Title: The Drowned Girls
Author: Loreth Anne White
Series: #1 in the Angie Pallorino series
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Montlake Romance (June 20th 2017)
Source: Kindle Lending Library
Rating: ☕☕☕☕
Synopsis: He surfaced two years ago. Then he disappeared ...
But Detective Angie Pallorino never forgot the violent rapist who left a distinctive calling card—crosses etched into the flesh of his victim’s foreheads.
When a comatose Jane Doe is found in a local cemetery, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and nearly drowned, Angie is struck by the eerie similarities to her earlier unsolved rapes. Could he be back?
Then the body of a drowned young woman floats up in the Gorge, also bearing the marks of the serial rapist, and the hunt for a predator becomes a hunt for a killer. Assigned to the joint investigative task force, Angie is more than ready to prove that she has what it takes to break into the all-male homicide division. But her private life collides with her professional ambitions when she’s introduced to her temporary partner, James Maddocks—a man she’d met the night before in an intense, anonymous encounter.
Together, Angie and Maddocks agree to put that night behind them. But as their search for the killer intensifies so does their mutual desire. And Angie’s forays into the mind of a monster shake lose some unsettling secrets about her own past . . .
How can she fight for the truth when it turns out her whole life is a lie?
My Thoughts: So, a terribly unlikable heroine that somewhat grows on you by the end of this 500 page book coupled with an outstanding thriller makes for an OMG I have to read book 2 result. Even if I hated Angie.
The Good: The cast of characters are quite intriguing...even Angie...who I hated. We have cross over between sex crime detectives and homicide detectives. Some are total good ole boys club boys (like Detective Leo...what a douche) and then there is Angie. I almost felt sorry for her at one point because she was super paranoid of being the fall guy, being black balled....and guess what? She wasn't paranoid. It was actually happing. Of course her piss poor attitude and her inability to be a team player had something to do with this. Her most current partner, Kjel (pronounce h-yell)Holgerson has some history I'm hoping we will learn more about later. Also, Angie's investigation into her past, what little of it there was, actually was a turning point for her and for the readers. Without this bit of information I'm afraid Angie would have killed this book entirely.
I very much enjoyed watching the police doing their investigation. We weren't left out of the loop in hopes of some shocking revelation, not always a bad thing, but for this particular book the systematic police work just well, worked.
The Bad: Um...Angie. Yep I hated her. Her attitude was so prickly I likened her to Jane Rizzoli in the first Rizzoli/Isles book The Surgeon. With Jane, her attitude was checked and she became more likable as the series went a long. With Angie I wasn't sure this would happen. She was more than prickly. She was a hot mess with a dangerous attitude. Now I have to admit I did warm up to her a bit but that is because 2/3 into the book she lightened up a bit. Once she started investigation her early childhood the book did get better but I'd be remiss not to add her into the "Bad" category since she was horrid through a good portion of the book.
Also, I really don't care for religious themes in my books. The author does not preach to the reader but the entire mystery aspect of it and the serial killer/rapist is motivated by his lust and repentance according to the church. This is just a personal issue of mine and most people wouldn't find it a hindrance. Just an FYI why I couldn't give this book higher praise.
In a Nutshell: By the end of this book I was wowed. I couldn't say I actually liked Angie but I did like the ending so much and wanted to dive right into the next book. This should say something as I do not binge read series books.
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