lover Rue disappears.
I loved the relationships between Joanna and Vanessa on one hand and between Joanna and Rue on the other. Joanna’s internal struggles about the old case, the new one, the one that put an end to her career, all were absolutely captivating. TJ Richards’ narration was excellent, too.
Jude in the Stars 