Without Warning: A Thriller

Police Chief Jake Robbins realizes there is a serial killer loose in his small Maine community when a time capsule is opened after five years instead of fifty and predictions of the unsolved or mistakenly solved deaths of local residents are found inside. One such crime is the murder of his own wife, supposedly by the husband of an old girlfriend, Katie, who is now the publisher of the local newspaper. Before long the Chief realizes that the murderer is targeting people who have a relationship with Jake himself and so he must solve the crimes quickly before the remaining predictions become reality. In the process of tracking down the killers, he and Katie relight old flames and then he becomes the chief suspect for the murders. When Katie’s life is put in danger, it ups the ante for Jake and he must take a lot of risks to bring down the villain before even worse things happen.

Although I love good thrillers, I can’t say I was a fan of this one.

First of all the characters are not just one-dimensional they are emotionally weird. Although protagonists such as Jack Reacher and Stone Barrington act woodenly, the emotional reactions of Jake and Katie are schizoid---they have little emotional reaction to things when their reactions should be strong and their reactions are strong when they should be weak. Jake reminded me of a teenager the way his emotions were all over the map. In general, the emotions just didn’t ring true. Give me Will Robie any day.

Take one example. Jake is so upset by Katie’s life being at risk that he sets a timetable for the final denouement that depends on the cavalry coming to the rescue at an exact time even though he hasn’t even consulted the cavalry about their availability. Now, Katie has been in the same dangerous situation for several days, so why risk everything going wrong by setting things up to happen in ninety minutes instead of two hours? The Chief often gets really irritated over things that shouldn't set him off that much, like the author is trying to show us by this that Jake is upset. His rants, however, take longer than whatever delay he is complaining about.

There were a lot of little things that drove me crazy about the characters and the plot. Some are very minor. Like the fact that, although I’m not sure of their ages, it seemed as though the couple were in the late part of their childbearing years. Yet neither had children nor mentioned why not when a lot of less important information than that is presented. And I got tired of Jake bitching and moaning about his being heralded a war hero. Seemed sort of petty to me.

One of the big things that bothered me is the fact that a lot of people, including the FBI, start believing Jake is the killer without ever checking to see whether he has an alibi for any/all of the killings. Clearly he does for at least some of the important ones but does anyone even ask him about them? Nooo.

Another example of the kind of thing that bothered me related to the reporter’s informant. He had used the woman in the past to obtain information about non-serious police issues. But the source continues to help the reporter during the investigation even though she has a crisis of conscience about doing so since it could jeopardize the investigation. So, why does she continue to help him? No good reason is ever given.

By half way through I guessed who the villain was although I didn’t guess some of the other facts about his actions, including his reason for doing what he did. And there was a pretty good red herring along the way.

Although I don’t expect great literature, a perfect plot, or really deep characters in my thrillers, I really found this one unsatisfying on almost every level other than decent writing mechanics and a certain amount of tension.

I order every book by David Rosenfelt. I enjoy both his Andy Carpenrter series, (love Tara ), as well as the stand alones. I picked up WITHOUT WARNING and read it cover to cover. I love his humor and I particularly enjoyed the Maine
locale.. Jake, the Chief of Police in Wilton, a small Maine town, is also a decorated war hero. One of the town's traditions is to bury a time capsule, not to be unearthed for 50 years. A hurricane had wrecked havoc on Wilton and the time capsule was unearthed with a dead body laying on top of it. So the mystery begins, in a tightly woven, exciting plot that leads us to an exciting finish. I really enjoy his imagination, his characters, he makes me laugh out loud....he is David Rosenfelt, one of my favorite authors with another winner!

I generally have a distaste these days with serial killer novels. It’s a subgenre that is insanely overdone, and most of these novels are a waste of time. That made it all the more surprising when I read a novel featuring a serial killer that I actually enjoyed. For starters, the premise was great. A newspaper staff opens up a time capsule that they had placed five years earlier, and inside the capsule is a sheet of paper that predicts a number of deaths, including the murder of the wife of Sheriff Jake Robbins. Jake is investigating the case, and soon learns that every single person who dies is tied to him, and more specifically, can be seen as people that he holds grudges against.

The author has an easy to read and enjoyable writing style. He alternates between first person in Jake’s point of view to third person with other characters. The suspense in the novel builds as each death mounts, all sticking with the predictions that were made in time capsule. Generally, the serial killers in these novels are dreadfully unbelievable. This novel does not suffer from that. The one weak spot in the novel is that I didn’t find the killer’s (and the people working with him) motives to be sufficient to kill all these people. Still, it was a good read and I would recommend it.

Carl Alves – author of Conjesero

This is one of Rosenfelt's best standalone books (standalone from his Andy Carpenter series). Jake Robbins is a decorated war hero and the sheriff of a small Maine town. A sudden storm causes a flood that may have damaged a time capsule buried a few years before. The town decides to dig it up to check for damage. They find a skeletonized body buried with it along with a bunch of predictions. As Jake starts reviewing the predictions he finds that they are tied to recent deaths. This makes Jake take notice and he must do all he can to solve the other predictions before more deaths occurs.

With each passing victim, the one thing they all seem to have in common is that they are somehow tied to Jake. Jake realizes this early on and knows that he is the only one who can guess who the next victims may be.

The mystery is intense as the reader has a hard time wondering how someone could have hidden predictions in a time capsule that wouldn't be opened for 50 years. Also, each prediction is an interesting play on words so it is fun guessing along with Jake as to who is the next possible victim.

This book had me right from the start and I didn't want to put it down. The author has an amazing way of drawing the reader into the mystery and making the reader hungry to solve the puzzle immediately. Jake is another interesting character, having survived a dangerous situation in Afghanistan and then had to deal with his wife getting murdered by possibly a close friend. I hope Rosenfelt decides to bring back Jack in a future novel.

An intricate puzzle of clues leads to a mass murderer still killing his victims. The case would be hard enough for Jake Robbins to solve if the victims didn't all seem to tie to him causing him to be identified as the killer. Toss in a long lost love interest and you have the makings of a quick paced police procedural that is sure to keep you guessing. Who is the next victim? Is the killer alive or dead or dead and now alive again? I am always so happy to discover a David Rosenfelt book I have not yet read (and I've read a lot of them.) They are always enjoyable and I hope there are many more to come.

WITHOUT WARNING by David Rosenfelt is one with a smart serial killer in a small town of Maine, and a time capsule containing buried secrets which predict crimes in the future, which some have come true.

Jake Robbins, a war hero and police chief of this small town— after returning from Afghanistan to Wilton, where he grew up. His wife, Jenny, was murdered by Roger, the publisher of the local paper, with whom she was having an affair. Roger was murdered in prison, leaving his wife, Katie, to assume control of the paper.

After a hurricane destroys a Wilton, Maine dam and Katie, and her staff unearth a time capsule which was buried nearly five years earlier to check for water damage (was not to be opened until 50 yrs. later in the future). They are shocked to discover skeletal remains and a set of predictions about future crimes, including the murder of the wife of police chief, Jake Robbins.

Some of those murders—like Jenny's—have already taken place, but others have not, and Jake must resolve the mystery before more people are killed.

To further complicate the suspense, months after the capsule’s burial, Katie’s husband allegedly killed Jake’s wife. There are many other weird predictions about an unsolved arson case and murders. In addition, Katie and Jake were high school sweethearts so they have a past.

The clues turn to Jake, as he seems to be front and center and main suspect in the crimes (people are getting killed and the hits are targeting himself, when other people step in the way). Someone is out to frame him as he attempts to put together the cryptic clues in order to remain alive and solve this crime mystery.

While investigating these clues offer proof a murder could not be committed by the person charged, as this man was killed in prison. Some of the murders have not taken place, so a race to find the real killer before more devastation.

While this was my first book by Rosenfelt— the audiobook narrated by Jeff Steitzer was engaging; with a bit of humor mixed in. However, a negative—the women’s voices were hard to differentiate and not a lot of character depth or development, so did not connect fully. Kate was totally lacking a personality leaving it a little forced.

Having read most of Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter books, I was anxious to try this stand alone with a new main character. I thought the book was OK, but did not have enough distinguishing merits (plot, action, thrills, surprises, etc.) that would put it in my 4 or 5 star category.

At times, I felt the action was a little slow, and I glossed over several paragraphs in portions of the book that did not seem important to the story.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did not get a strong atmospheric link with Maine from the descriptions. To me, the action could have happened in any place that had a collection of smaller towns and also included some lakes and woods. Location was portrayed rather weakly.

I thought the ending was interesting, and the plot had some complexity to it that made it hard to predict the ending action of the last 30-40 pages. The closing sequences were a little over the top for me, but it is similar to much of today's thriller fiction. And hey, any book that can be written in under 350 pages gets an "ATTABOY" from me.

The attempt at some light romance was better left undone. Why is it that every "rescued" woman has to have a romantic link with her savior? Perhaps this was done to set the stage for additional books featuring the characters??

Authors (and readers) sometimes have problems when they get out of their comfort zone, and I tried to evaluate this book as if it were written by a totally different author. If you are a fan of the author's Andy Carpenter works, you may like this one if you realize that it was MEANT to be different from those books. Don't expect a tight, tense thriller with many twists and turns, and don't expect it to feel like a Carpenter story.
Jim

In the small, isolated town of Wilton, Maine, a dam breaks. Fearing that the contents of a time capsule--buried five years ago--have been damaged, Police Chief Jake Robbins has it unburied. A man's skeleton is found on top of the capsule. His killer has planted predictions inside the capsule, some of which have already come true. One of them involves the murder of Jake's unfaithful wife, Jenny. It becomes obvious that her lover, Roger Hagel, didn't stab her to death. Soon, a vicious serial killer begins making more predictions come true by slaughtering, one by one, everyone around Jake and making him appear responsible.

Without a doubt, "Without Warning" is one of the best standalone novels that David Rosenfelt, author of the best-selling Andy Carpenter series, has written. From cover to cover, this novel is extremely shocking and violent. A vicious serial killer, who calls themselves the Predictor, is consumed with anger and rage; they are deadset on obtaining revenge against Jake Robbins and don't care how many innocent people are killed in the process. Owing to an extremely high bodycount, the plot moves along like a runaway train. The mystery aspect of this thriller is a complex one. I was only able to partially solve it. Fortunately, the novel's hero is more intelligent than I am.

Jake Robbins is a decorated war hero who served in Afghanistan. A former Marine Captain, he rescued several of his men. He shies away from publicity. However, no one, especially the Predictor, will let him forget he was a hero. As the bodycount escalates, the FBI's suspicion of Jake being the serial killer increases. His love for Katie Sanford, publisher of the "Wilton Journal," also increases despite her having been married to Roger Hagel who supposedly killed Jake's wife, Jenny. The reader can't help but feel sympathy for Jake as he is framed for the murders. Throughout his ordeal, Jake manages to maintain his silly humor that I found endearing. For example, when he is introduced to Special Agent Sean Bennett and Special Agent Steve Barone, he asked if all FBI agents were special.

As I stated earlier, Wilton is a small, isolated town. It has a population of approximately 18,000. Wilton is compared to the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, of "The Andy Griffith Show." In this sparsely populated town, it is easy to kill because no one ever sees anything. Furthermore, some of the murders occur in nearby towns that are also small. An apartment fire in Union Hills claims eleven victims. The serial killer is an amoral beast. Despite the setting consisting of primarily small New England towns, the disaster that the Predictor plans to create will affect literally millions of people. Many of the author's novels involve the hero attempting to divert a major disaster.

Indeed, David Rosenfelt's mysteries are very over the top and action driven. They are not character driven. (Many characters don't survive for more than a few pages.) Rosenfelt relies heavily on narration rather than dialogue. He uses words, especially those pertaining to description, sparingly. No one can accuse his novels as being verbose or overly padded with unnecessary details. They are perfect for someone like me who works two jobs and doesn't have much time to read. Guaranteed to be entertaining, Rosenfelt's novels are suitable for long plane trips and for lounging on the beach or next to a pool. Regardless of where I plan to read it, I can't wait for his next standalone mystery.

Joseph B. Hoyos

The author, David Rosenfelt, has written a string of incredibly funny and great mystery/thrillers. Some of them are part of the Andy Carpenter series, while others are stand alone stories.

This one is a standalone that seems weak; I don't have to have hilarious but a book that is ho-hum AND lacking humor is a real disappointment. Police chief Jake Robbins and his love interest, Katie Sanford, seemed one-dimensional and boring.

And don't get me started about Jake's grumbling about being a war hero. The main characters didn't seem to breathe. Others have outlined the plot and I won't repeat it here because I thought the plot was beyond fantastic (and not in a good way).

The reader, Jeff Steitzer, seemed overly-dramatic in this reading. However, the reader did a marvelous job of delineating characters through his range of voices.

I hate to abandon a book after I start it and that is the only reason I finished this book.

I thought this was a well-crafted novel. The plot was intricate and cleverly developed, as were the characters. In reading earlier reviews though, I seem to be in the minority. I found this, as well as the rest of his half dozen stand alone books, much more enjoyable than the Andy Carpenter ones. His last few efforts in that series struck me as paint by numbers, fill in the blanks rehashes of the earlier ones. His characters, plots, and especially the humor, are no longer original or fresh. Starting to think he has a co-writer that he passes the basic storyline along to, saying "just read the old ones and take it from there". The characters have not grown or changed in the least, compared to, say, a Harry Bosch read. I know that's probably not a very good comparison. The Carpenter series seems written as light comedy, nothing much more. To me, a book with new characters, setting and plot development is much more enjoyable to read than a repetitious rehash of an increasingly old series. Harder and more difficult to accomplish, no doubt, but much more satisfying as a good, original read. Wish he would write more like this. Highly recommended.

Nice short mystery thrillers, for me, need to grab my interest quickly, tell the story, and leave me in a state of not wanting to put it down. This book accomplished that, with some twists along the way. I enjoy a mystery in which the antagonist and motive are hidden from the reader until late into the story, but the information provided throughout may allow a reader to see the clues in retrospect. In other words, the characters and information are all there, the reader just has to put it together. A skilled writer has a way of presenting important information so that the reader may deem it inconsequential, and only later think 'oh yeah, I knew that.' The one minor error the author made was the first name he gave to the antagonist, which is a very cliched name to give a character in his profession. Due to that error, this allowed my mind to stick with this character longer than the author, I think, would have intended...which then allowed this reader to hash out the clues prematurely. Had the author given the antagonist any other name, the surprise would have been greater.

Superbly crafted thriller set in a small town in Maine about its police chief, war hero Jake Robbins, who is being framed by a serial killer for a number of murders. Among the victims are the chief's own wife and her lover, the husband of the female owner of the local newspaper who was Jake's high school sweetheart. In the bizarre prelude to the labarynthine and highly original plotline, clues to both the killer's past and future murders are discovered in a 5 year old time capsule that was rescued from a dam breach. Who from Jake's past with a grudge would go to this much trouble? Figuring it all out takes precious time he doesn't have. Great characters, great suspense and action sequences and an electrifying final chase scene. This book is impossible to put down. Brilliant.

"Without Warning"

As an avid reader and pet lover, I have always enjoyed author David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series. This week I started one of his other books, "Without Warning." So far, I love it. That it's well written goes without saying. Even though I haven't finished it yet I felt compelled to write something about it. Thank you, David Rosenfelt, for an opening and set up that feels fresh and original. Where the early opening of a local time capsule reveals the presence of an on-going serial killer. A killer who may have been the real killer of the protagonist's wife. A crime for which another man was convicted and later killed in prison. I'm happily looking forward to see what other things David Rosenfelt has in store for the reader.

Wilton, Maine is a small town with an unexpected problem. A hurricane has caused damage and a time capsule buried four years ago must be dug up to make certain its contents have not been waterlogged. Only there’s a skeleton lying on top of the time capsule . . . .

So begins the story of “Without Warning.” Jake Robbins, Wilton’s Chief of Police, tells the story and, although the clever plot proceeds along a very predictable path, the reader is in for a surprise as a sinister plan unravels and the mystery is finally solved. It’s a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will keep the pages turning far into the night.

Recommended.

Wilton, Maine, Chief of Police Jake Robbins doesn’t want to be a war hero. He doesn’t want folks labeling him as a war hero or looking at him as a war hero, and he definitely doesn’t want folks pointing him out as a war hero every time his name is mentioned in the newspaper. What Jake wants is to put his life back together since the murder of his wife a few years ago. It’s complicated, though. Jenny wasn’t the victim of a random killer. No, she died at the hands of her lover, the husband of his old friend, Katie Sanford, who also happens to run the local newspaper. So Jake has a lot to work through.

Katie’s husband went to prison for his crime and, in an ironic turn, was murdered there himself. That shifted things for Jake, returning an odd sort of balance to life. It seemed like maybe he could finally begin to heal. Then came the hurricane. Tiny Wilton has a long tradition of burying a time capsule every 50 years, leaving an assortment of items for the folks of the future. It’s only been five years, but there’s a fear that it might have been compromised by the storm. So the authorities agree it needs to be checked. They dig up the capsule and find it intact. They also discover a body lying on top of it.

That was a snag that changed a lot of things. Now, Jake takes over the opening of the capsule. What he discovers inside is even more frightening than the bones of a dead person draped over the outside. Along with the miscellaneous items donated by prominent citizens of Wilton, historically, a set of predictions is placed in the capsule. As the chief opens the first prediction, he gasps at the words he reads. He opens another, and another, feeling sicker with each one. In five years, several of the predictions have already proven accurate. People have died. Were those accidents or something more sinister?

In the following days, with growing horror, Jake and Katie realize that someone is making the predictions come true. It becomes a race against time for Jake to unravel the mystery of the puzzles contained in the capsule. He knows that failure could mean a lot more than a few dead townspeople.

In the process of solving these crimes, Jake and Katie rekindle an old romance, one that began back in high school. But his position as Chief of Police is at odds with her position as newspaper manager. To his dismay, clues that he would prefer remain private keep ending up in print. Does he have a leak in his department, or is Katie somehow sabotaging him? He desperately hopes they are working toward a common goal. Only time will tell. And they have precious little of that.

WITHOUT WARNING is one incredible rollercoaster ride of a book, with just as many twists and turns. David Rosenfelt starts right out with action and never backs off. Pacing, plot and personalities drive the story, making it impossible to put down. Don’t miss this one!

Reviewed by Kate Ayers

I have read many of David Rosenfelt’s novels and all of them on my the store Kindle. I deem him as one of the most interesting authors writing today and this novel will bear that out. The story in this one is nothing short of brilliant. Rosenfelt creates an American war hero of the Afghanistan conflict that you will immediately love. He brings the hero to us by way of a small town police chief who is entangled in a murder plot like you have never even though could happen. It is intrigue at its finest form and as the old cliché goes.”I COULDN’T PUT THE BOOK DOWN?”

Looking for another Andy Carpenter book? This isn't it and, as Martha would say, that's a good thing. I'm a lover of the Carpenter series and Rosenfelt's writing and wanted to see what he could do outside of his dog and lawyer show. Well, he does just fine. Without Warning is a great read with interesting characters, twists and turns and in a different style than the wise-cracking, fourth-wall removed Carpenter books. After a long line of other authors bad books, revisiting Rosenfelt was just the thing to remind me why I like to read.

Good plot development until the ending. This seems to be the case for all of the author's books that I have read - the bad guys do illogical actions at the end that allow the good guys to triumph. I keep reading the author's books to hopefully get an ending that wasn't predictable at page 50.

I really enjoy Rosenfelt's humor, but had actually grown a little weary of the Andy Carpenter series and the almost oddly uncomfortable relationship with his best friend...a dog. So, I looked forward to this stand alone novel. It was just good...not great. I found the plot to really be a stretch, but then again, you expect that in a fictional thriller. Otherwise, we'd only be reading about people going to the grocery store and back. I missed Rosenfelt's humor in this one as well. Of course, maybe it's hard to be funny when people are dropping dead around you, but other writers seem to find that mix. It was an enjoyable read, but not his best from my view.

It kept me interested and reading long into the night. The characters were well developed and really riveting. Be they good guys or bad, you had to find out what they would do next! Great plot and wonderful ending!

However, a David Rosenfelt book is usually one with lots of humour intermingled with his murder mystery plot; I missed this a lot in Without Warning...there was no sarcasm, no subtle jokey lines and the characters seemed one dimensional. I still thought it was a good book but disappointing if you are a regular David Rosenfelt reader.

Since I have enjoyed each and every book by Rosennfelt, this one was a huge disappointment. Plot could have been interesting but there was poor character development. And if the book contained one reference to "hero" it contained hundreds. And hundreds. This just didn't seem like his writing.

Without Warning is a mystery tale in a small town, and thus many of the characters have histories with each other. I felt that the story was predictable, and I turned out to be right. That's pretty rare.

WOW ! What a great read. Mr. Rosenfelt keeps you in suspense until the very end. I am a fan of mr.rosenfelt's novels and suggest that you read his series about new jersey lawyer andy carpenter. You will not be disappointed. Nick Lacetera

Loved this book--characters and plot. It's the first Rosenfelt I've read without attorney David Carpenter. But Rosenfelt does his usual great job, but with less humor and more suspense. I'm a fan of David Carpenter but Rosenfelt can do it either way!