The Killing Room is Richard Montanari's 7th Byrne & Balzano murder mystery with several brutal killings discovered in various abandoned churches around Philadelphia. There are many plots and subplots running concurrently through the book which feels a little disconnected, but in true Montanari style, ties up perfectly in the end. Detective Kevin Byrne finds himself framed for one of the murders whilst he tries to battle demons surfacing from his past. He chooses to cut all communication with his partner, Detective Jessica Balzano, feeling certain he would not live to see the next day. Jessica manages to piece together various snippets of information and the book reaches a climax where she races to save her friend and partner. There are constant nail biting, edge of your seat drama and suspense throughout the book with just the right amount of violence and gore to keep the ghoulish readers satisfied. I'm a huge Richard Montanari fan, and this book was superb. I'm looking forward to the next one. After reading raving reviews like "Scary good! You will leave the lights on long after reading this book" - Lisa GardinerAnd"Relentlessly suspenseful.....hooks you instantly" - Tess GerritsenI was excited! Here comes a super creepy twists and turns serial killer with a religious twist type of book! The storyline had SO much promise, bodies turning up murdered in unusual ways I old abandoned churches, but that's the best bits, seriously. The rest of the book is a lot of police procedural boring carry on mixed in with ever so slow and boring sub plots. Neither detectives Kevin Byrne or Jessica Balanzo did a thing for me as strong protagonists, I found both very two dimensional flat.The flicking back in time to create a slightly creepy back story was ok but I put this book down enough times to know it wasn't holding me and it sure wasn't scary or kept me up all night reading. With too many better crime writers out there I won't be delving into any of Montanari's books again. 2 stars.
What do You think about Der Teufel In Dir (2014)?
Like all Montanari's books this was very enjoyable.
—ash
