I think that this book was great. It was a mystery book about a detective named Carson Ryder who lives in southern Alabama in the present state. Carson is trying to solve a case about the beheading of a woman. The woman appeared to look similar to the club he goes to. Carson's co-workers are Ava Davendelle and Harry. Harry is a chief of the police department, and is assigned to this case. Ava is also a detective that works on this case. When Carson was trying to figure out what happened to her, he got more reports of more beheadings of women that were from the same club. Carson is starting to get suspicious about what is happening. He didn't paid attention to the other women beheaded, but he only paid attention to the first one. He felt as if he had a connection to the first one. He asks Harry why is that so. Harry remembers a little bit, since he was with with Carson, that Carson was drunk. Carson is wondering that how come he doesn't remember that he was drunk, but Harry knows. Later, Carson goes to the doctor's office to see whether he had anything else in his bloodstream. The doctor said that he had a drug in his bloodstream. Carson was terrified that someone had put a drug in his drink. He starts to figure out that he was the one who killed the woman by first stripping her naked, then raped her, and finally killed her. Now he feels guilty about the mistakes that he did. Carson suspects Willet (Will) Lindy who had pt a drug in his drink, then beheaded other women. He suspects Will, because Carson's brother Jeremy, who is mentally challenged, talks about Will, but then stops randomly. The bartender at the club said that the suspect had a tatoo on his back that said, “Will it be big Boston or Little Indy?” “Will it” combines to make Willet, and “Little Indy” combines to make it Lindy. One day when Ava came to Carson's house, Jeremy starts to get sexual on her. The aurthor was foreshadowing that the suspect wil do the same thing later. Carson was getting mad at Jeremy about what he was doing, but he was also wondering why. Was this something related to Will or not? Jeremy did not used to like Ava before, but he seems to act strange. After Ava leaves, Carson starts to get worried about Ava. Later, Carson finds out that Ava was kidnapped ince she was not picking up the phone. He asks Mrs. Benoit, an old friend of Carson who used to live with Will, about where they were. Her reply was Bows. Bows is an island off the delta beneath Alabama. Will loved the island, and he used to visit a lot. Harry and Carson sail to the island on a stormy night. After they reached the island, Harry and Carson fighted to save Ava (who was almost raped). Eventually, Carson kills Will with his scapel and saves Ava. Although they returned home safely, Carson got a note from his brother that he comitted suicide, because he betrayed his brother. He felt as if he needed to be punished severely by comitting suicide. Carson is both relieved that Ava is alive, but not his brother who he loved.
Relatively new to the Mobile, Alabama, police force, Carson Ryder is appointed to a very prestigious position as one of two detectives on a new unit, Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team or PSIT (also referred to as "Piss-It). He showed his stuff during a very difficult case by coming up with a completely original interpretation of a crime that no one else had even imagined. What only Carson knows is that the solution came from first-hand knowledge of a psychopath, his brother, who could easily see what the clues meant. PSIT has never been assigned a case, as it is meant to be used only in very specific situations. When a body is found without a head and a cryptic message written on it, Carson and his partner, Harry Nautilus, feel that PSIT should take charge of the investigation. They are thwarted at every turn by one of the department higher-ups who is looking at his own chances of being promoted and playing politics all along the way. When a second headless body shows up, even he cannot stop PSIT from proceeding. Harry and Carson face many bureaucratic roadblocks in their investigation; but the two of them are an effective team and manage to work through the difficulties. At the same time, Carson is finding himself very attracted to the new forensic pathologist, Dr. Ava Davanelle; again, that relationship presents many challenges and difficulties as well.There has been a glut of serial killer type mysteries written lately, but THE HUNDREDTH MAN has managed to take an approach that feels unique. Carson's brother, Jeremy, is an extremely unlikable character, but it can't be denied that he has an intimacy in psychotic matters that his brother doesn't. Out of jealousy over Ava, he misleads Carson, to tragic effect. It's unusual to see a detective who needs this kind of help, and it's horrifying to see the price that he has to pay for Jeremy's solutions.THE HUNDREDTH MAN is a first book, and I thought it was very well done until the revelation of the killer. The killer at the conclusion of the book bore very little relationship to the killer of the earlier book. The motivations for that character's behavior didn't seem pressing enough to justify the actions that were taken. The resolution was close to being over the top. That being said, I found the book to be solidly plotted and well-paced. I particularly enjoyed how the partnership between Carson and Harry was portrayed and look forward to meeting these 2 characters again in future books in this series.
What do You think about The Hundredth Man (2005)?
The hook to this book is incredible. I read the first few pages and knew I needed to read the rest. The crimes are interesting at first. Unfortunately, the book as a whole is not good. The writing, especially the dialogue, is overdone. The insane brother is unnecessary and annoying. Most of the plot is taken up by the protagonist melodramatically caring for his alcoholic ladyfriend, rather than doing any actual sleuthing.Thriller isn't my favorite genre, so maybe those who have a soft spot for thrillers will enjoy this more than I did. I've definitely read thrillers worse than this one, I would chose this over a lot of Patterson's books, for example. And I think Kerley has promise, given that this was his first novel. Some thoughtful editing would've gone a long way to tone down the excessive drama and help Kerley's ideas shine.
—Kaitlin
An okay read of a black, Southern Detective solving a series of gruesome killings. While I like Carson as a character, and his partner, Harry, some of the others were so over the top as to be unbelievable. His brother Jeremy for one who's a mass murderer in a treatment facility which has apparently never heard of tranquilizing violent patients. Squill, his boss, was another nutty addition. Squill's main purpose in life seems to be to muck up murder investigations. At one point, Squill is arresting Harry and Cars just as they discover who the murderer is and that a female co-worker is missing.Sorry, but this is just silly.Plus there's the Martha Stewert approach to serial killing here. Let me show you how my psychopath does torture/child abuse. I'll see your sodomy and raise you ... never mind, it's just gross.I gave up these kinds of books a few years ago but picked up "The Hundredth Man" at a library sale. It's not bad as long as you're aware of what you're getting into.
—Rebecca
Detective Carson Ryder deals mostly with cases that involve those who are mentally unstable. The psychopaths, the insane. Little is it know he has his own secrets to hide.When I first started this book I was drawn into the storyline but not so much the storytelling. I felt as if there was some pile up of extra stuff that took away from the story itself. But still I could not stop reading it getting more drawn into the book as I continued turning the pages. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
—Carrie
