The Killing House

Malcolm Fletcher #1

by Chris Mooney

For all fans of Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, The Killing House is the amazing first novel in a stunning new series by Chris Mooney, author of the popular CSI Darby McCormick thrillers. It introduces fallen angel and former profiler Malcolm Fletcher who is forced to take the law into his own hands in order to uncover the truth in his terrifying first case.

'If you want a thriller that will chill your blood, break your heart and make your pulse race, Chris Mooney is your man' Mark Billingham

Rule #1: Don't Scream

Four years ago, Theresa Herrera's ten-year-old son Rico was abducted. The police found little evidence and the case went cold. Theresa's husband has told her to move on, but she won't give up hope.

Rule #2: Don't call the police

Today a mysterious woman invaded Theresa's home and told her that Rico is alive. Theresa talks on the phone to a young man who is, without question, her son.

Rule #3: Don't run. Don't fight

The woman promises to reunite Theresa with Rico only if she will follow the rules. But it is the last rule that fills Theresa with horror...

Rule #4: Kill your husband and your son will live...

Malcolm Fletcher - a former FBI profiler and now the nation's Most Wanted fugitive - arrives in Colorado to help Theresa and her husband find their son. But his arrival coincides with a dangerous and shocking twist in the case.

Barely surviving his first encounter with a suspect, Fletcher embarks on his own secret investigation, with the police just behind him every step of the way.

Join Fletcher on his hunt and discover Chris Mooney's charismatic new series character in one of this year's most impressive new thriller series. Behind every door in The Killing House, death awaits you...

Chris Mooney is the author of seven previous thrillers, of which Remembering Sarah was nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award for Best Novel. The Missing, The Secret Friend and The Soul Collectors are available as Penguin paperbacks. Chris lives in Boston with his wife and son.

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2012

About the author

Hailed as “one of the best thriller writers working today” by Lee Child and “a wonderful writer” by Michael Connelly, Chris Mooney is the international bestselling author of twelve novels, most recently, The Snow Girls. His fourth book, The Missing, the first in the Darby McCormick series, was a main selection of the International Book of the Month Club and an instant bestseller in over thirteen countries. The Mystery Writer’s Association nominated Chris’s third book, Remembering Sarah, for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. Foreign rights to his novels have been sold to twenty-eight territories. He has sold nearly two million copies of his books.

Chris teaches writing courses at Harvard and the Harvard Extension School, and lives in the Boston area with his wife and son. His new novel, Blood World, will be released in August of 2020.

International Praise for Chris Mooney:

“Scary voice, scary talent. Mooney is one of the best thriller writers working today.”
– Lee Child

“A wonderful writer . . . Compelling, thrilling and touching.”
– Michael Connelly

“Harrowing, gripping, haunting, gut-wrenching and beautifully written.”
– Harlan Coben

“Chris Mooney has written his finest novel, and that’s saying something indeed.”
– Dennis Lehane

“It will keep you up past your bedtime.”
– Karin Slaughter

“A thriller that will chill your blood, break your heart and make your pulse race.”
– Mark Billingham

"Chris Mooney is an exceptional thriller writer, with the rare gift of being able to of balance action with compassion, and grit with humanity. I envy those who have yet to read him."
– John Connolly

“The Missing is the season’s most unrelenting thriller. It will keep readers enthralled from its gripping opening chapters to its shocking last page.”
– George Pelecanos

“Mooney writes like a man on fire.”
– Linda Fairstein

“The smart money has long been on Chris Mooney, one of crime fiction’s rising stars.”
– Laura Lippman

Reviews

[STEPH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg, so intense, gripping and kept me up all night. Malcolm Fletcher is a badass. The modern version of the action stars in my childhood. Pretty neat this book is.

Although I loved the book in its entirety, I wasn't really impressed by the villains. I mean, their backstory was tragic and their revenge would probably earn a few nods had they chosen to spare the children but I just didn't connect with them like how I normally would. I wanted more depth in their characters rather than the slight breakaway from sanity.

Even the side characters impressed me. The rich and powerful benefactor, his feisty and mysterious assistant. Also, the power tripping, cover-ups and conspiracy within the FBI also carried the whole story and it really worked for me.

Hopefully there would be a follow-up to the series. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so surprised by all of the positive reviews for this book. I found it slow-paced and very dry to read. Once I was about halfway through the book I started skim-reading and it truly didn't seem to make a difference in how the plot furthered (meaning there was way too many insignificant details, descriptions, dialogue and scenes overall) and did not hold my attention. I am one of those people that have to finish a book once it's started, but I had such a hard time with this one. I just found it way too over the top and I had a hard time truly connecting with any of the characters. This book was definitely not what I expected.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is detailed and is a police procedural in a more cerebral form. 
There is an element that keeps you in the story of what will happen?
The reading did not flow as I liked it to and at times I felt not captivated enough.
All in all it was a reasonable thriller but nothing too much to think of twice but an enjoyable little read.

The blurb has praise from a few bestselling writers but I felt short in connecting with a character.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in a matter of hours. I couldn't put it down, I just had to know what came next. I'm not a big fan of mystery/thrillers, but I enjoyed this one. So much so I had write a review on it. The Killing House is filled with unforgettable characters and lots of twists.

[Emmie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Malcolm Fletcher is a sort of anti-hero. He is ruthless in his ways, seems to feel little remorse. But he works all out to help the underdog and punish those he deems guilty.

It will be interesting to see how his character develops, if he becomes a true vigilante.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Another new author to add to my ever expanding list 😁

[emlaurenx · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a good book when you actually get into the main story line, just a shame it takes so long to get there!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Killing House - Chris Mooney

This book by Chris Mooney is the first in a new series. The main character is a freelance investigator by the name of Malcolm Fletcher. Now here's the twist in this tale; Fletcher is an ex FBI profiler wanted for the killing of 3 FBI agents dispatched to kill him by the FBI's director. He works, clandestinely, for a high profile private investigator, who specializes in recovering 'disappeared' children & their parents. Being on the FBI's most-wanted list, Fletcher always has one eye over his shoulder.
It seems that every character in this narrative is scarred either physically or psychologically, often both; it's a real freak-show. The action is non-stop & the body count prodigious. I was given this book by a friend & quite by coincidence, i have the first in Moony's other series, so no doubt i will get round to reading that, in due course.
I recommend this novel by Chris Mooney whole heartedly. I give it 4 out of 5 stars & look forward to the next offering in this new series.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I have read all the Darby McCormick set so far and I recall the lead in this book-Malcolm Fletcher-being in the first of that set, I think. I thought then that we needed to see Darby work with him again but then we heard no more of him till this book.
It was fast-paced and very twisty and you never saw a lot of it coming.
I had to laugh at one of the character's surnames-Clouzot. All I could think of was Peter Sellers and Inspector Clousseau !!
Malcolm Fletcher is a very resourceful guy and plenty of times I was shocked silly at how he managed to get himself of predicaments !!
My only gripes were a few repeated phrases such as rooting around and him using a monocular. There was some question marks dumped in when he mentioned temperatures and I'm guessing it's a formatting thing-don't you just love e-books sometimes !!
Let's hope this will be a series now and it would be nice to see him and Darby work together again too.

[MeinKampfy · Rating 1 out of 5]

secret government experiments, demented psychopaths, Jason Bourne, billionaires, tech toys, and disgusting levels of human cruelty & hate on display. very standard MacGyver-who-quotes-Voltaire thriller fare, with that particular gruesome Chris Mooney touch. nothing new or special.

Girl with a Dragon Tattoo-like.

[Lesley]

If I could, I would give it far more stars!

I am a Chris Mooney fan, and I did wait with bated breath for this to be released.

I didn't realise I wouldn't be able to put it down until it was finished.

Absolutely brilliant book!!!

[Soho_Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife and I have different ideas about how to treat books. She opens the cover a little and reads by peeking inside, so all her books have pristine, uncreased spines. I prefer to read one-handed, so I can drink a cup of coffee at the same time, so I open the books wider and frequently crack the spines of paperback books. I recall Stephen King once saying he likes seeing books that have clearly been well loved and read. The copy of Chris Mooney’s “The Killing House” I got from a friend certainly fits into this category, as it’s clearly been dropped in a bath more than once.

I was unfamiliar with the author prior to reading “The Killing House”, although he had written several books in his Darby McCormick series before moving on to this, the first in a series featuring Malcolm Fletcher, a former FBI profiler and now America’s Most Wanted, who had been a character in one of his earlier novels, but was thought to be worthy of further exploration.

In “The Killing House”, Theresa Herrera has called Ali Karim for help in finding her missing son. Although he’s been gone for four years, she has never given up hope of finding him. Karim asks Malcolm Fletcher to pay her a visit, but before he is due to arrive, a strange woman appears at the Herrera house. She slows Theresa to speak to her son before telling her to kill her husband in exchange for getting him back. Fletcher arrives before Theresa can choose and this mysterious woman shoots them both and escapes. Now the situation is personal, Fletcher needs to solve the mystery of the woman as well as that of the missing boy, whilst also avoiding the FBI, who are still looking for him.

I found “The Killing House” to be an engaging read, as there was always something going on. Fletcher’s circumstances require him to be in largely constant motion and this helps drag the plot along. Unlike many similar genre novels, there didn’t seem to be too many extraneous plot strands that didn’t get wrapped up towards the end, although there was one character who was only mentioned briefly early on and then turned up later, which fortunately had no major impact on the plot and the organ harvesting idea ended quite early on and didn’t go too far, but again this didn’t have a huge effect overall and wasn’t greatly missed. There were a few hints towards a past that could have been explored, although as the characters were getting to know each other with this being the opening novel in the series, this was largely covered off as part of a natural conversation, without the awkward use of flashbacks or other unnecessary plot devices.

Part of what I enjoyed was that there was less stretching of disbelief than in some other genre novels. Whilst there was a character with the ability to obtain information from anywhere, which may not be entirely believable, but isn’t out of keeping with the rest of the genre and some of the more outlandish equipment and ideas weren’t as far beyond the realms of possibility or imagination as can often occur in thriller novels. Unusually, there wasn’t any information that appeared out of anywhere and whilst there were a couple of plot devices that were perhaps a little more unlikely than some of the others, the careful planning that Fletcher needed to stay ahead of those seeking him meant that the reader could see the potential for these, even if they were perhaps a slight surprise when they came to pass.

The characters were surprisingly well realised as well, as each had distinctive features which meant they didn’t get mixed up with each other, although the FBI agents towards the end and the male characters who made up the antagonists were a little less well drawn than the others and could have been interchangeable. Mostly, however, it was apparent who’s side the reader was supposed to be on, although there was a little blurring of the lines in that everyone, whether that was Fletcher and Karim, the FBI agents or the antagonists, were all on the wrong side of the law and morally good behaviour, so there wasn’t a simple divide between right and wrong.

What I didn’t expect from something that was as well written and detailed as this, was how quickly the pages turned. It was written in small chapters, but it had the reading pace of a James Patterson, despite being much better written than any of his work. Whilst I was left wondering how far the story of Malcolm Fletcher still had to go, such was the detail that was revealed about his past and how he came to be America’s Most Wanted during this novel, I’m certainly intrigued enough by the quality of the writing in general here to not want this to be the last Chris Mooney novel I read.

[Linda Branham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in the Malcolm Fletcher series... I guess you could say that Malcolm Fletcher is a "fugitive" type character - at least in what is happening to him. He has been falsely accused by the FBI and now is on the run. He is/was an ex-FBI profiler - he is huge (in height and muscle), smart, and dedicated. He has fantastic hiding strategies - and is still helping people who are in trouble.

In this book. A young boy , Rico, was kidnapped from his home 4 years previously. Amin hires Fletcher to see if he can find the boy. When Fletcher arrives at the house of the parents "something" else is going on. Yes, the mystery starts that early in the book - to tell you would be to take away from the mystery. It is full of surprises and evil people. He barely survives this first encounter at the home of Rico's parents - but he does - and then becomes single focused on finding out what is going on.. What was going on in the home, what happened to Rico, who is behind this? Answering all of these questions while on the run from the FBI who want to capture him

P.S. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I really do not like the plot where people are falsely accused and are "set up"... and even, I, enjoyed this one ...

[Claire Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a big, huge, MASSIVE fan of Chris Mooney. But for me, this book just wasn’t up to his usual standard.

I love his Darby novels, they’re artfully written, gripping and totally kick-ass! In comparison Malcom Fletcher was just a bit too pedestrian. He came across as a bit of a ‘know it all’, Batman with the gadgets. Each time you were told something was unbreakable/really difficult to access... Fletcher, within moments had a gadget or know how to solve it. Which for me spoilt the typical cat and mouse chase of a crime novel.

Overall the story was just ‘ok’, I wouldn’t rush to read another Fletcher novel as I prefer my hero/heroine to be much less polished.

[Sophie Whitbread · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult one, as I LOVED Chris Mooneys Darby McCormick series, so I was really looking forward to this one. But unfortuantly it just fell a little flat for me. ⁣
⁣
I really loved the characters in this book especially Malcom Fletcher (and that one of the characters had autism which I love seeing in books when in a positive light) and felt that the story had so much potential, I'm hoping that it seemed to fall a little flat as it was setting up Malcoms character, so this definitely hasn't put me off of any future books in this series. ⁣
⁣
☆☆☆⁣

[Asma Ghrairi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A crime fiction, full of details .. twists ..and moments of terror !

A couple find ecstacy in abducting children and their parents while Ali,Fletcher (a fugitive) and M are trying to save those people and uncover the hidden truth behind all of this.

Sometimes I felt real disgust,horror and shock all at once.

why all these people are kidnapped and tormented? READ TO FIGURE OUT!

[Lucinda Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone gave me a paperback copy of this book. I do prefer my heroes to have a few flaws but Malcolm Fletcher leads more than a charmed life. Everything fell rather too neatly into place, and while a few characters were killed off, he was a huge amount larger than life. It me turning the pages and read it in one day.

[Karen Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to get to the end of this to see what the hell was going on but was a little freaked by the premise of the story ie children been kidnapped held and tortured . If your a fan of criminal minds read it but if not it may not be the book for you

[Martyn Vaughan]

A most disturbing book. There are detailed descriptions of children who have been abducted and have been held in captivity for years.
In the end, a great fire kill most of them.
Not my thing at all.

[Rebecca Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant from start to finish yet again, I'm slowly running out of books from this fantastic author.

[Mary Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess this is a good book if you are into conspiracies and murder as a by product. Unfortunately. This is not a genre I enjoy.....

[Jenn Brouwer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! A Twisted and gruesome ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This novel has a great plot with a seriously cool hero who is also a fugitive. Loved every page.

[Lindsay Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Was hooked from start to finish, just love the chatacter Malcom Fletcher!!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just my sort of read, pacy and gritty. It looked as if this may be a series but was published in 2012 with nothing since.

[Chromatic Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read, plenty of action, very descriptive and atmospheric

[Alison Hurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant book. Big up to the author for the characters Ali Karim, Malcolm Fletcher and not forgetting M.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but.........

[natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unstoppable

Couldn't put this book down from the very first page to the very end. Full of twists and turns, and suspence. A must read for any detective reader out there

[Marianne Stehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good thriller. It had a lot of twists and turns. Looks like it could be an interesting series.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just insane! The whole book was amazing