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Title details for Badlands by Richard Montanari - Available

Badlands

A Novel of Suspense

#4 in series

by Richard Montanari
Scott Brick
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Philadelphia police detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are working a new beat: the Special Investigations Unit, aka the cold case squad. Ironic, given that it’s the height of a blazing hot August. But even these hardened homicide veterans are chilled to the bone as a dormant murder case stirs to life–leading Byrne and Balzano into the dark heart of their city, their souls, and a psyche of pure evil.
Months before, a teenage runaway’s body was found in the desolate, dangerous North Philly district dubbed the Badlands. Dead runaways were no novelty on these mean streets, but the Caitlin O’Riordan case was different. Her corpse was found in the basement of a rancid tenement apartment, the inexplicable cause of death: drowning. In the end, nothing was solved and the case was closed.
Now a confession to the bizarre murder on the police tipline sends Byrne and Balzano rushing to make an arrest. But instead of a killer, they discover a ghastly scene: a jar containing human remains–along with a cryptic clue leading to an unlikely witness. Laura Somerville lives far from the squalor of the Badlands, and seemingly light-years from any connection to a murdered runaway. But moments after discussing the case with this elegant lady, Byrne and Balzano make another grisly discovery, and find an enigmatic word spelled out in Scrabble tiles.
Across town, another victim’s shallow grave reveals deeper mysteries. Her secret diaries portray a woman haunted by a shocking past, and obsessed with finding a depraved killer.
Now, as the body count grows, a terrifying design literally takes shape. Pieces of a gruesome puzzle are being set into place by the cruel hands of a madman using the city as his game board. His playthings are the innocent, and his opponents–and pawns–are Byrne and Balzano, who must, before time runs out, decipher the truth about a shadowy house of horrors and its elusive master.
Internationally acclaimed author Richard Montanari works his black magic to spine-tingling perfection in Badlands, conjuring all the relentless suspense, dark twists of intrigue, and full-throttle action that make his brilliant, engrossing novels required reading for thriller fans.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Kevin Byrne & Jessica Balzano

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 2, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415961803
      • File size: 341108 KB
      • Duration: 11:50:38

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Scott Brick, who almost always gets high marks for narration, is at his best when he's a serial killer. He's plotting, maniacal, creepy, and just plain evil. That's what's called for in this latest from Richard Montanari. As it develops, this is the story of a relentless search by two Philadelphia detectives for the killer of several young women. The cops are charged with deciphering obtuse clues left by the madman, which lead them to the next body--or body part. This evildoer is not just smart--he's brilliant. He presides over what amounts to be a house of horrors--with a victim dedicated to each room. Brick keeps you chilled to the bone. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 28, 2008
      Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano take on a high-profile cold case in Montanari's superior thriller, which combines a genuinely creepy villain with fully fleshed-out victims. The dead-end inquiry into the drowning death of 17-year-old Caitlin O'Riordan four months earlier gets a boost when someone, privy to details never made public, tips the police to an abandoned building in a bad neighborhood that later turns out to house a second corpse. The stakes are raised even higher when another body turns up, an ex-girlfriend of Byrne's who'd worked for the local district attorney. Segments from the killer's perspective increase the tension, and Montanari (Merciless
      ) does a nice job of concealing one of the murderer's alter egos. The fiend's methods, modeled after elaborate magical tricks, are a welcome change from the gore typical of the serial killer subgenre. Likewise, Byrne and Balzano possess a psychological depth all too rare in such fiction.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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