What do You think about A Garden Of Vipers (2007)?
This is the third in a series starring two detectives, Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus, and probably the best so far. Investigating a murder that shows evidence of torture, Harry and Carson get involved with multiple threads of evidence from different cases, that all seem to have some relationship with the Kincannon family, a wealthy, powerful, and dysfunctional family in Mobile. How they pull these together into a single case makes for a good tale. There are subtle little clues that the detectives pick up on that are significant in their later understanding of events.The other facet of this series has been the development and changes in the relationships of the characters from previous books. I look forward to the next in this series.
—Ishmael Seaward
I'm not sure why I chose this book. I was in the library walking up and down the isles, looking for something that would jump out at me. This book captured my attention from page one and had a hard time putting it down. It's been a very long time since I last read a murder mystery, and this book definitely caught my attention. It takes place on the coast in Alabama, reminding me of the hot, humid, miserable weather in that area. It also made me miss the serenity of the ocean and the feeling of white sugar sand between my toes. I found it difficult to put the book down, especially when it climaxed at the end. Dinner had to wait while I finished the last two chapters!
—Sharon
A nice discoveryThe super-wealthy Kincannon family has earned its enormous fortune, like many other rich families, thanks to practices that cannot always tolerate the light of day. But that is not the only secret they want to keep hidden. At first the murder of a young reporter seems to be unrelated to the Kincannon’s, but when detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus start to piece things together some harmful links start to pop-up. A serial-killer is on the loose with only one objective: to ruin the Kincannon’s reputation for good.Having never read a novel by Jack Kerley before, I was truly taken by this book. It’s very strange that I never heard of this author before. Thanks to a sales bin and some divine intervention I became the proud owner of this audiobook for less than 5 euro. The rough voice of Kerry Shale quickly engulfed me in this mysterious world of dark intrigue. The build-up is supported by strong characterization of its main players. This a quite unique accomplishment because with most returning characters (Broken Souls is the third episode) this quickly tends to become a bland rehash of some need-to-know facts. Not with Broken Souls. It digests perfectly as a stand-alone novel.I must admit that once the setting for the final confrontation is ready, the story becomes a bit too action-adventure like for my taste. Luckily this doesn’t hurt the narrative too much because it still stays true to its nature. No miracle solution or deus-ex-machina denouement, but a fair conclusion that does not hurt the personality of its characters (not like a Clive Cussler fantasy to just name an unfair comparison…). I can only conclude that I am putting Jack Kerly high on my to-read list… a list that is getting longer and longer… I need more time! ;-)
—Geert Daelemans
