The Zodiac Killer

Zodiac Killers #1

by W.L. Knightly

From USA Today Best Selling Authors Lexy Timms and Ali Parker comes a new thriller pen name - WL Knightly.

Detective Darek Blake thought the secrets of his past were long buried, but when a young girl is murdered in a familiar way, finding the killer will not only bring back memories he’s repressed, but give him a golden opportunity to impress the FBI.

So, when his partner, Special Agent Lizzy McNamara digs up evidence that’s a little too close to home, he’s shaken to the core. The worst sin he’s ever committed bubbles up, threatening to destroy his future.

Are the Zodiac killings a coincidence or is someone toying with him, and if so… who?

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

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 25, 2017

About the author

WL Knightly is a thriller/murder mystery co-writing pen name for two USA Today Best Selling Authors. "W" when not writing can be found dealing in Antique Jewelry and hanging out with her awesome hubby and three kids. And "L" is a full-time writer that lives near Nashville, TN and spends her time cooking, hanging out with her hubs and 3 kiddos, or wrangling new ideas as they float by!
Their love of a good mystery novel caused them to combine forces and go after their dream of telling stories that sent a shiver down your spine. I'm thinking they figured it out!
These two friends met years ago when they both started writing and publishing in various young adult genres and needed a critique partner.
The rest is history...They'd love for you to join the fun!
Website-http://thezodiackillerseries.com/
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/wlknightlyau...
Insiders Group- https://dl.bookfunnel.com/j1rryhvu53

Reviews

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often lecherous, lewd, and low-brow, this serial-killer mystery thriller series introduction is also an excellent example of self-publishing done well. Somehow this ended up as a 2020 Reading Challenge group read. It is not a typical selection for this group at all, and I don't know if voters knew quite what they were choosing.

The content will be a turn off for some, a draw for others, and likely a blend of both reactions for many. The plot involves sex slavery, sub/dom relationships, and multiple kinks, all addressed in only a superficial way. Inappropriate lusty relationships, such as a mob lawyer type with arrangements to deflower his sex kitten wife's sister on her 19th birthday, in the meantime requiring the "barely legal" girl to go around with no panties. Yep, that's the degree of class we're working with here. Gross misogyny abounds. Characters are shallow, although not without development. The cast is not exactly diverse, with names like Darek, Lizzy, Max, Tad, Bay, Mia, Megan. And I simply have to share my favorite exchange:

"What are you doing in there?"
"Jerking my fucking dick!"

Are you tantalized yet?

So yes, it started off as a one-star read in my mind with the prologue, in which a drug-addicted sub, in obeyance of her "master", is forcibly being tattooed by an asshole, with a bloody end in store. I kept reading, knowing it was at least short, and I grew to appreciate what character development existed, just a little bit. Then I realized that the solid, simple prose was highly effective, the characterization was decent, the plot progress was solid, and the book was very well structured. This is where the authors' professionalism paid off. With two established authors working together, they obviously did proper revisions, and best of all is the book had an honest-to-goodness editor. Do you have any idea how refreshing this was, after some of the clearly-not-ready-for-prime-time self-published stuff I've encountered lately?

I understand the authors' intent. They wrote material that clearly had a market that traditional publishers would shy away from. They treated it as a serious endeavor and put out polished material on a monthly basis. I don't know what the original price structure was, but currently the first three books (out of thirteen) are free, and a decent chunk of readers who make it that far will want to keep going, especially given the intentional cliffhanger endings (about which the authors are upfront). Thus, a reliable revenue stream is born.

There are minor problems with the story, other than the obvious sex and relationship stuff. Some holes—of the plot variety, not sex—stayed with me . For one, IIRC, the detectives at the first crime scene say they want a list of all of the tattoo parlors in the city. In New York City. This number must be in the upper thousands. For another, much to-do is made of the need to keep the opening grisly murder out of the media's hands. This is how well that goes:

Detectives: "We can't let the media learn about this."
Also detectives: show photos of victim carved up like a pumpkin to everyone they meet.
Also detectives: "How did the media learn about this?"

And the names, ugh. You have only one female character who is not solely a sex object; she's an experienced FBI agent, a serious investigator and kickboxer, and you give her the cutesy name of "Lizzy". And as for Darek: could you not just name him 'Derek'? Do you have to make me picture this throughout the book?:


The book is a very good example of what it is. Thrillers and serial killer stories are not my thing, so that will be the end of that. But... and just because they were free, mind you... I downloaded the next two books. I'm not planning to read them, no way. But, you know, just in case.

[K.C. Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edit (December 11, 2018): After serious contemplation, I'm bumping up my rating to 2 stars. The initial 1-star rating was a rushed decision driven by a more immature part of my mind at the time, but I've come to the decision that this book isn't as irredeemable as I first thought.

I found this book for free during one of my skims through iBooks and, due to the title (I'm a history nerd), dove in without reading the description. Dumb me thought it would be nothing with which I couldn't put up. Now, while it was somewhat interesting, I kinda want to forget I ever read it.

Sexual content-wise, The Zodiac Killer is unrelenting - there are graphic BDSM scenes, twitching genitals, and all sorts of shenanigans. I'm not an erotica lover, so such stuff greatly threw me for a loop, but I can see others being intrigued by it.

The story felt rushed, cut off, and way too short. I also couldn't feel pity for many of the characters - not even the killer's victims. All that, and...there's already been a much more interesting Zodiac Killer in the real world.

If you're okay with erotic mystery, feel free to give this a shot; however, I can't personally recommend it for fans of just one of the individual genres, and the whole falls short of the sum of its parts.

[Ted Tayler · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Torture"

This was a collaboration, and given the high sexual content I'm surprised the pen name they chose wasn't Twice Knightly. When you use the kitchen sink approach - throwing brutal torture, sadistic killing, BDSM, crude dialogue and an array of cartoon characters into the mix - then you need to balance it with a fast action story line that crackles with tension. The basic elements of this book that I cited are pretty much all there is; I struggled to find a redeeming feature. When I discovered the book was incomplete it was the final straw.

[Ilona · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is gripping, but most of the characters are assholes and the writing is misogynistic.

[TCampbell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thankfully short

Being short is the only thing this book had going for it. And it was free. So I didn’t waste money or much time. Terrible characters, hate them all. Doesn’t matter that it ends in a cliffhanger because I don’t care what happens to any of these misogynistic jerks.

[Raine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out very well, I read the first half in one sitting. I was okay with it going into their personal lives because that makes for a well rounded character. But when it gets to the point of him needing to shave to eat his wife, without the sex scene, it is no longer character development but a waste of space/words that have no bearing whatsoever on the story. The whole serial set of books is fine but they should not be putting a $3-5 price tag on each book unless they are full length. The book puffed up with irrelevant scenes (if they had sex and it was a full scene then that might have been relevant) and makes me think to stretch it to 13 books they are all going to be this way. The BDSM and CBT scenes were needed in this book to go with what I think is going to be the eventual story line, so I will disagree with others who say it is over the top or not needed. Honestly, the editing and story line were very good. There are a few things that dropped it from 4 stars to 2 for me: 1. To puffed up and should have been an entry novella, 2. unnecessary scenes (called down to mom's nursing home for a fall didn't need 2 pages just a paragraph), 3. I finally figured out they are around 29 years old but very few people are as far in their careers or as knowledgeable and experienced as they seem to be, 4. They have the emotions and interactions of junior high students not the seasoned adults they should be.

[♛ Garima ♛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating:
3 stars

Trigger:
Cult killing
Abusive Dom-Sub relationship (at this point, I really don't know if there are any non-abusive)

Short review:
This was really fast paced murder mystery drama but nothing is concluded. It seems like starter or rather prequel of the actual book. And since we have 12 signs in zodiac, I'm guessing it is going to take a while to figure out killer and/or motive.

Review in image/gif:


Recommended:
Yes (keep an open mind, no closure)

Aftermath: (possible spoilers)
I think this is interesting mix and I am reading this zodiac based novels for the first time. I have read Sun signs by Linda Goodman couple of years ago but it is non-fiction and provides actual zodiac related knowledge.

Considering we haven't got any closure in terms of killer or motive, I consider this as a big commitment for a new series. Mind you, only #1 is freebie through amazon, rest of the series is not, so it is not going to be pocket friendly, if you like #1. I will rather sit on this for few days before deciding to spend £ on rest of the series but it was entertaining read.

[Emmy(koko)❤❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILERS!!!!!

so the start. girl gets a tattoo of a zodiac. saggitarius among smaller other zodiacs and above it, it says "the beginning of your end." the detective think its has something to do with his past when they wwre younger when some guy he knew made a "cult" of the different zodiacs. they killed someone and the dete ctive tried to save her by carrying her in his arms and trying to get her to safety but she died in his arms so he dumped her behind a diner and some homeless dude got arrested because all the evidence linked to him. during the case he meets a "sexy" fbi agent and his marriage gets distroyed by sokms whore who cheated on him.
it left me on a clffhanger which was really rude. i really wanna carry on reading to find out wjo killed that poor girl. icouldnt put the book down for more than a bathroom break or to eat because it was intruiging. highly recommend to anyone whos into thriller and crime.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, not the best book I’ve ever read, way to much sex and swearing, but I now want to know who done it! Looks like I am going to have to try and persevere with the series.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost didn't leave a review on the principle "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." But I want to remember why I hated it so I am not tempted to spend actual money on any of the other books in this series.

A couple other cliches come to mind: Don't judge a book by its cover. And, you get what you pay for. I thought the cover for this book was cool-looking, and I like police procedurals, so why not? It was free!

EVERY character in this book is a sleazeball. I get that this is supposed to be noir-ish, hardboiled-type detective fiction, and those novels are distinguished by their antiheroes. But this protagonist (an NYPD homicide detective) isn't that; he's a pig of exceptional banality. If you cut every sentence in which he imagines some kind of sexual encounter with his partner on the case -- an FBI agent who naturally is female and smokin' hot and also has a lot of detailed knowledge about BDSM -- the book would be half as long. Speaking of the FBI agent, she might be the only non-sleazy one, except that she acts in ways that seem totally at odds with her apparent success. Everything about this scenario seems unbelievable.

Also unbelievable is the farfetched backstory for our protagonist involving summer camp, a sociopathic buddy, and some sort of memory loss. It was hard for me to buy into this.

Finally, the book doesn't end as much as it just STOPS. This is a trend that I really hate in series fiction. If you're going to have a series of novels, I feel that each one should have some kind of internal narrative arc that resolves itself, even if the larger story takes place over multiple novels. This one just breaks off right in the middle of a scene with (no kidding) the words "To Be Continued..." Ugh.

[Marnie (Enchanted Bibliophile) · Rating 1 out of 5]

½✨

The most positive thing I can express about this one is that I'm relieved it's finally over.

The sole reason I pushed myself to finish it was that it fulfills my letter Z for my alphabet challenge. Under normal circumstances, I would have given up at the 5% mark.

I'm not even going to waste my time writing a review.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected.
For this book, two authors who normally write romance teamed up to write a thriller and let me tell you it doesn't really work. It is not immediately obvious there will be more focus on BDSM and relationships than the actual crime solving. The portrayal of the former is not done very well in my opinion due to too much emphasis on abuse, misogyny and objectification. (I know it happens but I'd like to point out that not all relationships are like this so don't tar them all with the same brush.) None of the characters are likeable at all either.
The book is also in need of more editing. I spent some unnecessary time trying to figure out if Darek was a typo because it looked like a combination of Darren and Derek and not a real name.
And it needs a proper ending. I'm all for cliffhangers but I still think each book in a series should have some sort of satisfying climax and not just fizzle out. I get it's a marketing thing so you continue with the series but...
(See? It's annoying isn't it?)

[Rob Grondahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good idea. Unbelievable human interaction.

I am intrigued, but the dialogue is cringe inducing. Romantic interactions seem to be written by a prepubescent boy, which is strange because it was written by two female adult humans.

[Maha Eshraa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is still the first book, but the suspense is great. I don't like all the plus 18 language, but the series has a storyline you can follow and eliminate the rest.
Would like to see how it goes.

[Maria Vermisoglou · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, no, no! I picked it up because it was free and I had run out of books to read. I didn't even read the description, I just downloaded. I thought, how bad could it be? Well, it was that bad! It would have been a nice story even if somewhat cliche. The swearing was getting in the way of the story and when I didn't learn who the killer was and had to wait 12 books to get to the bottom... ehh no thank you! Have a nice day!
There was violence and BDSM, sadistic killing and okay I get it, that's the story but the uncontrollable swearing no, I don't get it. Sorry, but that's my honest opinion.

[SarahKat · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Not what I expected but when I realized what this was going to be, it was fine. The mystery is intriguing. I will read the next book just for a monthly challenge but I'm not sure I like it enough to read all 13, especially if I have to purchase most of them.

The writing was not terrible, but there were some parts where I was inwardly groaning at how campy or downright stupid it was. It reads very fast, which is a positive because I'm not sure I'd invest a ton of time in this book. It's definitely a guilty pleasure type of book, although not my personal pleasure.

I'm not generally bothered by sex or violence or anything like that, but it was a bit annoying how every male character was controlling and/or a complete jerk to/about women. They "blame" the BDSM sort of world they're investigating, but the main character is like that too, and IF the murderer is not involved with the zodiac club (Bay, Tad, etc.), then there's 2 different groups of men doing this type of master/slave routine. And the way the BDSM is portrayed is on the very fringe of that particular kink. Whips and chains and pain are one thing in a sexual encounter, but allowing someone to completely control your and dole out punishment is another. It exists, but it's a small subset.

[Debra Barstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book that left you sitting on the edge of your seat. The ending leaves you hanging so you must continue on with the series to find out the killer. There is some very graphic sexual content in this book so if you are easy offended by such topics this would not be a book for you.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I truly hope that the two authors who wrote this were aiming for satire and just missed the mark. Otherwise, this a throwback, misogynistic book. There were holes in the plot, it ends in a weird cliffhanger, and I hated every character. And the casual way that underage children are abused with barely a batted eye was just wrong. Not worth reading, and I’m not continuing the series either. 1 star

[Angelique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik had gehoopt op een zaak die opgelost zou worden, maar eigenlijk eindigt dit boek alleen maar met meer verwarring dan verklaringen. Het idee van het verhaal heeft potentie, ben alleen nog niet helemaal overtuigd van deze uitwerking van het idee...

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced! Kept my attention. I am intrigued to read book 2

[Mary Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspenseful

Unique plot, interesting characters, and well written (which is not something I say often). I’m ready for the rest of the series!

[Manjri Gopalan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a quick read book and keeps you glued to it till end. The suspense also keeps you pounding on who could possibly be the serial killer. The book starts with a murder of a girl and ends with a muder of the person who is one of the accuse in the case. My fear is that you need to read all the books in the series to get to the end of the mystery/suspense.

[Coco.V]

💝 FREE on Amazon today (3/12/2018)!💝

[Mommacat · Rating 1 out of 5]

WTHF?

[Karley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot was interesting but definitely could have been better. It sounds like it was written by a man just by how they describe the women characters.

[Persy · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Life and death truly weren’t fair.”

I must confess this was an ebook I got for free during the COVID lockdown; it’s been sitting in my Apple Books library for like 5 years so it seemed like the time to finally get down to reading it, even though my hopes for it were pretty low.

This was obviously a cash grab self-published murder mystery. The fact that not one but TWO authors worked on this makes me shudder; I’m not surprised a publishing house didn’t pick it up.

It’s riddled with every detective cliche in the book with weird, stilted dialogue, annoying descriptions of the characters, and a lackluster plot that sunk all its eggs in the basket of riding the coattails of the actual Zodiac Killer to make a buck.

The only good thing about it is the length: coming in just shy of 220 pages made it digestible enough to get through, though I mostly did that to vindicate myself that it was going to end just as terribly as I predicted. I love being right.

Couldn’t have disliked it more. 🙂

[Ashleigh Motbey · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. I think. I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I liked the plot aspect of this story. It was interesting, unique and like something I've never read before. The kink side of the plot was intriguing and educational in regards to the lifestyle of some people in the world. I don't know much about this to know whether it was portrayed accurately, but I liked it.

What was a let down was the characters. Every. Single. One of them. They were unlikeable, and the blatant misogyny from Darek and Max, the general arse-holishness of Megan... it was irritating. Lizzie was alright, but so undeveloped and... to think there's another 12 books before the mystery is solved is a massive turn off.

I could handle a three book series, but 13 is challenging, especially when the lead characters make me angry.

And the cliffhanger was more annoying than making me want to read on.

I just... I feel angry after this book. Ugh.

[Oliwia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t believe I made it all the way through this piece of crap just to not get any answers whatsoever at the end. No, I surly won’t buy 10 more books in this series just for the author(s) to be so gracious and finally tell me who the murderer is. Much hate to the main protagonist (you can’t convince me that a guy whose only thought throughout the whole book was “I wanna fuck anything that moves” has any chance of becoming an FBI agent).

[Noelle Mcnamee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

While dealing with a darker area of crime, there is plenty of humor and everyday life moments interspersed to keep you involved in the story. There are strong characters, both main and supporting; plot twists to keep you guessing; and plenty of mystery as to who done it. I can't wait for the next book.

[Kristy Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast and easy read but I don’t like that it wasn’t summed up at the end and you have to continue the series to figure out who the killer is!