Blind Alley: An Eve Duncan Forensics Thriller

by Iris Johansen

2005

Status

Checked out

Publication

Bantam Books (2005), Edition: 1st, 370 pages

Description

Fiction. Romance. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:The New York Times bestselling author of Firestorm, Iris Johansen, returns with a psychological thriller so terrifying, so relentlessly paced, it won�??t leave you time to catch your breath before the next shock comes. A forensic sculptor is locked in a deadly duel with a serial killer determined to destroy her�??one life at a time. Eve Duncan�??s job is to put a face on the faceless victims of violent crimes. Her work not only comforts their survivors�??but helps catch their killers. But there is another, more personal reason that Eve Duncan is driven to do the kind of work she does�??a dark nightmare from a past she can never bury. And as she works on the skull of a newly discovered victim, that past is about to return all over again. The victim is a Jane Doe found murdered, her face erased beyond recognition. But whoever killed her wasn�??t just trying to hide her identity. The plan was far more horrifying. For as the face forms under Eve�??s skilled hands, she is about to get the shock of her life. The victim is someone she knows all too well. Someone who isn�??t dead. Yet. Instantly Eve�??s peaceful life is shattered. The sanctuary of the lakeside cottage she shares with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn and their adopted daughter Jane has been invaded by a killer who�??s sent the grimmest of threats: the face of his next victim. To stop him, Eve must put her own life in the balance and question everything and everyone she trusts. Not even Quinn can go where Eve must go this time. As the trail of faceless bodies leads to a chilling revelation, Eve finds herself trying to catch a master murderer whose grisly work is a testament to a mind warped by perversion and revenge. Now she must pit her skills against his in a showdown where the stakes are life itself�??and where the unbearable cost of failure will make Eve�??s o… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member PortM
Slowly working my way through all the random books I've acquired. This one has been on my bookshelf for years, and don't remember the circumstances under which I acquired it. I usually give every book 50 pages (bound) or 20 minutes (audio), but gave it up when I started skipping paragraphs on p.
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30. This is an example of why I try to stay away from endless romance/mystery/thriller series that feature a main character. The 30 pages I read were almost entirely exposition, catching the reader up on everyone's backstories while trying to introduce the new elements of the current story. It's mind numbing, and not at all entertaining. And even after 30 pages of explanations, I don't care about Joe, or Eve, or Jane, or Ruth, or why the killer is doing... whatever.
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LibraryThing member Carol420
Okay, 2.5 stars. Although this book is promoted as being about Eve Duncan, don't be fooled. She, and her partner Joe Quinn, are very peripheral characters here. Instead, its their 17 year old, foster daughter Jane that takes center stage. And she has none of the character or personality of her
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fictional parents. In fact, Jane is just flat out boring. Seems there's a killer going around and cutting the faces off women that look like Jane. His motives are confusing, and pretty nonsensical, but no matter. For a villian, he's dull and 2-dimensional, and completely without personality. He exists purely to be thwarted. At no time does he comes across as menacing, there are no surprises. This book might be a tolerable for a read if you are in a bind, and want something that won't tax your brain or require any emotional investment.
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LibraryThing member Boutabook
The first half of the book kept my attention. The suspense was building as Jane was in peril. When Johnansen wrote about Aldo, and Trevor, I couldn't read fast enough.

Eve was a facinating character, and I wish there would have been more about her forensic sculpting. After completing one case, there
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was no more mention of her facial constructions.

Towards the middle of the book, I was getting so bored that I started to skip pages. Ultimately, I went directly to the last chapter, and was gratified that I didn't miss much.

At one point, Toby (the dog) was hurt. He ended up being ok, but I hate reading stories where an animal is hurt.

When I started to read Blind Alley, I was happy that I had a new author to look forward to adding to my list. Now, I think I will take her off.

I am sure there are devoted fans (my friend's daughter), but to each his own.
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LibraryThing member jemerritt
Blind Alley – Eve Duncan’s adopted daughter Jane MacGuire is the primary focus of this story where Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn are hot on the trail of trying to capture a serial killer who murders then removes the faces of his victims.

Eve, a forensic sculptor is asked to reconstruct the skull of a
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murdered woman. When the reconstruction is completed not only does the woman bare an uncanny resemblance to other women who have been murdered in the U.K., she also disturbingly looks at lot like Eve’s daughter Jane.

Now desperate to protect Jane from a madman who is relentless in the pursuit of his goal to rid the world of women who look like an ancient woman named Cira, who died two thousand years ago, Eve and Joe find they have to deal with another player.

Mark Trevor, not only knows the killer but also has a past with the demented man. Determined to track him down Trevor isn’t above putting Jane in danger or circumventing the authorities.

Together Jane and Mark are thrust into the world of ancient scrolls and hidden tunnels in the city of Herculaneum with the killer one step behind them, or to their determinate, more like one step ahead of them.

As in most Iris Johansen novels there is an added element to the story. In this one dreams of past lives take us down the path of possible re-incarnation. As well, old characters are flushed out and new characters are brought into the mix in order to give the reader a taste that these characters may reappear in a future story.

Blind Alley was an enjoyable read, giving me enough to want to read the next instalment, Countdown.
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LibraryThing member jguidry
I was not too impressed with my first episode in the Eve Duncan series. I wasn't interested in the characters at all. The main character in this story was Eve's ward, Jane. She was a whiny teenager who kept putting herself in idiotic situations because she couldn't bear to be "left out". I spent
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most of the story wanting to smack her. Trevor wasn't much better as he couldn't seem to decide if he was going to be a pedophile or not. The plot at times got ridiculous. Might try another in the series, but it will be a while.
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LibraryThing member shannon.dolgos
Okay, so I'm not entirely sure why we reference these books as "Eve Duncan" series. This book does include Eve, again as more of a supporting character rather than the lead.

That being said, this story is Jane's. Jane has grown and is now seventeen years old, and wise beyond her years. When a serial
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murderer "Aldo" sets his sites on Jane, Eve and Joe are, of course, on the job to keep Jane safe with the help of Mr. Barlett and Mark Trevor.

I would consider this book, overall, to be a romantic suspense with the uncomfortable chemistry between the teenage Jane and Mark Trevor brewing on the surface...with promises of more to come.

This book is just "okay." I love the growth of Jane's character. Eve's character seemed more damsel in distress than she deserves. And, Joe's character was more bodyguard and paperwork than previous titles...what happened to the gritty strength of the ex-SEAL? And why wasn't Logan called for backup protection?
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2004-09-14

Physical description

370 p.; 4.16 inches

ISBN

0553586505 / 9780553586503

Barcode

1600340
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