One Kill Away

Halifax homicide detective Allan Stanton's walked away from his job to reconnect with his young son, until a killer starts methodically carving his way through the city's underbelly. His ex-partner needs help, and Stanton reluctantly returns.

The killer is definitely working through a list of victims, and he's leaving cryptic clues at his grisly crime scenes. Are they there to confuse the police? Or is there something more to them? As Stanton unravels this shocking central mystery, he becomes the target of an unexpected enemy--those next on the killer's list.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Halifax detective Allan Stanton is back in Alex MacLean's novel, One Kill Away. Stanton has no doubt earned his right to time off and visiting his son Brian is exactly what he needs. While on a little vacation, a hideous murder takes place and Alex's partner Audra is called to the scene. 

Because of the vacation time, readers are introduced to both Detective Audra Price and a new side of Detective Stanton, the side that loves his son more than anything in the world. The bond that initially formed between Stanton and readers will solidify when they witness Allan in family mode. It's obvious how much he adores his son. Detective Audra Price is another officer that readers will respect and sympathize with. Audra is strong, intelligent, brave, with a side of hotheadedness. As the murder case sets up, it's Audra's responsibility to move it forward. However, heartbreak arrives for the Price family when Audra's daughter attempts to take her own life after experiencing how cruel teenagers can be. Thus, Audra is off the case and Allan is called back from Toronto to finish the puzzle. 

The plot of One Kill Away has two sides, just like every story. The first side is Seth. He's immediately depicted as the murderer. He's a broken man who is full of rage and regret, looking for revenge. The other side of the story involves the detectives, their suspects, and their families. With the first murder, the police hit a solid dead end, but with the second murder everything starts to fall into place. Will Seth finish his revenge or will Stanton put the clues together leaving Seth one kill away from success?  

This novel was just as thrilling as MacLean's first. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. The story is so fast-paced with many different things happening to both main characters and supporting characters. It's hard to find a stopping place, not that I was looking for one. The new murder mystery is meticulously pieced together. Very impressive how MacLean linked the present to Stanton's past. The little twist at the end blew me away and changed my perspective completely. Funny how a single detail can do that... One Kill Away is gunpowder after the spark, definitely recommended for mature murder mystery lovers. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (131)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers




One Kill Away (Kindle 4%)
   - Alex MacLean

She could smell it, even at a good distance from the apartment's open doorway. Sickly sweet with a hint of rusty copper, the odor rode a current of air, crawled over her face, and up through her nostrils. Blood.

Grave Situation

Halifax cop Allan Stanton is a troubled homicide detective who has lost everything, including his family and his sense of justice.

When he finally decides to leave the force and start over, he's assigned a string of murders that all bear the signs of a serial killer collecting trophies.

As Stanton unravels each grisly crime scene, the mounting evidence points uncomfortably close to him, forcing him to confront a past he'd rather forget--and a dangerous future when the killer targets Stanton himself.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Alex MacLean's murder mystery, Grave Situation, will have readers frantically flipping pages, taking mental notes for possible suspects, and give them a little trouble sleeping. This is definitely a novel for all murder mystery fans (who don't have a weak stomach.) 

Allan Stanton is a homicide detective in Halifax, NS and after his last case goes cold, Allan's ready to think about leaving his career behind. Especially since it does nothing but tax his life, his job being the main cause of his wife and son leaving him. But then the signs of a serial killer emerge and Allan must focus on catching a killer once again. 

Allan is a wonderful character. He's the cop who chose the profession to help others as much as he can. He treats his cases like people, not forgetting that victims lay at the heart of everything he does. Readers can connect with Allan, perhaps, not based on his career but on his emotions. 

As one of the narrators, Allan is honest with the readers, letting them in on exactly what he's thinking and why it matters. It creates a great bond between the reader and Allan. It's because of that bond, readers want him to catch the killer and put the pieces of his own life back together. 

The supporting cast of characters mesh with Allan so well that the book almost becomes a reality-recorded movie, which makes the plot MacLean weaves absolutely believable. The plot is a perfect arc with build-up, set-backs, multiple climactic points, convergence of sub-plots, and a conclusion that will surprise every reader. (Seriously.)

And the thing is, the giant circle the plot makes is totally understandable. It seems like a news story you could have read about the biggest city near you.  (You'll know what I mean...)

The thing I loved most about this novel was the way it was written. MacLean does a fantastic job at writing the novel in such a way that the reader learns something about being a homicide detective. He is thorough when describing the steps taken by Allan. Not to mention all of the follow up procedures and autopsies. He even goes into great detail about profiling a psychopath! MacLean really brings the reader into the story by using this technique almost making the reader an actual character. 

Grave Situation

on Amazon

rating: 4/5 cups