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April Woo #8
A Killing Gift
Just when NYPD lieutenant Bernardino was ready to retire, he won the lottery. But when word of his good fortune gets out, the sharks start circling... and one of them wants to collect on an old debt.
Now, April Woo must track her friend's murderer by searching her own tightly knit family of fellow officers for motives-and a suspect. A suspect who's enraged, elusive-and who's driving April in a terrifying search for the truth...
Now, April Woo must track her friend's murderer by searching her own tightly knit family of fellow officers for motives-and a suspect. A suspect who's enraged, elusive-and who's driving April in a terrifying search for the truth...
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 3, 2003
11 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Glass
49 books41 followersLESLIE GLASS's new book, the Mother Daughter Relationship Makeover is a memoir and exploration of the issues that drive mothers and daughters (and also sons) apart. Her experience as founder and editor of Reach Out Recovery, the online wellness and recovery magazine, inspired her to move beyond her beloved April Woo mystery series and focus on helping people by writing recovery books for people of all ages. Since 2011, she has produced two award winning documentaries, The Secret World of Recovery, and The Silent Majority and developed a website with followers from all over the globe wanting to know more about addiction, recovery, relationships, and health. Reach Out Recovery has more than 1500 original articles.
In her early career Leslie worked in publishing and has written for a variety of media. She was a journalist at New York magazine and a short-story and feature writer for Cosmopolitan and Woman’s Own in Great Britain. A playwright and the author of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring NYPD Detective Sergeant April Woo, Glass is also the author of Over His Dead Body, Sleeper, The Teen Guide to Health, Find Your True Colors in 12 Steps, The 8 C's That Help Me Be All Right.
She lives in Sarasota, Florida.
Series
* April Woo Mystery
In her early career Leslie worked in publishing and has written for a variety of media. She was a journalist at New York magazine and a short-story and feature writer for Cosmopolitan and Woman’s Own in Great Britain. A playwright and the author of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring NYPD Detective Sergeant April Woo, Glass is also the author of Over His Dead Body, Sleeper, The Teen Guide to Health, Find Your True Colors in 12 Steps, The 8 C's That Help Me Be All Right.
She lives in Sarasota, Florida.
Series
* April Woo Mystery
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 3, 2011
I heard Glass was going to stop writing the April Woo series. That would surely be a shame because this is one really enjoyable series. This has been the best one so far.
June 4, 2021
This entry in the series was a bit more interesting than the previous two books, but there is still something lackluster about Woo and the stereotypes are still hanging in there. Mike seems to have lost some of his charm also. I can't say I will be sorry to end this series.
December 29, 2023
Academic politics, specifically the pressure to raise funds, find the big money and cultivate the most likely donors. Nice that Woo and Sanchez can really fight and make up and that Woo has a clearer understanding of and higher value for her parents' love.
September 12, 2018
Excellent
As usual another just plain fun book from Leslie Glass. Read them all. For my money best to read in order but not a deal breaker.
As usual another just plain fun book from Leslie Glass. Read them all. For my money best to read in order but not a deal breaker.
October 22, 2016
Judging by this novel, Leslie Glass is a very inconsistent writer:
* Sometimes, her characterization is bad; other times it is merely average.
* Most of the time, the accuracy and realism of technical matters is awful (such as when all martial arts got called karate, the epitome of skill was represented by "the one-punch kill", and breaking bricks was the important demonstration of, and training method for, "the one-punch kill"); other times it is slightly above average (such as when most of a page was some kind of stream-of-consciousness litany of random facts about martial arts, possibly lifted from a Wikipedia page, presented as dialog in a telephone conversation).
* Sometimes, the narrative almost completely lacked any descriptive material; other times, it focused on pointless minutia (at times showing rather questionable taste), and at those latter times it tended to run in streaks such as the section of the book where all suits were tweed and at least partly black (the other part, when there was another color at all, was pink).
The characters tended to be somewhat mean-spirited, including the supposed good guys, and I found that rather off-putting.
The protagonist's mother was a caricature, and a bit of a stereotype.
The protagonist and her fiance/co-worker/boss damned near ruin the lives of anyone who is close to the case before finally settling on the correct perpetrator, and nobody (including the author) seems to think there is anything wrong with that.
The climax was abrupt and felt a bit hollow, .
I actually disliked it, but not quite enough to give it the lowest possible rating. I reserve that for the worst books -- not those that are merely bad, like A Killing Gift
* Sometimes, her characterization is bad; other times it is merely average.
* Most of the time, the accuracy and realism of technical matters is awful (such as when all martial arts got called karate, the epitome of skill was represented by "the one-punch kill", and breaking bricks was the important demonstration of, and training method for, "the one-punch kill"); other times it is slightly above average (such as when most of a page was some kind of stream-of-consciousness litany of random facts about martial arts, possibly lifted from a Wikipedia page, presented as dialog in a telephone conversation).
* Sometimes, the narrative almost completely lacked any descriptive material; other times, it focused on pointless minutia (at times showing rather questionable taste), and at those latter times it tended to run in streaks such as the section of the book where all suits were tweed and at least partly black (the other part, when there was another color at all, was pink).
The characters tended to be somewhat mean-spirited, including the supposed good guys, and I found that rather off-putting.
The protagonist's mother was a caricature, and a bit of a stereotype.
The protagonist and her fiance/co-worker/boss damned near ruin the lives of anyone who is close to the case before finally settling on the correct perpetrator, and nobody (including the author) seems to think there is anything wrong with that.
The climax was abrupt and felt a bit hollow, .
I actually disliked it, but not quite enough to give it the lowest possible rating. I reserve that for the worst books -- not those that are merely bad, like A Killing Gift
November 27, 2014
I discovered a new author. Leslie Glass writes in the style of Lisa Jackson, Iris Johansen, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I will be looking for more by her. It kept me hooked from the beginning. I was worried because I found out that there were several more books with the same author and the one I got wasn't the first, but I found that you don't have to read them in order. But I do recommend this author.
June 4, 2010
love april woo - perfect beach book
April 16, 2011
not bad but had the murderer figured out early on in this one. still fun to read how Woo and Sanchez make their way through the details and clues to be sure they get the right man in the end.
August 11, 2012
Grade: B
I am really enjoying detective April Woo. Exciting and fast paced with twists and turns.
I am really enjoying detective April Woo. Exciting and fast paced with twists and turns.
June 20, 2011
So far so good! I love mysteries, specially when there's romance involved.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews