For God's Sake!
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Two stars awarded for the relationship between the two main characters Byrne and Balzano which has at least got some potential. The story itself is all a bit boring, it feels as if Mr Montanari is doing a "serial killer - by numbers" job here. Almost every scenario has been done better by other authors. I will give the sequel a go but if it isn't an instant improvement on this I won't bother persevering. Pick something else, there are plenty of much better books in this genre.
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The Rosary girls
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I am in love with this Author, it is simply good that you simply just cant put it down .
I have just finshed the follow on story called skin of gods and its just fantastic, i am a born reader that got bored and thanks to this mans books i am back on reading like a book worm agian... get this book and all of his others, it takes you to place that you just cant leave alone....
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Repetitive cliche ridden thriller
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If you have never read any other thrillers, this might be a good choice. It basically takes most of the key features of a large portion of thrillers in the last few years and weaves them into a single book. However, being over 14 and having some reading behind me, I personally found it painful going. There are so many cliches that, even with an "Agatha Christie" 'everybody is a suspect' type script, it becomes painfully unexciting and predictable. Won't give examples as you may decide to read the book. There are a lot better out there to choose from!
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Very good!
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I bought this book after reading some of these reviews on Amazon and agree that it is a very good thriller.
The story is based in Philadelphia, a new detective partnership and their attempts to stop a crazed serial killer targeting young Catholic school girls. Veteran cop Kevin Byrne is your typical no nonsense hero and he is joined by Jessica Balzano, a young but determined recruit. The hunt is on for the madman inflicting sickening acts of violence against innocents.
What i liked about The Rosary Girls is that it keep's you guessing right to the end, there's plenty of suspects and no obvious culprit. Indeed i was surprised when the killer was revealed.
The charecters, plot and dialogue were very well written. Some of the crime scenes and description were a bit much for me at times but i understand that it was all part of the story and to be expected in a crime thriller.
Overall very good and i will certainly read the next installment, Skin Gods.
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A real 5-star read
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'The Rosary Girls' begins when a young girl has been found murdered with her hands bolted together as well as other sickening mutilations and rosary beads between her fingers. Called to investigate are long-time homicide detective, Kevin Byrne and his new partner, Jessica Balzano. More girls, with the only connection to each other being that they attend catholic schools, are found in similar conditions every day leading up to Easter. With time running out and next to no clues on who and where the killer will strike next, Byrne and Balzano are in a race against time to stop one of Philidelphia's worst serial killers.
This is the first book that I've read by Richard Montanari (and the first of his that was released in the UK) and is definitely not the last as 'The Rosary Girls' is well up there with the likes of Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs and James Patterson's Kiss The Girls. I've now ordered the second Byrne and Balzano novel, The Skin Gods, and am really looking forward to giving it a read!
From the opening chapter I was completely gripped by the storyline. Montanari really knows how to write a good thriller - just when I thought I'd worked out who the killer was (on a number of occasions) he turns the story completely around, making me think it was someone completely different! The setting is dark and gritty, showing you the most violent and seedy sides of Philedelphia. The lead characters Byrne and Balzano are very likeable and believable (although some of the crime fiction detective stereotypes are still there) and are ones that I look forward to see how they develop in future novels.
Overall it is a very entertaining read and one of the best that I've read in a long time. If you're after a real whodunnit, with plenty of twists and suspense, as well as some really good characters, look no further than 'The Rosary Girls'. 10/10!
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