The Screaming Room

John Driscoll #2

by Thomas O'Callaghan

When a serial killer, who brutally mutilates his victims and carefully arranges them for the world to see, begins baiting him, NYPD homicide commander John Driscoll is forced to embark on a dark journey that will lead him to a confrontation with unimaginable evil. Original.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Detective, Suspense, Espionage

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 30, 2003

About the author

Thomas O'Callaghan's work has been translated for publication in Germany, Slovakia, Indonesia, and the Czech Republic. A publishing house in Italy has recently acquired rights, as well. As an internationally acclaimed author, Mr. O'Callaghan is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers associations. A native of New York City and a graduate of CUNY, Mr. O'Callaghan resides with his wife, Eileen, a stone's throw from the Atlantic Ocean in beautiful Belle Harbor, New York, where he is working on the latest in a series of thrillers featuring NYPD Lieutenant John Driscoll. His most recent, THE SCREAMING ROOM, was released by Kensington Books in May 2007.

Series:
* John Driscoll

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gruesome, chilling, a killer’s game.

Driscoll has finally made peace with the ghosts of his past and has accepted things he cannot change. And just when it starts getting better, his wife Colette, who was comatose for over six years from an accident that also killed his daughter, takes her last breath. And just when John lays her to rest, a serial killer is loose in New York City, leaving gruesome bodies in the most public places possible.

What begins as a strange case only gets worse, for more bodies are lining up. At first, the only connection to the victims are that they are tourists, all of different nationalities. Stranger yet, each victim was clubbed on the left side of the head hard enough to be fatal, and each has been scalped.

The deeper Driscoll and his team dig, the creepier the case gets. For forensics left behind point to a set of identical twins, male and female. Why? Why kill these seemingly innocent people? The more the team uncovers, the more their realize that these victims aren’t innocent at all.

Angus and Cassie Claxonn are in their late teens, and they are killing in vengeance. Abused by their “so-called” father when they were young, Cassie raped and her face disfigured by him, used as child prostitutes, they’d had enough. First they got rid of their father, then decided to rid the world of those disgusting and vile people like him. And the scalping… being sent to the foster mother who’d taken care of them when they were small, a spiteful note of anger at how she could have let their birth mother take them away from what they knew as a happy home, to a life of absolute terror and misery.

The case is heating up. As the team digs, Driscoll gets closer and closer to Angus and Cassie. A thorn in his side, Malcom Shewster, the father of one of the victims and a pharmaceutical mogul, doesn’t just want the killers found… He wants them dead, just as his daughter is now dead. The one million reward he put in the press is boosted to 3 million, and he wants the killers, bad. The tip hotline number is being observed, not only by the police, but Shewster’s team; he’s determined to get to Angus and Cassie first.

And just when Angus and Cassie are located and surrounded, Driscoll faces a terrible surprise, for Angus wanted something against “Lieutenant Bulldog”, and he found her: Driscoll’s sister, Mary. Angus had kidnapped her, and now plans to use her for his get-away.

But that doesn’t happen. Driscoll always gets his man.

**Fast-paced and twisted, this book will not let you down. Creepy facts that get creepier, you want to feel sorry for the twins and what they went through. But the more the bodies pop up, the more disgusted you get and cheer on the good guys.

Driscoll, although he just lost his wife, knows that she’s better off and no longer suffering. While he’ll always love her, he can put the pain to rest.

Margaret is back on his team. Both know their feelings for the other, and while Driscoll wants to pursue it as much as Margaret does, Margaret is terrified at the thought of a relationship with him. She has ghosts of her own that haunt her, which also screws up her feelings on the case.

Cedric Thomlinson is also back, the third in the trio. He knows he owes Driscoll for the second -chance he’d been given, and he’ll push himself as far as he can go.

Then there’s the mayor of NYC. William “Sully” Reirdon is the typical mayor; another one of those mayors everyone reads who’s let the power behind the title fill his head and boost his ego. Sure, like hounding Driscoll will make solving the case go faster. *eye roll* You’ll love to hate him.

And then there’s Malcom Shewster, the father of one of the victims. Another ego-maniac who believes he’ll get what he’s after, and only makes solving the case more difficult than it needs to be. And just when it looks like he’s about to get his way, Thomlinson spoils his plan, to which Driscoll now owes him hugely. If it hadn’t been for spoiling the plan, Driscoll’s sister would have been dead, right along with the killers.

This story will grip you from beginning to end, and you’ll be itching for the next book!

On a side note, at first, I wasn’t sure what to make of the title. Upon finishing the book, you’d think that The Screaming Room had something to do with the killers and their victims. But upon reflection, I think I figured it out; when we read the flashbacks, the killers are young, placed on a table, in a room in the basement. With the torture that went on, I think that’s where The Screaming Room comes in. While the title still doesn’t do it for me, the story sure as heck did!

Rating: 5 stars!

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2nd series was not at all like the 1st, to the point was very confusing. Back of the book has a 3 page chapter of the next series, which I searched and apparently it did not get published.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book wasn't bad, didn't hold my attention the at some books do but it wasn't bad either, I was curious to see how it ended. I have no idea why it's called the screaming room that didn't make much sense to. They never went deep into where they killed their victims, if the name is based of the ended why wasn't it more prevalent that this was their place. It just seemed to randomly come up and didn't feel tangible the way other things in the story did.

[Luna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 59 pages. By this point, a guy has used slug slime as chapstick, a brother and sister are fucking, a woman is used as dung in an animal exhibit, someone is described as a 'Chinaman', a woman in a coma for six years has died, children have been forceably tattooed, another child is told to stroke her dad's cock (or suffer sucking it if she goes too fast) and I can do so much better than force myself to read this.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually threw it away, after starting chapter 11. Literally into the garbage can. I've read more books than I can ever count. My bedtime 'lullaby' is Forensic Files. Maybe this says more about me than the author, but in any case I couldn't read further.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read this author. He is fairly new. Has already made it to the top charts. This book was very good. I have never read one quite like this. A pair of twins that wreck haven’t everywhere. They are performing very odd murders. Read this. You will not regret it.

[Sahar Hassine · Rating 2 out of 5]

as much as i like thrillers and detectives books, this one is just no so good :'(

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It’s a fairly quick read but it’s well done and keeps you reading to the end. I liked it very much.

[Cynthia Terbush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great author. Really liked the first book better.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book. I read the first one when it first can out but could not for the life of me remember the author. Then I found a list on goodreads about authors of mystery and bam there it as. Trying to find out why number 3 is not available when the book said it was due out in 2008.This book is the second in a series by Thomas O'Callaghan.The killings are described "after the fact" by the police who find the bodies. It is all tactfully done, however the book is more about police procedure. Two killers are on a spree, who have been identified almost immediately to the reader who seek victims with a sexual past to heap some sort of vengeance for the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse they suffered as children. The reader will be enlightened as to how it is possible for identical twins to be born of different genders and how something called Turner's Syndrome affects their lives.
Knowing the killers early on only makes the cat and mouse game more like a chess game.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love a real good thriller, you'll enjoy the 2nd book in the John Driscoll series. In The Screaming Room, someone is targeting tourists in New York City. One by one, they're found in landmarks and found scalped like Indians. Later on, they find out from blood from a broken toenail that they're dealing with identical fraternal twins, Cassie and Angus Claxonn, who are after them for one reason: revenge on the sexual abuse they endured from their dad. And that bridges the connection between all of them, even when Malcolm Shewster's daughter is one of the victims, and is on the scene to go after them. Once they're exposed, they make their threats known to the final end, when they go after someone Driscoll cares about. What a wild ride!

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Screaming Room (The John Driscoll Thrillers), my third read from author Thomas O'Callaghan. An well-written crime thriller! After reading No One Will Hear Your Screams & Bone Thief I knew I had to read more, unfortunatelt as good as this book is it's not as good as its predecessors. “I received a free Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author and in this series when published. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Teri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh! I tried really hard to like this book. I'm a big murder mystery fan and am not too picky about them but this one was just awful. I was still confused about the characters in the end I was like wait who is that? I couldn't remember! Just didn't care for the story line at all and it just wasn't good in general. I didn't want to give up on it so I made myself finish it I'm just glad I'm done and can move on now! Not sure I'll read another by this author as this was my first by him.

[Loraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! An excellent second novel in the series featuring Lt. John Driscoll. This time Driscoll must stop a killer who is terrorizing New York City with grotesque displays. A must for every fan of the mystery/thriller genre. I'm definitely looking forward to the release of the third novel of this series.

[Karlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It kept me captivated. I have always enjoyed mystery...

Just read a review that says this is part of a series... I seem to miss that detail when getting books LOL. It is not necessary to have read the previous book.

This book has a lot of detail regarding abuse - both sexual and physical so it is not for the faint of heart.

[Angie crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. The second in the Driscoll series. I didn't like it as much as bone theif. I liked how you got to see peeks into what made them killers. Though some I imagine wouldn't like that. The book moved at a fast pace, which I also like. I look forward to more books in the series.

[Ginny Koenig]

A good page turner. What even made it more enjoyable is that the book takes place in NY and characters find themselves on the Southern State Parkway, BQE and other roads we as suburban NYers are familiar with. A quick, easy read that will keep you guessing!!!

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride. From the first page on this book held my attention, kept me thinking and hoping it wouldn't end! Excellent story, the characters are very real and easy to follow but not so easy that you can think for them. Fast paced with great description and situations.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not extremely picky when it comes to any sort of police procedural or thriller/suspense [I go through books too quickly to be so choosy], but this book was awful. It just felt like the writer was trying way to hard and he failed. I gave it 50 pages but it's going in my donation pile.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Choppy and loopy.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good, fast paced read. I really liked the storyline and the characters. Although I thought the ending could have been a bit stronger, I still liked it.

[Brey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book.

[Shari]

Enjoyed this. Bit predictble, but neat character development. Will read others by this author

[Karsyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

YAWN!! Boring book. So ticked I didn't give up on it right away. I gave it a chance, when I could have read much better!

[Irishlazz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if the disturbing content played a factor - don't think so- but it just didn't grab my interest. I felt obligated to finish it hoping it would get better but ended up just glad I was done.

[Jean Hoddinott]

Liked it!

[Amy Phelps]

this was warped