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The Anniversary Man (2009)

by R.J. Ellory(Favorite Author)

3.86 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0752898752 (ISBN13: 9780752898759)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Orion

review 1: Ellory, R. J. THE ANNIVERSARY MAN. (2010). ****. It’s unfortunate, but I tend to rate books by given authors based on their best works. Although this is a terrific thriller that is well-written and well-plotted, there are holes that you won’t find in the author’s previous work, “A Quiet Belief in Angels.” For any other writer, this would rate a five-star, the highest, rating. The story starts off with a burgeoning relationship between John Costello, sixteen-years old, and Nadia McGowan, seventeen-years old. Although their initial contacts are enigmatic, the two eventually find that they have a lot in common, and the rerlationship develops. Nadia tells John that her name means “Hope” in Russian. This is exactly what John feels. Soon their relationsh... moreip goes beyond hand holding into sex, and, since it is the first time for either of them, it becomes an experience that they think they will never forget. After a date – going to the movies – they both wandered off to a park and were sitting on a bench, when they were suddenly attacked by a deranged killer with a hammer. He killed Nadia and attacked John – who though severely injured, managed to survive. The killer was later apprehended and was known as “The Hammer of God” through stories in the press. He had successfully committed four other killings. We now move forward in time. John Costello is a researcher for a New York newspaper, and has become a walking encylopedia on serial killers. Suddenly there is a spate of killings in New York that seem to have been done by one person, but in a certain way. The cases are assigned to Ray Irving, a veteran homicide detective, who has no clue as to where to start on the investigation. He learns of John’s existence through a female reporter at the newspaper and solicits his help. It turns out that our killer becomes known in police circles as “The Anniversary Man” because he selects and kills his victims on the exact anniversary of a similar killing by a former serial killer. He does this with as much exactitude as possible. By the end of his spree (although I lost count) there were seventeen murders to his credit within the city of New York. Irving, lacking resources from the department, enlists the aid of John and does his best to track down this fiend so that he doesn’t commit more and more murders. The author leads us on a lively chase – following up clues that are blind ends and even negative leads to the problem. In all, this is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that you will probably read well into the night – when you should have gone to bed. Recommended.
review 2: John Costello survives an attack by a serial killer known as the hammer of God, his girlfriend is not so lucky. John becomes an expert in serial killers and works for a New York City newspaper as a crime researcher. Then people start dying in bizarre ways, looks like a new serial killer is in town, and he's copying past serial killers, John ends up helping the police in their pursuit of a very clever man, the man they call The Anniversary Man, while dealing with the effects of his own past experience with a serial killer.. less

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