Jane's Journey: The Mother Killer Series Book 1

by Jill Wagner

Book one in The Mother Killer series will put you into the mind of Tad Wilkins, a serial killer who loves to kill, and manipulate. Even from his jail cell.You’ll also meet his daughter, Jane, whose mission in life is to hunt and cage monsters just like him, and who, as a rookie FBI agent is put on the team charged with tracking his copycat killer in her hometown, just three hours from where he was serving multiple life sentences.When personal text messages revealed secrets from her childhood, Jane sensed her father’s involvement, and goes rogue to get answers, which puts her family, and her team at risk. Join Jane as she journeys through an entangled maze in pursuit of answers that will either help solve the case, or, if her father wins, destroy her chance to keep the career she’d worked her whole life to attain.“Having control over another’s life, and death, is my bailiwick, and has consumed my every thought for as long as I can remember. All my life I’d been exercising a sort of power over people’s perceptions, but the power over life and death was my ultimate calling. What I can’t understand, is why everyone doesn’t think like me.” Tad Wilkins“My plans to turn Jane into a killing partner were destroyed on the day the FBI broke down my door and arrested me in front of her, and since I’d been robbed of the joy in making her a killer, I figured it was my right to sabotage her life as an adult.” Tad Wilkins“My memories don’t need a trigger, sir, because they’re always there. I can handle them. I want to make amends to the families my father ruined, by putting monsters just like him in cages for the rest of their lives.” Jane’s response when asked if she’d be able to handle the job.“I’d like to say that I’m sorry I ever laid eyes on that, but I can’t. Is it horrible that even after seeing what we just saw that I am more committed than ever to doing this job, and being the best at it? Not only do I want a piece of this asshat, but I also want a piece of every scumbag predator out there.” Jane to her training agent after her first autopsy.Will Jane be able to protect her family? Will her rogue acts put an end to her mission to stop evil predators? Will her father win the fight for her soul?

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 23, 2022

Reviews

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by a local author and chosen by my book club because she is going to join us. Most of the time, when I read a book written by a local self published author the book is let’s face it - mediocre. I was humbly astonished by this book. While there are some things that could be improved, they could be easily accomplished by a good editor. This book was well written, the characters were engaging and the story made it difficult to put down. Kudos to Jill!! I liked it!

[Beth Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it is a Michigan author, and I live in Michigan. I had heard that the 2nd or 3rd book in this series references places near where I lived, so I was excited to start reading them. This one was hard to get into at first for me. It started pretty graphic with how the women were being tortured. As I continued to read it, I felt like I was watching an episode of “Criminal Minds”. It even has it’s own Penelope…seriously, the quirky computer guru Abby Louise IS Penelope on “Criminal Minds”, in description, actions, and the things she said. I will probably read the next two books in this series, but I am honestly not looking forward to it.

[amy nesbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy reading. Likable characters.

Strong female leading characters. Well written. Story told in a timely manner .Looking forward to reading more stories in this series.

[Mystic Forest Crafts · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 star

Pros:

I appreciate that the author used their knowledge of the area to mention landmarks and road names. I know that in other books such things are made up but by using them this way if people wanted they could make a film based on the book or have an adventure and visit actual sites.

It was nice and helpful that each chapter started with a location and when it was happening. Even without time hopping this can be really helpful for readers especially if they have to take a break for other things while reading.

Cons:

I went in wanting to love this book because it is set in my town and written by a local author but I struggled with some things. I can look past the editing errors for formatting and grammar. I can get past the fact that we had four points of view which is just a personal annoyance that most readers don’t share. I am confused on why we switch between first and third person storytelling. At first I thought maybe it was to show the narcissism of the killers but as we went on one of them switched to third person and one of the agents was also a narcissist and was never in first person.

I don’t understand how two federal agents made it through all the behavioral testing, psychological tests and made it into the field or even through an entire career. I understand they added a small but to the end about reevaluation of their methods but it seems flimsy and just a way for it to have been okay to have so much gender based hate.

On a personal note I found it a little distasteful to place the murders and abductions on Fish Lake Road where in 2016 a young nurse was killed by gunshot while jogging and the killers still have not been found. I feel this book could be somewhat triggering for people of the community who cared for the victim and her family as well as those who lived in the area and had to fear it could happen again.

[david j. lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing thriller!

I couldn't put the book down and can't wait for the 2nd one to come out!!!

Great author and great read.

[Janessa Pider]

A great read! Looking forward to reading book #2!

[Sarah Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book. Street names to city accurate. It's pretty cool...makes me want to go on OTIS and look this creep up.