A body just fell from the sky onto Hollywood Boulevard.When a beautiful prostitute is dumped onto the Walk of Fame, FBI profiler Atticus Spenser and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Caitlin Cassidy are called in to solve one of their most baffling cases yet.
The media’s dubbed him the Fallen Angel Killer – a crazed murderer who’s leaving the bodies of high-priced call girls in Los Angeles tourist traps.
Then the killer raises the stakes, demanding that a mysterious celebrity publically admit to his sinful secrets —or he’ll dispose of his latest kidnapped escort. With every “john” the team exposes in their search for Celebrity X, another Hollywood secret is revealed and another charmed life is left in ruins.
Now time is running out, and Cassidy and Spenser will do anything to find the twisted serial killer…before another innocent woman winds up as the next grotesque tourist attraction.
MY REVIEW:
Fallen by Carey BaldwinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Fallen by Carey Baldwin is a 2015 Witness Impulse publication. I as provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book in the Cassidy and Spencer series, but it can be read as a stand alone. However, to completely understand the dynamic between Caitlin and Spencer, I highly recommend reading the outstanding debut novel in this series- “Judgment.”
Caitlin and Spencer must put their tropical vacation plans on hold, and are off to La La land… Hollywood, California, in order to create a profile of the “Fallen Angel” killer.
The LAPD is not all that crazy about a psychologist and the FBI working on their case and it makes for a tense work environment. But, the situation is spiraling out of control rapidly, as more blonde women are found murdered and the clock is ticking...
Once I got the gist of the plot, I pretty much went on auto pilot, since this story seemed like a fairly standard serial killer novel, with a few slick twist thrown in. In fact, I was much more invested in the romance between Caitlin and Spenser. I have already made it clear that I love Spencer, even if he goes “caveman” on occasion. So, I was thrilled to touch base with him again, but was worried Caitlin was going to break his heart.
If you read as many mystery, thriller, or romantic suspense novels as I do, it's easy to pick up on a formula and it's an 'occupational hazard', so to speak, to become jaded, and hard to shock or surprise, plus I am usually pretty good as figuring out who the killer is, even if I don't know the motive. Therefore, I was fairly smug, as I decided early on who the killer might be, so while I was canoodling with Spencer, the murder plot suddenly heated up and I found myself taken completely by surprise and I found the psychology behind the murders was very interesting, and I would have to agree with Caitlin's assessment. It's rare that a story will lull me into complacency like that, only to pull the rug out from under my smug and jaded brain, but I was completely taken unaware by the outcome. So, hats off to the author for giving me a wake up call and proving that not all serial killer tropes are created equally.
I love psychological thrillers because they are more about mind games than bomb explosions and shoot outs. This story has it's fair share of action and Caitlin is often in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this is still more a thinking person type thriller, and I do recommend paying close attention.
This second book in the series also solidified the partnership between Caitlin and Spencer, as they learned to balance a personal relationship with their professional one. I think these two will always have a few tug of war moments, but overall they make a great team and I hope we see more of them in the future.
I recommend this book to lovers of psychological thrillers, and romantic suspense fans, especially. But, anyone who likes dark serial killer thrillers or mysteries will enjoy this one as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Cassidy-Spenser-Thriller-Thrillers-ebook/dp/B00NLMC9DU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440108644&sr=8-1&keywords=carey+baldwin
In real life I'm a mild-mannered brunette. A very nice doctor who happens to write edgy romantic thrillers.Oh, and before I became a doctor, I used to be a clinical psychologist. I guess that's why writing about psychopaths comes naturally. I still haven't decided precisely what I want to be when I grow up, so you can expect to see me serving up a genre mix.
Here's my favorite recipe:
A dollop of romance + a dash of medicine + a cup of crazy. Fold into a story. Bake until it rises, and voila, you've cooked up a delicious thriller!
First Do No Evil
From Samhain Publishing June 26, 2012
