Leo King

This book is the sequel to "The Bourbon Street Ripper (Sins of the Father)" by Leo King.

If you're interested in this book, you basically have to read the first book because this one starts right after it. You can read my review of the first book here: http://www.librarything.com/review/97748498

That said, this review must be split into two parts. Basically, "A Life Without Fear" is more of the same in a good way. It definitely improves upon the first book and I definitely enjoyed reading most of it - it's another page turner.

Unfortunately, the same criticisms apply here, too: Some scenes (more than in book 1) are overly gory. It's not like that was necessary at all but Leo King obviously enjoys writing such scenes. I can live with that but I don't exactly like that aspect.

Furthermore, quite a bit of suspension of disbelief has to be applied - superhuman abilities, strange alliances but I don't really have a problem with that. Personally, I smiled and decided to let me get carried away by the story. :-)

There are still the voodoo elements and some hints about strange forces that might be at work but those aren't too bad.

The resolution of the mystery was a bit harder to grok, though. Suspension of disbelief is not enough anymore at that point - I really had to say to myself, "Ooookaaayyy... This doesn't really feel right but, alas, it's a resolution and it works even though it feels a bit forced." Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the book up to this point.

After said resolution of the mystery the book should definitely have ended and all would have been well. Up to this point, I'd have given this book the same four star rating I awarded the first one...

And this is where the second part of this review starts: In the end, the book turns into a completely different genre and I absolutely hated that.

In fact, it was so bad, I'm not going to read the third book and will probably avoid the author altogether in the future. Sorry, Leo, but what you pulled off there was a total let-down.

If you still want to read the book, stop reading this review here because I'm about to reveal said genre now which might give you some more insight into what might happen than you want to know.

In the end, the book turns into absolute supernatural nonsense. What happens in the end effectively ruined the book for me. It's so totally outlandish and badly done, I felt cheated out of a good thriller.

I'm actually really, truly sad about it because Leo King seems to be a nice person and both his books had great promise for the future.

I'm not superstitious, I don't believe in voodoo, I'm rather the matter-of-fact type of guy and Leo summons every kind of nonsense people have ever come up with. Where Leo went with his story, I can't follow.… (meer)

The Bourbon Street Ripper is a very good mystery that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next and from which direction the next body or clue will come. The basis of the novel is the twenty year old case of a serial killer that has been tried and executed, but now there is a copycat on the streets of New Orleans. One of the original detectives is thrown into the case with a new partner not up to speed on the original case.

The executed killer was a member of an old New Orleans wealthy family. His granddaughter is caught up in this new crime spree and begins to have nightmares from the past. Of course being in the area of New Orleans the Voodoo religion comes in to play.

Whodunit? That is the interesting part of this book because it will keep you guessing to the very end. I look forward to reading Leo King’s next book.… (meer)

I can't remember the last time I read a book set in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities, so I was eager to read this. I enjoy thrillers and mysteries, and this fulfilled my every expectation. Unlike the Jack the Ripper tale, The Bourbon Street Ripper has the added element of voodoo which makes the story more interesting and suspenseful. Although it initially took a bit for me to get caught in the story, I found the mystery compelling. Like others have mentioned, it is a bit of a disappointment to come to the end only to find that the story is to-be-continued. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to book #2.… (meer)

I will be frank. I didn't finish this book. There is nothing especially wrong with it, but it just wasn't as interesting or as exciting as I expected it to be. When I start thrillers or mysteries I need to get drawn in really quickly. Otherwise, I find myself sighing in boredom or trudging through the book without any real interest.

However, just because this book didn't manage to draw me in doesn't mean it's a bad book. It's quite well written, the characters are interesting, and the plot has potential. The difficulty for me was caring about any of them. Another problem for me was the dialog. Sometimes, when the characters talked, I thought the author was purposely making them sound ridiculous. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Also, there was a lot of vivid description that wasn't always necessary. Sometimes, describing everything slows down the pace of the book and that was the case in this instance.

I know that it's very difficult to write a book and since this is a first novel, I'm sure King will get better as he gains more experience. I know lots of people enjoyed this book, it's just unfortunate that I wasn't one of them.… (meer)