Cherry Bomb

May 18, 2009
At the start of Konrath’s brisk and breezy sixth Jack Daniels mystery, the guilt-ridden Chicago cop, who’s attending the funeral of a loved one, takes a call from Alexandra Kork, the sadistic psychopath who did in the loved one at the end of 2008’s Fuzzy Navel
(“I checked the Weather Channel.... It’s raining in Chicago. That’s appropriate, don’t you think? Funerals on sunny days seem so wrong”). Barred from the official hunt for Kork because she’s personally involved in the case, Daniels soon finds herself on the wrong side of the law with few of the usual resources to call on. Meanwhile, the wily Kork, who’s stopped counting her victims (after 50 they blur), strews bodies over a wide area as part of a scheme to lead Daniels to a slow and painful death. Konrath leavens the violence with offbeat humor, including a feces-throwing monkey in love with a cashmere sweater. The slam-bang ending is sure to satisfy series fans.

June 15, 2009
Readers who weren't sated by the collateral fatalities in the last grudge match between Lt. Jacqueline Daniels and escaped criminal Alexandra Kork (Fuzzy Navel, 2008, etc.) are in for a treat.

This novel's very first sentence resolves its predecessor's cliffhanger ending. The climactic victim turns out to have been Jack Daniels's fianc, accountant Latham Conger. Now that Jack and Alex have killed each other's men, you might think the score would be even, but Alex doesn't. She phones her nemesis at Latham's burial with the news that she's planning to kidnap a man and kill him 12 hours later unless Jack can stop her. When that round is over, Alex moves on to the next inning, allowing ever-shorter windows of rescue time. Her targets are Jack's ex, who doesn't see why he should be part of this game, and her Chicago PD partner. Alex's propensity for terminations with extreme prejudice—she kills a homeless man for his bankroll and a suburban shopper for her handbag—and the high-value targets she's chosen would seem to guarantee pulse-pounding suspense. But the body count rises so carelessly that there's no reason to feel any closer to individual victims than to individual bowling pins. What remains, as usual in this jaunty, heartless series, is the pornographic violence and the return to the most atavistic roots of narrative: pure, formulaic storytelling without any concern for such add-ons as plot twists, characterization or moral complexity.

As for the formula, it's accurately indicated by the libations that inspire Konrath's titles: Shake. Drink. Repeat.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from June 1, 2009
Fans of the Jacqueline Jack Daniels series who thought the last book was a shocker are in for some major thrills. This one opens with Daniels, the Chicago police detective, reeling from a recent personal tragedy. But she doesnt have much time to put herself together before she receives a phone call from escaped psychopath Alexandra Kork (Fuzzy Navel, 2008), who tells Daniels she has a mere 12 hours to save the life of an innocent manif she can find him, that is. What follows comprises an elaborate game of cat and mouse, as Alex Kork revels in her own fiendishness while Jack Daniels discovers just what she is willing to risk to stop this killer, once and for all. Hands down, this is the best of the Daniels series, which is no small feat, since the previous entries have been uniformly outstanding. Like Jeffery Deaver and Ridley Pearson, Konrath is a master of suspense, playing with the reader as his villains play with their victims. Readers will finish this book utterly exhausted, gasping for breath, and wondering, after this, what can possibly be next for Jack Daniels?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)