Thanks to a blank in my memory, I'm not sure what that thing was, but it was horrible enough to get me locked up in the mental ward for seven years. I’m still invested enough to read the third installment and hopeful that Erika will finally get what she deserves.Kinda dead. I liked the overall direction that this book took, though some of the decisions towards the end did annoy the hell out of me. Obviously I had issue with some points as I’ve just rambled them above, but for the most part, I thought the killer was inventive, the motives chilling and the driving force of Erika was the adrenaline thumping in my heart and pushing me onwards with reading. Everything was easy to understand and I was able to create a good working image of what was happening.Įnjoyment – I did enjoy this installment. Visualisation – I had no difficulty visualising this. I think both Marsh and Oakley see Erika as a woman first and a DCI second and that’s what really annoys me. They see a woman whose past actions caused the death of her team, a woman who acts rashly and a woman who never stops. They just see this woman who strives so hard and never backs down. I guess the characters portray as old-school and don’t recognise the level of skill Erika has in the cases she takes on. They’d definitely mansplain to Erika if they got the chance. Marsh and Oakley, well, they’re the source of much of my annoyance in this book. I am looking forward to getting to know them better as the series continues. Moss and Peterson are wonderful characters and compliment Erika quite well. Perhaps I am reading too much into things but it really started to bug me. Some of her approaches may seem too far but she is constantly being kept out of the loop, has had cases taken from her or her opinion is ignored in favour of taking the opinion of a man instead. Yet it was her personality or her ruthlessness that was always used to push her down and keep her from progressing in her job. I think it annoyed me because Erika’s performance as a DCI was exemplary in that she was hard hitting and took every chance to capture those she hunted.

I did find myself getting a little annoyed in this second book, at how the male characters (especially those of a higher rank than her), couldn’t see or wouldn’t see Erika’s potential and pushed her into the box of ‘the woman who cannot take orders’.

I enjoy her attitude and the fact that she never lets anything get in the way of her solving the case. I could clearly understand what was happening in both stories and enjoyed the story I found there.Ĭharacterisation – I am very much ‘team Erika’, when I read this book, it only made me fall further behind Erika’s character and endeared her to me more. The chapters told from Erika’s POV and the chapters from the POV of the killer flow together to create two spellbinding stories. Ability to read – I had no difficulty with reading this.

The Stalking Dead by Eva Chase