Jane's Journey: The Mother Killer Series Book 1

by Jill Wagner

Jane Newell’s goal to hunt and cage serial killers began when she learned that her father had been torturing and murdering women her entire life. She was orphaned at 15 years old when she watched law enforcement storm her house and arrest him.
Jane’s quest to speak for the victims of society’s worst type of evil began when her diligence and hard work earned her a place on the most elite team in the violent crimes division of the FBI.
When Jane’s first case was to find her father’s copycat killer in her hometown of Holly, Michigan, just two hours from where he was serving multiple life sentences, she did not know that she’d have to navigate her way through an entangled maze that began when she was only 15.
As the body count grew, the lines Jane drew between the new kills and her father’s began to intersect when she started receiving mysterious and cryptic text messages that implied a familiarity to pieces of her life that she’d kept hidden.
Would Jane’s secret pursuit for her unidentified adversary help solve the gruesome case? Or would it put an end to her career before it ever got started? Would her separate, off the books probe put her team, and her family in danger?
Here’s what readers are saying about Jane’s
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I love a book that can draw me in within the first few pages. Janes Journey did just that, excellent read, very exciting and a real page turner! Can't wait to see what's next in the Mother Killer series.
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This book had me on the edge of my seat page after page trying to figure out who was playing what game and how things connected! I really enjoyed this first book of this new series and I am looking forward to following Janes career in more to come!
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Captivating, very hard to put down the book. The writer got my attention right away by putting me in the mind of a psychopath and narcissist that charms his way into peoples lives and relishing in the hurt that he can cause, and Jane's resilience to him. Looking forward to Book 2!

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 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.