A Gripping Serial Killer Thriller (Violet Darger FBI Thriller Book 2)

Glad I bought this book on sale. It was entertaining but not realistic. Caught myself wondering if the authors even took the time to consult with the FBI or police regarding procedures. If you want to be entertained, this book is OK. If you want suspense skip this book.

They did it again! This time, Agent Violet Darger along with her partner, Loshak, takes on a complex serial killer with seemingly random targets and, if it wasn't already obvious in Dead End Girl, Killing Season confirms that Darger can take a beating and keep on ticking. I absolutely love her perseverance.

In addition to building on Darger's fascinating character arc, Vargas and McBain have disturbing insight into the mind and motives of some not very nice folks and they use that insight to build suspense until the last pages of the book simply melted into one another. I could not put it down.

It's a wonderful follow up to Dead End Girl and I'm already drooling for the next installment. Read it. NOW.

If you are looking for nonstop action with very well developed characters and an excellent story line, then pull up a chair and open Killing Season. While the previous Violet Darger stories were very good, Killing Season is awesome, the premise of the story is very believable. 

Killing Season is a stand alone story, but if you haven't read Dead End Girl or Image in a Cracked Mirror you may want to check them out either before reading Killing Season, or after so you have a very good feel for who Violet Darger is.

I received an advance reader copy of this book and voluntarily chose to write a review.

Killing Season reveals itself in a methodical way. The characters grow before your eyes and the story is woven around them. There is death, there is despair, there is destruction, distrust, and then there is Violet Darger cutting her way through the mayem in her inimmitable way. Tim McBain and Lt. Vargas have done another superb storytelling. I especially appreciated the curveball at the very end. I am looking forward to continuing this adventure with them.

They did it again! This time, Agent Violet Darger along with her partner, Loshak, takes on a complex serial killer with seemingly random targets and, if it wasn't already obvious in Dead End Girl, Killing Season confirms that Darger can take a beating and keep on ticking. I absolutely love her perseverance.

In addition to building on Darger's fascinating character arc, Vargas and McBain have disturbing insight into the mind and motives of some not very nice folks and they use that insight to build suspense until the last pages of the book simply melted into one another. I could not put it down.

It's a wonderful follow up to Dead End Girl and I'm already drooling for the next installment. Read it. NOW.

If you are looking for nonstop action with very well developed characters and an excellent story line, then pull up a chair and open Killing Season. While the previous Violet Darger stories were very good, Killing Season is awesome, the premise of the story is very believable. 

Killing Season is a stand alone story, but if you haven't read Dead End Girl or Image in a Cracked Mirror you may want to check them out either before reading Killing Season, or after so you have a very good feel for who Violet Darger is.

I received an advance reader copy of this book and voluntarily chose to write a review.

Killing Season reveals itself in a methodical way. The characters grow before your eyes and the story is woven around them. There is death, there is despair, there is destruction, distrust, and then there is Violet Darger cutting her way through the mayem in her inimmitable way. Tim McBain and Lt. Vargas have done another superb storytelling. I especially appreciated the curveball at the very end. I am looking forward to continuing this adventure with them.

Agent Violet Darger is somewhere between Clarice Starling and Jessica Jones. She's tough, good at her job, and just a little off-center. At the beginning of Killing Season, she is fresh off her first real exposure to madness in the previous book, Dead End Girl. Unexpectedly, she has contracted just a touch of that deadly fever (fervor?). Like a rash, it has infected her, transmitted from the pages of Leonard Stump's journal--a memento of her first big case, where she gained national fame, but perhaps lost something more valuable: her piece of mind, her belief in the basic goodness of humanity.

Enter Luke and Levi, a pair of killer brothers who, like Darger have lost faith in people, in damn near everything except each other.

What follows is enough procedural excitement to keep fans of shows like Bones and Criminal Minds full-up on thrills and twists. There's witty dialogue aplenty and the writing is solid throughout, with some lines and descriptions--particularly in the chapters that focus on the antagonists--that glow with malevolence and discomforting relevance. There's even some romance thrown in to the main story for good measure, if you like your thrillers sweet as well as salty. The whole thing ends up having enough of a dime-store feel to keep genre junkies tuned-in but with enough Thomas Harris to satisfy to those who like their psychological thrillers with a little more meat on the bone.

For me, the most rewarding and fascinating aspect was the subtle misanthropy that many of the character struggle with--that poisoned vein that connects the Stumps, the Foleys, the Baxters and even the Dargers of the world, and the different ways in which they all deal with a society they sometimes aren't sure is worth saving. In that way, it really is a novel for the times.

And it's that facet of Killing Season that I remain affected by after the din of the gunshots and explosions have ceased ringing in my ears, and why these authors and characters stand out for me amid a crowd of bootstrapping FBI agents and grim-dark murders. Because in the best parts of the novel, I felt an odd sympathy for the murderous brothers, for the flawed agents, for humanity itself--a connection born from the simple knowledge that we are all the same, even the most horrid of us. After all, isn't that why we read about serial killers, to see what of our humanity we can find in them, and what of their monstrousness we can find in ourselves?

Regardless of what you are looking for, you will find it in this latest book.

Awesome read! This book was even better than both Dead End Girl and Image In A Cracked Mirror, and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I found it hard to put the book down...much to the chagrin of the other commuters on the NYS Thruway. LT and Tim certainly know a thing or two about character development, both good and evil ones alike, and they have once again showcased their talents. I found myself inside the minds of many of them throughout the entire, action-packed narrative, and it definitely helped bring these same characters to life.

Although this book can be read as a stand-alone novel, the reader would be best served to read the other book and subsequent novella in their proper order, as there are references to a few incidents contained therein that might otherwise be missed.

I highly recommend the Violet Darger Series.

Darger and Loshak are back and hunting a serial shooter in Atlanta. This book is a multi level Police Procedural with believable characters and a hint of romance. Darger goes from on dangerous situation to the next running on little to no sleep whilst hunting the killer. The authors have made it clear no one is safe as a character in these books. Yikes the death toll is high and gut wrenching.
Read via kindle KU and audio book was fab.

Loved this book!!! Darger and Loshak are easily my favorite FBI agents. I just love a strong female character that has attitude, but not so much that it is annoying. Vargus and McBain have written her perfectly. This is a fast paced, action packed thriller and I can hardly wait for the next book to come out! I could read this series non-stop, it is so good and fun. It kept me glued to the pages and I had a hard time putting it down.
And the epilogue... NICE!!!! Hurry up and write the next book, will you?

I fell for Violet Darger during Dead End Girl and came back for a second helping of adventure and non-stop action in Killing Season. I wasn’t disappointed. Darger and Loschak are teamed again. This time to find and stop a sniper.

The story unfolds like some kind of Rube Goldberg device where simple tasks are linked together through complex devices that trigger the next sequence of events. It works wonderfully and it’s a pleasure to watch it unfold.

There's also plenty of snorting! :)