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Title: Next Victim
ISBN: 045120753X
Author:
Michael Prescott
Publicate Date: 2002-12-03
Publish: 2002-12-03
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.83
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
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1: Very dependable Michael Prescott
This is the second book I've read by Michael Prescott and by sheer chance it is the second book I've read that featured FBI agent Tess McCallum. This is a good murder-mystery thriller that talks about but does not dwell on the emotional baggage of the main characters to the point of boring. This story keeps moving and is easy to read at a good pace. Being the master sleuth that I am, I of course figured out the true identity of Mobius early in the book. (Mobius was the bad guy) At 372 pages in paperback this novel did not drag at all. There were good characterizations and people you could actually care about. The clues were there and the action intense. I am about to order another book by Prescott. I see there is another Tess McCallum book out there that needs to be read. Oh by the way, I guessed early on who the killer was...WRONG!!! It was a total surprize at the end. Good book. Read it, but if you're looking for romance, find something different. This is more action.
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2: Surprisingly Good Thriller
This was my first Michael Prescott novel and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. The plot was creative, I learned a few things and the suspense kept me raptly reading late into the night. Like most books of this genre, things get a little silly toward the end of the book, and the protagonist is, of course, only a little less accomplished than God, and everything happens within a two-day time span and the universe is saved within a second or two of oblivion, etc. But, knowing in advance that's how most of these books unfold, the reader can just sit back and enjoy the show. I'd say Prescott is a cut above most thriller writers, so I intend now to order the rest of his books through Amazon and enjoy them.
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3: One you won't be able to put down!!
I just want to say I love all of Michael Prescott's books. I read his first one, "Come's The Dark", and I had to go out and get all of the others. Once I start one, I can't put it down. This book really has a great twist at the end, I loved it!! I really look forward to his next one, and hope he has another one on the way!!
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4: very suspenseful tale
Great story line and interesting plot. Prescott hit a grand slam on this one. This book was such an intense thriller, I read it in two days.
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5: Next!
Sometimes, in the course of reading the work of a talented author who thinks up good concepts, knows the mechanics of good storytelling, writes interesting dialogue, and creates compelling characters, one has to wonder how much creative control they actually have and how much better they could've made their book if left to their own expert devices instead of being comprised by editorial micro-managing. I got an inkling of how Alex Kava's light was obscured by the editorial bushel while reading SPLIT SECOND and I couldn't help but speculate on the same thing while reading Michael Prescott's latest thriller (he'd wanted to name it WIPEOUT but the publisher choose the breathtakingly bland NEXT VICTIM).
A woman on the run from the FBI is carrying a canister of VX nerve agent and is intercepted by a serial killer, who then absconds with it and plans to use it on an unsuspecting Los Angeles. This is the best concept in recent fiction since Jan Burke's BONES (2001).
Not all the book's flaws can be blamed on editing, however- as one reviewer rightly posits, Mobius suffers from the talking villain syndrome, whereas the pieces could've come together in a more organic way, through skillful exposition or having Special Agent Tess McCallum, the book's heroine, tell the reader in her POV. Also, in the ATSAC HQ, Tess is actually relieved when it turns out that Mobius has VX in his possession, instead of the ebola that Tess had feared. I don't know of a single human who would ever be relieved to be dealing with VX, surely the deadliest substance ever engineered by Man.
But NEXT VICTIM'S virtues far outweigh its flaws and the characterization of the principals is good enough to garner sympathy for both antagonist and protagonist. and, while it's obligatory for the heroine to engage the villain in the Endgame in which the heroine (of course) wins, Prescott thankfully was able to break away from his usual DIE HARD-esque ending that involves a tall, abandoned/unfinished building to give the reader a more novel denouement.
As usual, I'll be on the lookout for the talented Prescott's next outing, hoping for both a hardcover deal for him and less editorial interference.
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