A Kiss Gone Bad

Whit Mosley #1

by Jeff Abbott

Judge Whit Mosley is called in when the estranged son of a senator turns up dead on a yacht in the Gulf Coast town of Port Leo, Texas, and finds himself taking on political power-brokers and a ruthless gang of criminals as he and Detective Claudia Salazar investigate the case. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Adult

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has a degree in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. His early novels were traditional detective fiction but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. A theme of his work is the idea of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary danger and fighting to return to their normal lives. His novels are published in several countries and have also been bestsellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and France.

Series:
* Whit Mosley
* Jordan Poteet

Reviews

[Michelle]

I've really enjoyed his other books but this one felt a bit amateur. As it's the first in a series I will try book two and see how I go.

Three stars.

[Paulo Pires]

Opinião Brevemente disponível

[Jenene]

Loved it! Lots of twists.

[Amos]

A solid start to Abbott's short lived Whit Mosley series.

3 1/2 Stars

[S.D.]

This is one of those "guy" books (vs chick lit). You've got the surfer-type "dude" wearing beach shirts but his day job is a judge. The murder victim was the son of a prominent politician and a big porno star (the operative word being "big"). It's up to Whit Mosley to figure out if the deceased committed suicide or was murdered. A Kiss Gone Bad was our mystery library book read. The men found it somewhat entertaining. The women just shook their heads.

[Carmen]

This book introduces Whit Mosley and Claudia, who I assume are going to be the new heroes in a new series. I didn’t really like this book. Reason 1: It introduced a lot of new characters and it was hard to keep them straight. Also, it kept changing point of view. Different people would narrate different chapters, or even different parts in the same chapter. Highly annoying. Reason 2: This book was very dark. It had rape, pornography, sexual abuse, castration etc.

[George]

I wanted to start the Whit Mosley series because I read his Sam Capra series and thought it was amazing.
However, this was...ehhh. I didn't enjoy this one as much and I'm not sure if I'm going to finish the series. It wasn't terrible, but I did have some moments where I thought I'd stop reading without finishing it.
If you started it though, I'd suggest finishing the book because the ending is worth it.

[Tasula]

A small town judge (Whit), appointed as a favor to his father, tries to do a good job. The violent death of a local senator's son shakes loose a lot of secrets, and Whit tries to figure out what really happened to the man, while the police chief tries to protect the senator and her family. Meanwhile, a psychopath stalks the dead man's girlfriend. I thought the mystery was pretty clever.

[Lee]

I read his stand alone thrillers, then the fun(ny) Jordan Poteet mysteries. Now the beach-bum turned judge, where Whit Mosley resides in the gulf coast of Texas. With compelling characters and a terrific plot, another great read.... from a dang fine author. ** little Texas twang there**

[lovelyq_]

1.5*
if you wanna do yourself a favor DONT read this book

[Kelly Furniss]

I really enjoyed this crime thriller. Every time I thought I might just about be working out the plot and murderer another curve ball came my way.
A real roller coaster ride but stay alert as you need to remember the characters and their part in the story to appreciate the book fully at the end.
A well crafted tale that had me sucked in from the start.
A series I will be continuing.

[Rui Moniz]

Gostei!
Nota-se que o livro foi escrito antes da saga de Sam Capra, mas está lá a matriz da escrita de Abbott, com um enredo muito bem construído, cheio de suspense, e uma profundidade interessante das personagens.
Achei apenas que o final estava um pouco atabalhoado e poderia ter sido mais trabalhado.
Aconselho.

[Bayarea2008]

What dawns on me after just finishing is the plot makes absolutely no sense. The way the people interacted wasn’t natural. Feels like the author put himself to sleep and wrapped up in a haste. Disappointed.

[Fernando]

Uma história bem montada...

[Markel]

A Kiss Gone Bad by Jeff Abbott is a crime thriller that tries to pack a punch but ends up tripping over its own feet. Set in a small Texas town, it follows Judge Whit Mosley digging into a senator’s son’s murder, with a tangle of dark secrets. Unfortunately, the book’s a slog, and I was left unimpressed.

The story’s biggest issue is its messy structure. With too many POVs jumping around, it’s hard to keep track of who’s who or where you are in the plot. I figured out the killer well before the “twist” ending, second-guessed myself, then got annoyed when I was right all along. The pacing drags, and the judge’s love interests are a head-scratcher—his choices there alone make you question his judgment, which isn’t helped by his string of bad calls throughout. The darkness is heavy, with themes of rape, pornography, sexual abuse, and castration, so fair warning: it’s not a light read and needs serious trigger warnings.

For crime thriller fans, A Kiss Gone Bad might sound promising but falls flat with its predictable reveal and chaotic POVs. It’s not a total wash, but the lack of focus and grim tone make it tough to recommend. If you want a tighter thriller, look elsewhere. I’d have dropped it if not for my reading challenge.

[Satrajit Sanyal]

'A Kiss gone bad' had a plot with a great premise but let itself down with poorly-developed characters and very cheesy dialogue. Velvets' character in particular was a mixture of Sue Ellen Ewing and Juliette Lewis, with the subtlety or a wet haddock being slapped across your face.

No pun on words intended as her profession may allude to this...I bought this book after having read 'Adrenaline' and was sorely disappointed. At times I laughed at the dialogue and read it out loud to my husband, despairing at the woodenness of it. Other times, I just wondered, if this what it takes to get published (and get an advance), I am putting pen to paper.

Not Jeff Abbott's best work - it could have been far more thrilling, far more gripping, and far more psychologically complex, but it fell short. A great holiday pulp fiction read, but no 'silence of the lambs' though.

[Alison Takacs]

I was so excited to find a series by my new favorite thriller author. And he did not disappoint!!! This story had 2 mysteries going at the same time, neither of which I figured out. I connected with the 2 main characters and I look forward to seeing where things go from here in the next book in the series.
This was definitely a page-turner that often had me on edge. Some tough subject matter (kidnapping, torture, rape), but that content is not overdone; if you’re ok with that, I highly recommend!!

[Nicole]

While I generally enjoyed the story, the plot itself was too slow and probably could have lost 100 pages to make the pacing less tedious and kind of boring.

I liked the characters and mystery well enough, though the writing itself was hit or miss. The back and forth moralizing was fine and even interestingly moral grey at times, but the fact the same conversations happened over and over got very tedious. There wasn’t enough tension to make it feel like a compelling mystery, but it still engaged my attention enough for me to finish it.

[Heather]

Very entertaining and raunchy. Cracked me up. Kept me interested for the entire book, but trust me, it isn’t ‘literature’ — just a raunchy fun read with comedic aspects — reminded me of Carl Hiassen with nutty characters & humor.

I listened to the audiobook - for more than 5 hours I was entertained while cleaning & putting my home together. Neighbors likely thought I was nuts, as I’d laugh out loud in some parts.

[Danny Glover]

A Kiss Gone Bad, But A Book Gone Good!

I dropped my rating to four stars because, overall, there was an air of brutality, widespread across the characters. Violence and death. That said, this was a good book! The characters were just what you expect in small-town Texas, and the story mixed them in well! Guess I think the wide swath of brutality was wider than a small town allows. However, I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, anticipating it’ll be good.

[Ada Iaboni]

Yay for me!
I actually started to read a series from #1!
I liked this novel with an unusual "judge", which in parts of the country in small towns the JP is a jack of all trades. He's a colorful character with some unusual ideas and a desire for the truth.
A multi level story that moves pretty fast with some strange twists.

[Sharon]

I've read most of Mr Abbott's books and enjoyed them all. I was hesitant to read this one, but I enjoyed it as much as the others. The characters were well defined, the pace was quick enough to keep my interest and the plot had enough twists and turns to keep me riveted. A good read, for me!

[Kerry]

Another book that didn’t grab me instantly but I persevered and it did improve, whit is a likeable character and I ended up wanting to know what was going to happen. Not as good as the Sam Capra stories but still worth a read.

[Sélèna Morin]

Une lecture qui m’as encore pris du temps à terminer, car j’avais de la difficulté à accrocher. Au départ, on se pose la question si c’est un meurtre ou un suicide et je me demande encore si j’ai répondu à cet question. 😓

[Joe Newell]

Jeff Abbott books are always very intricate and well thought out. The plots are multi layered. This book was no exception. A fun read.

[Jerry King]

2001

[Jeff Kaufman]

Good author and interesting characters

[Patricia]

A bit convoluted, lots of characters and plot twists, oddly unmoving.

[Lianna]

My biggest issue with this book is the author's stance/bias that women who work in pornography, or women with multiple sexual partners, are damaged and therefore need fixing.

[Lucia Ramos]

Loved it. Once again Abbott left me until the end wondering... I reached the point of no return and read nearly all of it at once. I just couldnt rest if i didnt know who it was!!!