A Perfect Evil (Maggie O'Dell)

I read "A Perfect Evil" in one day. There have been very few books so compelling as to keep me reading for hours on end.
Sheriff Nick Morelli doesn't think he can handle the murder case in Platte City, Nebraska. Sheriff Morelli gets help from FBI agent Maggie O'Dell. Agent O'Dell is obvisouly qualified and talented. But there is a sense that she is dropped into this story to give Morelli a love interest. The developing relationshiip between Morelli and O'Dell is distracting and out of place in this book.
If you put aside the misplaced romance you do get a spine tingler. True evil is currently at work in Platte City. But it appears that evil has been in town for a while. A man was executed for the murders that had taken place in town. Now that new crimes are occuring sheriff Morelli is haunted with the thought: Was an innocent man punished and did Morelli's father know?
I highly recommend this book despite the ill placed romance.

I was shocked to read that "A Perfect Evil" was Alex Kava's debut novel! She can write like she is a Mary Higgins Clark and a Patricia Cornwell. I read the whole book in a day. It was hard to put down because Kava kept the twists and turns coming around every little chapter. The characters Nick and Maggie were extremely well developed and interesting to read about. They worked together trying to deduce who was the killer, while at the same time, trying to keep their hormones contained. The killer was identified earlier on in the book but Kava kept casting doubt throughtout the whole novel making the reader reallly wonder. The sequel, Split Second, will be in stores August 1. Everyone has to read that one since the killer got away at the end of "A Perfect Evil." Alex Kava has EXTREME potential for making it HUGE in the writing world. If "Split Second" is just as good then she may lead the female serial killer genre.
Brad Stonecipher

Beautiful FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell is sent to a small Nebraska town when a young boy is found hideously slaughtered in the style of recently executed serial killer Ronald Jefferys. O'Dell is supposedly a brilliant profiler, one of the FBI's best, but on her last case she was victimized by the killer she was chasing and is still suffering PTSD from it. However, she stupidly refuses to seek help to deal with it, and the FBI stupidly doesn't require that she seek counseling before sending her back out on another case.

Once she arrives in tiny Platte City, Nebraska, she meets hunky, womanizing sheriff Nick Morelli, and, of course, sparks fly. There is "electricity" between them. I know this because Alex Kava says so ad nauseam. Nick, a former University quarterback and Harvard law grad, is totally out of his league with the investigation, and in fact only got elected because his over-bearing father was the popular former sheriff.

I found this book tedious to read, which is a shame because it had an interesting premise. However, Ms. Kava chose to go the Harlequinesque route of sexual tension between the leads which, to me, distracted from the story of the chase for a child killer. In addition, the leads are surrounded by a cast of thoroughly unlikable characters, including Nick's sister and father and Maggie's husband, with only one old priest and a couple of the kids making me care for them at all. Add to that the fact that no one acts with one ounce of common sense and you have the makings of a good premise gone bad.

This was the beginning of a rather long series; there appears to be eight novels so far featuring Maggie O'Dell. After reading this one, however, I doubt I'll bother with any of the others even though this book ended with no real resolution to the killings.

This contemporary story takes place in Platte City, Nebraska, a bedroom community a short distance from Omaha. In July, Ronald Jeffreys was put to death, having been convicted of murdering three young boys six years ago. In his final moments, he confessed to Father Francis he had killed only one of the three.

It's now close to Halloween and a young boy has disappeared and is found murdered. The FBI calls in Maggie O'Dell, a profiler. Shortly after she arrives another youngster disappears and is found dead. The similarities between these two murders and two of the murders Jeffreys was convicted of are too many to be ignored. Then a third boy disappears. Was Jeffreys really put to death? Did the real killer just lie in wait for six years to start over again? How many other people will be killed?

There are several on-going subplots, but you're never confused about what's going on. They definitely keep the reader interested...the chemistry between Maggie and Nick Morrelli, the local Sheriff; Christine Hamilton's (Nick's sister) journalism career; Antonio Morrelli's (Nick's father and former Sheriff) intrusion into the case; the questionable priest and janitor at the local Catholic church. This is good story, especially for the author's first novel.

This was a surprising story from a debut novel. There was a Kyle Mills kind of feeling to it. A couple of times, I had to pause due to it's graphic nature. Violence against children is tough to read about, even in fictional situations. I would have given 5 stars if the two subplots of the creepy deputy and the misplaced romance in mid-chase were left out of the story.

In a word...I was only able to get thru the 21st chapter. Characters have no character and, of course they are all so beautiful/handsome, that there aren't enough words to describe them (altho this author manages to do so incessantly!). It is more a trashy romance novel than a really good, gritty thriller. Don't waste your time or money!

I really enjoyed reading the O'Dell series by Alex Kava. I can't wait until A Necessary Evil comes out. This is a great book, all of them are great reads. If you do read them make sure you read them in order: A Perfect Evil, Split Second, Soul Catcher, At The Stroke of Madness, and coming in February 2006 A Necessary Evil. These are page turning books that you just can't get tired of reading. They were so good, I read all four within a month!

Name the cliche, it's in this book and, worse, it's poorly written. It's also very derivative and very unoriginal, with 2 gratuitous "surprise" endings. The characters? An incompetent hot-pants sheriff (male), a single parent trying to make ends meet and further a journalistic career (attractive female), an FBI profiler (brilliant and absolutely gorgeous female, able to elude a sexual encounter with the sheriff despite all sorts of pantings and hotness), and a slew of dumb male rubes, including a retired sheriff who screwed up the original case due to tainted evidence planted by a, yup, male aide. A frighteningly bad book in the long run.

I was very disappointed with A Perfect Evil. I was expecting a good, enjoyable novel, based on the reviews I had read here. First, the prose is quite weak. Much of the book reads like bad entries to the "It was a dark and stormy night" contests. Second, the characters are shallow and one-dimensional, and we often learn about their "true nature" in 1 brief paragraph. If only life were so simple! Third, the characters are often too stupid for words. For people (like Agent O'Dell) who are supposed to be experts in their field, they are not realistic. They do things that you would expect from brainless people in a C quality horror film.
Finally, I found the ending disappointing and annoying. I was going to give the book one star before getting to the ending, based on the things above. The ending did nothing to sway my opinion.

Three months after convicted serial killer Ronald Jeffreys is put to death by the State of Nebraska, similar kidnapping/gruesome murders are happening. And that's all I'm going to disclose about the plot. Stop reading these spoiler-saturated reviews now! Get this book! At the end, if your experience is similar to mine, you will want to read its sequel: Split Second. So I recommend ordering them both, or all three, and saving time and shipping ;-)
Previous reviewers have pointed out numerous factual errors in Alex Kava's debut novel. Here's one upon which they didn't comment: Cornhusker (or any other Football Factory) Quarterback graduates from College and proceeds to rush through Harvard Law. Yep, and pigs fly over Harvard yard. This former QB is now the Sheriff of Platte City, Nebraska (Sheriff of a City? Usually Sheriffs oversee a County, and Chiefs of Police serve their City, but maybe Cornhuskerland is quirky in this regard?) having taken over from his over-bearingly pompous father. He has a sister who makes Faust's deal with the Devil look good. Sure, there are errors, and the Sheriff's dysfunctional family and bodice-ripping is annoying, but this book was so gripping that it over-rode my Nyquil!