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Randy Craig Mystery #2
The Monitor
You're being watched. Former University of Alberta lecturer Randy Craig is now working part-time at Edmonton's Grant MacEwan College, and struggling to make ends meet. That is, until she takes an evening job monitoring a chat room called Babel for an employer she knows only as Chatgod. Between shutting down an online bookie and patrolling for porn, Randy begins to suspect a connection between a Texas woman having an online affair through Babel, and surfacing reports of man killed at his computer in the same state.
Soon, Randy realizes that a killer is brokering hits through Babel and may be operating in Edmonton. The police are skeptical, as is Chatgod, and it seems that Randy's only ally is Alchemist, a fellow monitor who is as mysterious as Chatgod. Randy doesn't know whom she can trust, but the killer is on to her, and now she must figure out who, and where the psychopath is, all the while staying one IP address ahead of becoming the next victim.
Soon, Randy realizes that a killer is brokering hits through Babel and may be operating in Edmonton. The police are skeptical, as is Chatgod, and it seems that Randy's only ally is Alchemist, a fellow monitor who is as mysterious as Chatgod. Randy doesn't know whom she can trust, but the killer is on to her, and now she must figure out who, and where the psychopath is, all the while staying one IP address ahead of becoming the next victim.
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2003
364 people want to read
About the author
Janice MacDonald
14 books55 followersJanice MacDonald is a bestselling Canadian author who is best known for a series of crime novels featuring amateur sleuth Miranda "Randy" Craig; the latest of these popular mysteries is The Eye of the Beholder (2018). The Randy Craig Mysteries were the first detective series to be set in Edmonton, Alberta, where Janice lives and works. Janice is also the author of 2017's Confederation Drive, a work of creative non-fiction written for Canada's 150th birthday. Her other titles include an award-winning children's book (The Ghouls' Night Out), a university textbook, and several non-fiction/historical titles about her home province.
Born on the side of a mountain in Banff National Park, the daughter of a cowboy from southern Alberta and a schoolteacher who herself had been born in a pioneer log cabin in the Peace River Country, Janice considers herself to be a example of the quintessential Albertan. A dyed-in-the-wool Edmontonian, Janice makes no apologies for setting her novels in a recognizable Edmonton and celebrating the things that make this northern metropolis so vibrant and unique.
Born on the side of a mountain in Banff National Park, the daughter of a cowboy from southern Alberta and a schoolteacher who herself had been born in a pioneer log cabin in the Peace River Country, Janice considers herself to be a example of the quintessential Albertan. A dyed-in-the-wool Edmontonian, Janice makes no apologies for setting her novels in a recognizable Edmonton and celebrating the things that make this northern metropolis so vibrant and unique.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 7, 2019
Randy Craig works part-time as a University lecturer in Edmonton Alberta. To supplement her income she takes on a second job in cyberspace, monitoring a chat site overnight to watch over the participants, secretly dropping in on their conversations to ensure there are no problems and ensuring that things don’t get too heated sexually.
The premise sounded interesting and I loved the setting, having visited Edmonton numerous times. At the halfway point, the story so far had only focused on Randy’s cyber chats, her thoughts + her eavesdropping on the social site.......what happened to the mystery? It finally kicked in, but for me it was a little underwhelming. The mystery itself was very weak, it almost seemed like an afterthought to the rest of the story.
My rating for the actual “mystery” is only 2.5 ⭐️ but my rating for the characters & the rest of the plot is 3.5 ⭐️ Rounded to 3 ⭐️
Would I read another in this series? I enjoyed MacDonald’s characters & setting enough to give this series another shot.
The premise sounded interesting and I loved the setting, having visited Edmonton numerous times. At the halfway point, the story so far had only focused on Randy’s cyber chats, her thoughts + her eavesdropping on the social site.......what happened to the mystery? It finally kicked in, but for me it was a little underwhelming. The mystery itself was very weak, it almost seemed like an afterthought to the rest of the story.
My rating for the actual “mystery” is only 2.5 ⭐️ but my rating for the characters & the rest of the plot is 3.5 ⭐️ Rounded to 3 ⭐️
Would I read another in this series? I enjoyed MacDonald’s characters & setting enough to give this series another shot.
April 14, 2019
When I first started reading this book, I had to double-check the publication date (2003). That helped a lot, because some of the technology referred to (frames, Netscape, Lycos, etc.) really dated the tale.
Still, the story of Randy Craig being hired as a chat room monitor in Babel to help make ends meet ... and her discovering a hit man using Babel to make contract connections was a good premise. I found the suspense and intrigue entertaining, and the characters believable.
Until the suspense and intrigue stopped being entertaining ... which is just as the book was wrapping up.
Still, the story of Randy Craig being hired as a chat room monitor in Babel to help make ends meet ... and her discovering a hit man using Babel to make contract connections was a good premise. I found the suspense and intrigue entertaining, and the characters believable.
Until the suspense and intrigue stopped being entertaining ... which is just as the book was wrapping up.
December 21, 2020
This book makes you think twice about going on line.
October 23, 2016
It was interesting to read a book set in my hometown, and to recognize landmarks in the story . Many of those landmarks are gone now; amazing changes have occurred in both downtown Edmonton and the U of A campus over the 13 years since MacDonald wrote this.
Likewise, chat rooms have all but disappeared since then (though they are coming back), replaced by "social media". The younger reader might have to do a little research to find out what this stuff was all about.
The book itself was entertaining, if a bit slow in the middle. MacDonald does not use "cliff-hanger" chapter endings, which made it easy to put down between chapters. Yet it was interesting enough to pick up again.
I did wince at the method used to kill Thea's husband: electrocution by computer. Ohio State University on a page called "The Fatal Current" reports that it takes about 0.1 to 0.2A (100 to 200 mA) to kill. One hand on the mouse and one hand on the keyboard would pass the current through the heart, the most fatal possibility. But the resistance of a human body, again according to OSU, can range from 1K ohms (wet skin) to 500K ohms (dry skin). Ohm's Law, E=I/R, says you could get that 0.1A through wet skin with 110V, but it would take 100,000V with dry skin. Did Charlie come dripping wet from the shower to sit at the computer? No. But even to carry 110V takes about an 18 Gauge wire, not the tiny 24 Ga. wires that run from a mouse. There's also the question of making continuous contact -- plastic (as on a mouse and keyboard) is an insulator, not a conductor; and a brief touch would probably not be fatal.
So it's a good example of an author needing a plot device and throwing in something totally impossible and poorly researched, but marginally plausible if you know nothing about electricity. It's like the woman who wrote a story about a female bike messenger who was "oiling her brake pads"--totally inane to anyone who cycles. Oh, well, sometimes reading requires Coleridge's "willing suspension of disbelief"
Overall, it's a decent story.
Likewise, chat rooms have all but disappeared since then (though they are coming back), replaced by "social media". The younger reader might have to do a little research to find out what this stuff was all about.
The book itself was entertaining, if a bit slow in the middle. MacDonald does not use "cliff-hanger" chapter endings, which made it easy to put down between chapters. Yet it was interesting enough to pick up again.
I did wince at the method used to kill Thea's husband: electrocution by computer. Ohio State University on a page called "The Fatal Current" reports that it takes about 0.1 to 0.2A (100 to 200 mA) to kill. One hand on the mouse and one hand on the keyboard would pass the current through the heart, the most fatal possibility. But the resistance of a human body, again according to OSU, can range from 1K ohms (wet skin) to 500K ohms (dry skin). Ohm's Law, E=I/R, says you could get that 0.1A through wet skin with 110V, but it would take 100,000V with dry skin. Did Charlie come dripping wet from the shower to sit at the computer? No. But even to carry 110V takes about an 18 Gauge wire, not the tiny 24 Ga. wires that run from a mouse. There's also the question of making continuous contact -- plastic (as on a mouse and keyboard) is an insulator, not a conductor; and a brief touch would probably not be fatal.
So it's a good example of an author needing a plot device and throwing in something totally impossible and poorly researched, but marginally plausible if you know nothing about electricity. It's like the woman who wrote a story about a female bike messenger who was "oiling her brake pads"--totally inane to anyone who cycles. Oh, well, sometimes reading requires Coleridge's "willing suspension of disbelief"
Overall, it's a decent story.
November 24, 2012
The cover doesn't do the book justice!
Janice is a Canadian author and I hope there's a sequel!!
Janice is a Canadian author and I hope there's a sequel!!
May 29, 2019
Set in Edmonton, Alberta, English instructor Randy Craig is teaching an online distance education course and having a hard time paying the bills, so she takes a job monitoring a chatroom called Babel. When the spouse of one of their regular members is killed and the member herself vanishes, Randy begins to wonder if something nefarious is going on within Babel.
The paperback version I read was published in 2003, and author Janice MacDonald seemed ahead of her time by tackling technology in Canadian crime fiction. Although some of the technical aspects are somewhat dated, the social, ethical, and moral dilemmas are as important today (if not more so) as they were then.
Academic settings in mysteries don’t interest me, however, this book appeared in my gift bag at a recent mystery writing conference. Since technology in crime novels does interest me, I gave it a try. While it was interesting to read about the inside world of chatrooms, the protagonist’s daily events went on for too long before anything significant happened. Tension and action weren’t that high until the last 50 pages of this 322 page paperback.
Readers who enjoy mysteries with more methodical pacing will find this book appealing. I didn’t like the ending at all, but to say why would be a spoiler alert, so I’ll have to leave it at that.
The paperback version I read was published in 2003, and author Janice MacDonald seemed ahead of her time by tackling technology in Canadian crime fiction. Although some of the technical aspects are somewhat dated, the social, ethical, and moral dilemmas are as important today (if not more so) as they were then.
Academic settings in mysteries don’t interest me, however, this book appeared in my gift bag at a recent mystery writing conference. Since technology in crime novels does interest me, I gave it a try. While it was interesting to read about the inside world of chatrooms, the protagonist’s daily events went on for too long before anything significant happened. Tension and action weren’t that high until the last 50 pages of this 322 page paperback.
Readers who enjoy mysteries with more methodical pacing will find this book appealing. I didn’t like the ending at all, but to say why would be a spoiler alert, so I’ll have to leave it at that.
February 3, 2022
This is the second in a series featuring Randy Craig. I'm hoping the next one is better. I just couldn't finish this. The story is focused around internet chat rooms. I couldn't relate at all.
Couldn't finish it so it's possible it got better but it sure wasn't for me.
Couldn't finish it so it's possible it got better but it sure wasn't for me.
September 10, 2019
I have read a few of the Randy Craig mysteries written by Janice MacDonald and enjoyed them. There was nothing enjoyable about this book. If it had been the first one I read of hers I would never have read another. Boring, poorly written, and the best you could hope for was the end of the story. I may never read another.
October 1, 2013
The second book I read by Janice ... it was good - perhaps a little weird ... but then isn't that the internet and chat rooms ... weird. A different culture. Loved her detail .. love Randy Craig.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews