The Killer Net by Matthew W Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
*This book was supplied to me by Audiobook Reviewer. This review was originally published on ABR’s website.*
Remember when the Internet was still new, when the potential dangers of Internet dating were practically unknown? This book won’t let you forget. In fact, Matthew W. Grant’s The Killer Net will make you realize just how close you are to killers on the Net.
I liked the concept of this book, especially since it takes place before the Internet became a “must”, and it was still a bit new. The opening sequence shows us how the serial killer was bred, which is a powerful prelude to the rest of the story. The first murder was a bit confusing – I had to rewind and listen again to make sure a murder had actually taken place. Many of the murders were very suspenseful, though, more so as the book went on and the girls being attacked became smarter.
Sometimes the main female character was frustrating or acted in a way that didn’t seem realistic. I found her character to be inconsistent to a certain degree, and I also found some dialogue in general to be stilted and cliched. The killer, however, was well written and I thought all his moves, motives, and strategies were consistent and suitably clever. He was not infallible, he was believable, and we got to see some of his reasoning from his own POV, which was very enjoyable. I also thought I had the killer pegged from the beginning, but Grant does a fantastic job making various males in the story seem like the murderer to the point that I really wasn’t sure who it was.
The audio talent, Jeannie Lin, has moments of perfection, like when she reads the part of the travel agent. I have never heard such great acting that really sounded not only just like the character was described, but incorporated things like the sounds of the character talking while her mouth is full. That sounds gross, but it wasn’t, it sounded absolutely perfect. I couldn’t get over how well that was done. I do wish the whole recording had been done with that amount of commitment and excellence. There are parts, even during action sequences, when the narrator sounds bored, which detracts from the excitement. The main thing that bothered me was the production quality. There were times when the voice was quiet and others when suddenly it was so loud it hurt. Even when a character is supposed to be screaming, it’s common practice to adjust the volume in the recording so the listener’s ears aren’t blown out. Unfortunately that wasn’t done here, and that made it literally painful at times. I did appreciate the sounds, like email bleeps, that were inserted into the story to give it an almost movie-like feel.
All in all, I think this book is worth a listen, especially if you like mysteries and some gore or anything about serial killers. And pay special attention to the small part with the travel agent – so well done!