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Where Serpents Lie
In this intense psychological thriller, Parker masterfully reinvents the classic loner a man with a dark and violent past whose redemption can come only through saving others.
576 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
T. Jefferson Parker
99 books852 followersT. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of 26 crime novels, including Edgar Award-winners SILENT JOE and CALIFORNIA GIRL. Parker's next work is coming-of-age thriller, A THOUSAND STEPS, set for January of 2022. He lives with his family in a small town in north San Diego County, and enjoys fishing, hiking and beachcombing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
October 1, 2020
"[...] a little girl enrobed in white netting. A serpent's scale inserted into the web of the net. The girl. The snake. The web. The net. What is the story here? "
I almost never read long books. If an author is unable to say what he or she wants to say on no more than, say, 300 pages, tough luck! Next please! I make an exception, though, for well-written books that contain realistic depictions of characters, situations or places, as far as the psychology and dialogues. Here we have the longest book I have read in a very long time - 550 pages - which is just a thriller slash police procedural. What's more, I have enjoyed it a lot.
I first read T. Jefferson Parker about a quarter of the century ago. I read all his early books and liked most of them a lot, precisely because of the prose and realism, outstanding for the genre. The author is an accomplished literary craftsman, who had a chance to practice his writing when he worked as a reporter for the Newport Ensign.
Where Serpents Lie (1998) is a good example of a thriller that transcends its genre: despite following the standard clichés of thrillers it is very well written and several characters are not just paper templates but seem almost like real people. The protagonist is Terry Naughton, the head of the Crimes Against Youth unit in the Orange County Sheriff Department. Two years ago Terry lost his son, a tragic event he feels responsible for. He is now trying to redeem himself by preventing harm from happening to children.
The novel has one of the most shocking setups I have ever encountered. Terry has infiltrated a pedophile group - men who take advantage of a very young girl offered for services by her parents. The entire scene of a "party" before the expected consummation of the deal is very hard to read, even harder because it reads very realistic. Yet this is not the main plot of the novel. Someone who calls himself The Horridus (Latin name for a species of a venomous viper) abducts little girls - so far there are no rapes and the girls are found alive, but criminals of this type are known to escalate their activities. The search for Horridus becomes the main thread of the plot. Terry's personal problems are tightly woven into the procedural thread.
The gruesome opening scene has a sort of continuation when Terry interviews the little girl prostituted by her parents. The realism of the conversation is totally depressing. The author provides a rich, plausible portrayal of the tangle of business interests in Orange County - his journalistic past is certainly an asset here. Also, the novel offers a real sense of the location; I know Orange County quite well from hundreds of visits so I recognized the locations when reading the text. The scene in the Caspers Wilderness Park provides a good example.
I don't particularly like the scene where Terry buys information from a homeless man who sells newspaper articles: it reeks of the tired "word-on-the street" cliché and it does not read as a pastiche. Also, the "profiler" stuff is so formulaic - but it was a common fad quarter of a century ago: it was almost obligatory to have a profiler in thrillers and procedurals.
Yet overall, the novel is an excellent, great read, way, way, way better than 99% of the genre specimens. Had it been shorter by about 150 pages, I might have even given it the maximum rating. Very highly recommended thriller/procedural.
Four stars
I almost never read long books. If an author is unable to say what he or she wants to say on no more than, say, 300 pages, tough luck! Next please! I make an exception, though, for well-written books that contain realistic depictions of characters, situations or places, as far as the psychology and dialogues. Here we have the longest book I have read in a very long time - 550 pages - which is just a thriller slash police procedural. What's more, I have enjoyed it a lot.
I first read T. Jefferson Parker about a quarter of the century ago. I read all his early books and liked most of them a lot, precisely because of the prose and realism, outstanding for the genre. The author is an accomplished literary craftsman, who had a chance to practice his writing when he worked as a reporter for the Newport Ensign.
Where Serpents Lie (1998) is a good example of a thriller that transcends its genre: despite following the standard clichés of thrillers it is very well written and several characters are not just paper templates but seem almost like real people. The protagonist is Terry Naughton, the head of the Crimes Against Youth unit in the Orange County Sheriff Department. Two years ago Terry lost his son, a tragic event he feels responsible for. He is now trying to redeem himself by preventing harm from happening to children.
The novel has one of the most shocking setups I have ever encountered. Terry has infiltrated a pedophile group - men who take advantage of a very young girl offered for services by her parents. The entire scene of a "party" before the expected consummation of the deal is very hard to read, even harder because it reads very realistic. Yet this is not the main plot of the novel. Someone who calls himself The Horridus (Latin name for a species of a venomous viper) abducts little girls - so far there are no rapes and the girls are found alive, but criminals of this type are known to escalate their activities. The search for Horridus becomes the main thread of the plot. Terry's personal problems are tightly woven into the procedural thread.
The gruesome opening scene has a sort of continuation when Terry interviews the little girl prostituted by her parents. The realism of the conversation is totally depressing. The author provides a rich, plausible portrayal of the tangle of business interests in Orange County - his journalistic past is certainly an asset here. Also, the novel offers a real sense of the location; I know Orange County quite well from hundreds of visits so I recognized the locations when reading the text. The scene in the Caspers Wilderness Park provides a good example.
I don't particularly like the scene where Terry buys information from a homeless man who sells newspaper articles: it reeks of the tired "word-on-the street" cliché and it does not read as a pastiche. Also, the "profiler" stuff is so formulaic - but it was a common fad quarter of a century ago: it was almost obligatory to have a profiler in thrillers and procedurals.
Yet overall, the novel is an excellent, great read, way, way, way better than 99% of the genre specimens. Had it been shorter by about 150 pages, I might have even given it the maximum rating. Very highly recommended thriller/procedural.
Four stars
October 12, 2017
For whatever reason I could not get into this story. It was an interesting premise. But I did not care for the way it flowed. And I really did not like any of the characters. Somehow, it did not make much sense with some of the things that occurred in it. More research should be done about persons crimes/SVU detectives and how they operate. Main character was a dick IMO. Not likeable at all.
August 31, 2020
Great read for the police procedural and office politic struggle with a coworker. Got a little slow for me, about half way through.....but then EXPLODED in an incredible plot twist.....took me galloping
to the end. Knocked a star because I like the main character to be flawless or something like that.
Incite into nasty DARKWEB internet stuff...scary!
to the end. Knocked a star because I like the main character to be flawless or something like that.
Incite into nasty DARKWEB internet stuff...scary!
December 8, 2023
My first book by TJ Parker and it was decent. Not a particularly likeable protagonist whom is deeply flawed by personal tragedy made it hard for me to really care what happens to him. The mystery itself is compelling featuring a huge swerve at the end that I didn't see coming at all made the book enjoyable. Overall an average mystery to me but I did enjoy enough to try tbr author again.
March 4, 2016
Disturbing, but very well told tale. The conclusion to secondary story is shocking.
March 27, 2021
Beautiful and heart breaking
April 6, 2012
This is a truly frightening book. There are scenes is this book that make "Hannibal" seem like the kindly old Wizard of Oz. In fact, there are portions of this book that were more macabre than the special meals that Hannibal consumed or asked captured F.B.I. agents to consume. In other words, portions of this book are just plain gross.. in a scarey, tormented way.
Terry is head of the Orange County (Southern California) Crimes against Youth Division. He has suffered the loss of his only son in a drowning incident and is one of the saddest people you would ever meet. His life is full of drinking and cheating on his girl. The one redemptive element of his life is his work with the CAY division.
Terry and his unit is after a predator who sneaks into bedrooms and abducts little girls. The predator takes them to his den and changes them into old-fashioned little girl clothing and then releases them in isolated wilderness areas. No rape, but the CAY unit know that the profile shows he is building up to it.
Parker does a great job with the police work and the actual solving of the mystery and going after the bad guy. His hero, Terry, is sufficiently flawed, an element that seems to be pretty consistent in Parker's writings. And one of those flaws is some dark secret connected to his son's death. Along the way, Terry will be accused of horrible crimes, suspended from the force, and yet unable to stop his investigation into the seriel abductor.
Sadly, Parker slows the pacing a bit too much by letting us see the abductor's memories, his passions, his problems, a bit too much. About the time we want to see the investigation go forward, Parker wants us to see the horrible reality of this man's life, temperment, and torment. He fails to humanize the bad guy at all. Some of this insight and viewpoint is necessary to get to the really juicy, frightening part of the novel. However, at times, Parker dwells too much on the criminal's point of view and gives us a bit too much knowledge that would've been better coming out in investigation.
This was a really good book, I dinged it a star because its final conclusion was a bit unsatisfying. Terry gets the evidence he needs to prove who set him up for false charges, but doesn't do much about it. Instead, we get a further glimpse into Terry's torment and finally, the secret about his son's death, the one that the reader knew almost from the beginning was there, is revealed in an anti-climactic fashion...
A good book with some minor flaws... I do recommend it, despite the fact that I only give it three stars. I think fans of Hannibal Lector will enjoy this macabre mystery full of dark, sad, lonely, and hurting people. "Clarice, is that you?'
Terry is head of the Orange County (Southern California) Crimes against Youth Division. He has suffered the loss of his only son in a drowning incident and is one of the saddest people you would ever meet. His life is full of drinking and cheating on his girl. The one redemptive element of his life is his work with the CAY division.
Terry and his unit is after a predator who sneaks into bedrooms and abducts little girls. The predator takes them to his den and changes them into old-fashioned little girl clothing and then releases them in isolated wilderness areas. No rape, but the CAY unit know that the profile shows he is building up to it.
Parker does a great job with the police work and the actual solving of the mystery and going after the bad guy. His hero, Terry, is sufficiently flawed, an element that seems to be pretty consistent in Parker's writings. And one of those flaws is some dark secret connected to his son's death. Along the way, Terry will be accused of horrible crimes, suspended from the force, and yet unable to stop his investigation into the seriel abductor.
Sadly, Parker slows the pacing a bit too much by letting us see the abductor's memories, his passions, his problems, a bit too much. About the time we want to see the investigation go forward, Parker wants us to see the horrible reality of this man's life, temperment, and torment. He fails to humanize the bad guy at all. Some of this insight and viewpoint is necessary to get to the really juicy, frightening part of the novel. However, at times, Parker dwells too much on the criminal's point of view and gives us a bit too much knowledge that would've been better coming out in investigation.
This was a really good book, I dinged it a star because its final conclusion was a bit unsatisfying. Terry gets the evidence he needs to prove who set him up for false charges, but doesn't do much about it. Instead, we get a further glimpse into Terry's torment and finally, the secret about his son's death, the one that the reader knew almost from the beginning was there, is revealed in an anti-climactic fashion...
A good book with some minor flaws... I do recommend it, despite the fact that I only give it three stars. I think fans of Hannibal Lector will enjoy this macabre mystery full of dark, sad, lonely, and hurting people. "Clarice, is that you?'
May 31, 2010
After a tragedy devastates his own family, Terry Naughton helps create the Crimes Against Youth division of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Now, as head of the unit, Terry leads the hunt for a disturbing pedophile known as The Horridus. At the same time, Terry is attempting to bring some order into his own haunted and messy personal life.
Not surprisingly, The Horridus was himself the victim of sexual abuse as a child and he dreams of being reborn as a snake. (His namesake, the Crotalus horridus is a Timber Rattlesnake.) The Horridus keeps a large collection of reptiles and has fed at least a couple of his victims to one of his larger pets.
In the midst of the investigation, Terry Naughton is accused of being a pedophile himself, and the evidence against him seems incontrovertible. Naughton is charged, jailed, and then released on bail, pending trial. Although ordered away from the investigation, he cannot let it go and becomes entangled in an increasingly complex and scary effort to clear his own name and at the same time track down a particularly menacing killer who is about to strike again.
This book appeared four years before Parker exploded into prominence with his breakout book, Silent Joe. Good as it is, it is not the equal of that book or of Parker's subsequent work. But then again, few books are, and for those readers who enjoy watching a great writer coming into form, Where Serpents Lie will well reward the time spent reading it.
Not surprisingly, The Horridus was himself the victim of sexual abuse as a child and he dreams of being reborn as a snake. (His namesake, the Crotalus horridus is a Timber Rattlesnake.) The Horridus keeps a large collection of reptiles and has fed at least a couple of his victims to one of his larger pets.
In the midst of the investigation, Terry Naughton is accused of being a pedophile himself, and the evidence against him seems incontrovertible. Naughton is charged, jailed, and then released on bail, pending trial. Although ordered away from the investigation, he cannot let it go and becomes entangled in an increasingly complex and scary effort to clear his own name and at the same time track down a particularly menacing killer who is about to strike again.
This book appeared four years before Parker exploded into prominence with his breakout book, Silent Joe. Good as it is, it is not the equal of that book or of Parker's subsequent work. But then again, few books are, and for those readers who enjoy watching a great writer coming into form, Where Serpents Lie will well reward the time spent reading it.
October 9, 2022
I picked up this book because my father said it scared him and he couldn't keep reading it but that I might like it. And I did.
There are so many different stories going on here but they're all interwoven brilliantly. I feel for so many of the characters...but especially Terry, the reluctant anti-hero. What a heartbreaking life this man has led.
I thought it was pretty obvious that Melinda was the one who set him up. From the beginning she was jealous and petty and I couldn't stand her. I tried really hard to rationalize her anger and desire for revenge so as not to relegate her to "crazy ex" status but there's no justification possible. She is awful and not even interestingly so.
Possibly even more than I felt for Terry, I felt for Moloch. The snake was really just doing what snakes do...constricting then eating their food. It's not his fault that Hypok fed him humans. While I understand that he had to be killed to release Item #4, it was still hard for me to read.
All in all, I don't understand what scared my dad so much. I bet he would have enjoyed this one if he'd stuck with it.
There are so many different stories going on here but they're all interwoven brilliantly. I feel for so many of the characters...but especially Terry, the reluctant anti-hero. What a heartbreaking life this man has led.
I thought it was pretty obvious that Melinda was the one who set him up. From the beginning she was jealous and petty and I couldn't stand her. I tried really hard to rationalize her anger and desire for revenge so as not to relegate her to "crazy ex" status but there's no justification possible. She is awful and not even interestingly so.
Possibly even more than I felt for Terry, I felt for Moloch. The snake was really just doing what snakes do...constricting then eating their food. It's not his fault that Hypok fed him humans. While I understand that he had to be killed to release Item #4, it was still hard for me to read.
All in all, I don't understand what scared my dad so much. I bet he would have enjoyed this one if he'd stuck with it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2013
This book is quite different from any of T. Jefferson's Parker's books I have read. Take one depressed,inclined to drink who had lost his son in a tragic accident a few years before and put him as the lead investigator on a case to catch a serial molester/killer called the Horrudus, which is actually a timber rattlesnake. If the snake does not attack the girls between 3 amd 7, the would be killer lets the children go. There is obviously a dark sexual overtone to this character no doubt to his dysfunctional family. The character had a severe case of psoriasis and identified with reptiles. There were many other subplots in this story and I found it to be very interesting, although I have never had a fear of any reptile except certain monitor lizardsl especially the Kimodo Dragon. I found this book to be a fast read and a very dark book. In fact, this is a very creepy book and plumbs the depths of the human mind....
March 25, 2018
T. Jefferson Parker is one of my favorite mystery writers. The subject matter of pedophilia and murder at times in this book were very dark and made me very uncomfortable and on edge. However the story and complexity of the characters were intriguing and there are twists and turns. Our protagonist Terry Naughton is fighting his own demons and needs to find redemption. The title. "Where Serpents Lie", implies many things as I reflect on this well written novel, relationships, both personal and business and how they change and people change, as well as literal dealing with poisonous reptiles and their basic needs.
December 4, 2023
I got about 1/4 through the MP3 disk before deciding to stop listening. The plot lacks pacing. There is one season where the action was rolling, where the undercover cop was exposed but rescued within a couple minutes before he might have been killed. But after that, the pace dragged, and I kept wanting the book to be over so I could listen to something else. Whenever I can't wait for a book to finish, I have decided to stop trying to make the book out to be better than it is, and just try something new from my queue. The reason I stopped today was when the narrator adopted a fakey country accent and pronounced crimes as "crams."
September 21, 2012
OMG! WTF! And when in the hell do I get to sleep? Parker never disappoints but in Serpents he dazzles with a complex child molester pursued by a dedicated police officer with more than a few issues of his own. And halfway through the novel there's a twist that raises this thriller to the realm of the sublime. Enough said, except that as I was reading it, I found myself thinking often of my family's gruesome redo of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town": He'll seize you when you're sleeping. Your nose he'll quickly break. He'll laugh as you cry out in pain and he'll feed you to his snake."
June 3, 2017
I found the plot of the novel intriguing as well as the villain. I feel that Parker really encompassed just what horrible extend emotional and psychological abuse can do to person's mind. What it can turn them into.
However, I felt that his characters were lacking depth, there was no layering to their personalities which makes them hard to relate to. Also, his pacing was very off. He started off great but then he would slow to a crawl and then speed up so fast you didn't know what was going on. The ending was a bit hazy as well.
Not a terrible book but I wouldn't recommend it either.
However, I felt that his characters were lacking depth, there was no layering to their personalities which makes them hard to relate to. Also, his pacing was very off. He started off great but then he would slow to a crawl and then speed up so fast you didn't know what was going on. The ending was a bit hazy as well.
Not a terrible book but I wouldn't recommend it either.
July 19, 2010
Parker is terrific. He comes up with plots that are complex and characters that are even more complex. In this novel, published in 1998, the head of the Orange County (CA) Crimes Against Youth division is searching for a serial kidnapper who appears to be escalating among other things. He is set up as a pedophile himself and arrested for it. The climax is fascinating as is who set him up and why. This was a great way to spend a summer weekend.
November 15, 2010
I normally like Jeff Parker's older books, but Where Serpents Lie was difficult to get through not only because of the creepy subject matter, but the story just seemed to d-r-a-g. I guess I didn't care for this one as much as others also because none of the characters engaged me. All things being equal, however, it wasn't a *bad* read; it just wasn't as good as some of his other books.
April 27, 2014
WHERE SERPENTS LIE 1998 LP **** I don't usually like to read serials but some writers surpass themselves in spite of the subject and Mr Parker is certainly one of those. This story jumps from start until end with our investigator being framed along the way for child molestation while tracking a deviant who feeds his prey to his pet snake.
July 17, 2016
This is an interesting if at times dark read. I found the author is fascinating to read and the main character, Terry Naughton, who is head of the Crimes Against Youth Unit is believable and a person you feel you not only know but side with as he goes after a brutal killer. The author does a great job delving in the psychosis of a killer and takes readers on a great ride.
February 20, 2014
Easily one of the darkest, most unsettling thrillers I've ever read dealing with the most disturbing aspect of human nature and perversion. Extremely well written, excellent prose and dialogue, faultless plot and ends as thrillingly and punchily as it begins.
May 11, 2016
I was googling for some good thriller with serial killer to sunk my teeth into and I discovered that many genre-focused blogs/magazines have (conveniently) lists of best novels on theme. Naturally, many of listed are books that can be considered classics like Harris or The Killer Inside Me or Ellis, which also means that majority of them I've already read or was fairly familiar with the plot. And this is why Where Serpents Lie *caught my attention- I've never read anything by Parker before and considering the company it's keeping, I seemed to be missing a lot not having read this book.
Having read it, it was a good story, page-turner, with a few flaws.
Bare bones: Terry Naughton is a head of Crime Against Youth unit, and even if it doesn't say that nowhere directly, author kept this unit's caseload narrowed specifically to crimes against youth of sexual nature. There are scenes and situations they encounter in their line of work that are bleak and triggering to read, so have that in mind if it's a deal-breaker. Terry is on a hunt for predator who kidnaps little girls from their room and lets them go after few hours dressed in old-fashioned clothes. Only clue they have on him is connected to snakes. To give praise where praise is due, I find the entire concept and idea of Horridus the best thought and executed part of the story. He is a disturbed individual with weird motivations and rather unique hobby.
But, around the middle, entire plot about this kidnapper is taking a back-seat to another plot: the plot about who framed main character, Terry. Terry's chapters are written in first person pov, so we get insight in his mind and we can see that he is a deeply flawed man whose relentless need to help minors is triggered by death of his son, but to people in his life he is a hero up until the point he is framed so horribly and deviously. So this is where it actually becomes good for me, because I always enjoy when authors strip their characters of everything, especially those who feel entitled, so they can rebuild in some way.
So, the hero and the villain as concepts, on initial level are parts I liked, but plot progression and resolution ruined it a bit for me. I was able to see the end twist right away despite author trying to stir me in other direction, exactly because he was so obvious about it. There was something so unsatisfying about reading why Terry was framed since lengths they go to do that, were promising strong emotion and expectation of rather definite damage to Terry and yet, all his troubles kind of blew away in space of one page. It contradicts that something planned so elaborately was also planned not to stand at all. But ymmv.
And then there are some parts of book, tied to police work and justice that didn't make sense at all to me. Sure, this may be because I practice criminal law in rl, but this particular thing nagged me to no end: in opening scene Terry is undercover in a house of married couple who are prostituting their 10y-old daughter to pedophiles. They are arrested, but DI is, check this, considering to also charge the little girl for prostitution(!). I kid you not, few pages later they actually congratulate Terry for taking 3 criminals of the street (3 being parents AND girl). Like, "she knows her stuff, she is groomed to do that, she is a pro". This is such a strange narrative when there is entire police division in your novel devoted to protect minors. It actually crossed my mind that author went there because he wanted to show us Terry as this, ultimate champion for the youngest since he was not really for charging the little girl, but then, we are also told he doesn't have much say in that and we never really get to know what happened with that plan DI considered. This is not a case of criminal responsibility- just think about the fact that sex with minor with or without their consent is illegal (statutory rape) because they are deemed in eyes of law unable to give consent, so how on earth would girl of 10 be considered able to consent to sex for money? So, yeah, that really didn't make sense to me.
Also, I had to look for a year when this book was first published because FBI did a profile on Horridus and quite a few people in this novel doubted in it, not as making little sense for their perpetrator, but not making sense as thing that can help catch a person who commits crime. Like, it's some kind of mumbo-jumbo, and everyone was at least wary if not completely dismissive except Terry who is of course, super-progressive. So, in that way, I'd say book got a little behind times.
All in all, I'm glad I got to read Where Serpents Lie. If you're in the mood for page-turner where snakes are not the worst creepers, give it a go.
*Anyway, this is where I have to clarify something because I was misguided myself. Like I wrote, this book is often featured on lists of thrillers focused on serial killers and very often named in scariest serial killer category. And yes, there is a bad guy in the book who also happens to have a very catchy, newsworthy moniker- the Horridus- but I wouldn't say he is really one or at least not of the variety of others on the list like Hanibal or Bateman. Blurb does a very good job of describing what Horridus does: he is kidnapping girls from their rooms and letting them go few hours later, dressed in old-fashioned clothes. Entire plot of this novel is balancing on one line from profile FBI did on Horridus after he kidnapped two girls: that he is going to escalate to rape and murder. Technically, just think of him as most likely to become serial killer. ;) So, in case you are looking for something very specific to read- that may be of interest to you.
August 26, 2017
This is a REAL page-turner but, warning,,,,,,,,,this book is not for everyone. This crime novel is very graphic and contains disturbing content that some readers may find offensive and hard to handle. Terry Naughton, the head of the Orange County's Crimes Against Youth unit, intensely hunts down Horridus, a monster who abducts children from their beds in the middle of the night, dresses them up as angels, releasing them the next day. The only clue...........a piece of snake skin tucked in the folds of their costume. Naughton, battling his own personal demons, is in a race against time to find this madman before his crimes escalate. I guarantee, if you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down until you have finished reading it through to the last page. A great read!!!!
July 25, 2019
Verhaal over een pedofiel die meisjes oppikt, ontvoert en soms weer vrijlaat gekleed in oude jurkjes en met engelengaas.
Maar ook (vooral) verhaal over rechercheur Terry Naughton, die weer wat opkrabbelt na dood van zijn zoontje en de sectie voor misdaden tegen kinderen heeft opgericht en leidt. Groot deel gaat over zijn relatie(s), zijn alcoholgebruik, zijn frustraties en ook zijn doorzettingsvermogen.
Titel slaat op de naam die de pedofiel zelf hanteert en dat ook soortnaam is van een bosratelslang, een fascinatie voor deze man (wat in FBI-profiel wel heel gedetailleerd en precies naar voren komt)
Maar ook (vooral) verhaal over rechercheur Terry Naughton, die weer wat opkrabbelt na dood van zijn zoontje en de sectie voor misdaden tegen kinderen heeft opgericht en leidt. Groot deel gaat over zijn relatie(s), zijn alcoholgebruik, zijn frustraties en ook zijn doorzettingsvermogen.
Titel slaat op de naam die de pedofiel zelf hanteert en dat ook soortnaam is van een bosratelslang, een fascinatie voor deze man (wat in FBI-profiel wel heel gedetailleerd en precies naar voren komt)
July 9, 2024
It felt like this book would never end! Not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because it was a VERY slow burn and probably because it’s about 100 pages longer than books I usually read. It was written in 1999 so some of the technology they used and we don’t anymore was funny like fax machines in cars, pictures taken on actual film, and floppy disks. It was also set in OC so it was fun to read about real places I’ve been to. Overall the story and the characters were well developed. There were some good twists and it felt pretty realistic. I didn’t hate it but it also wasn’t one of the best books I’ve ever read. TW: grooming, child abduction, and porn.
February 28, 2023
I didn't think I would finish this book nor did I think I would like it. Both happened. It deals with an uncomfortable subject and was almost 580 pages. Parker never let me lose the uncomfortableness I felt at the start, but he told a story which was compelling. The main character is a hard one to like but his determination to catch a monster was admirable. I don't know if I could read another book with Naughton as the prime character.
December 28, 2023
This was a really hard one to rate - and to read! 5 stars for the main character's psychological insights, into himself as well as others. 1 star for the vile descriptions - I'm pretty hard boiled but this was almost too much for me. 4 stars for the "mystery", so I guess that's a good 3 1/2 stars. Very different book from others of his that I've read.
November 14, 2017
Crimes against young girls, big venomous snakes, creepy, scary and you wish this was part of a series so you could find out who survives but it isn't. Well if any of that is your cup of tea, enjoy, if it isn't sleep well.
May 23, 2019
A Good Weekend Read
This book was well written, suspenseful and hard to put down at times. Creepy serial killer that made you fear for his victims. This is an excellent read...keeps you guessing until the very end.
This book was well written, suspenseful and hard to put down at times. Creepy serial killer that made you fear for his victims. This is an excellent read...keeps you guessing until the very end.
September 27, 2019
Decent book, if you’re in to crime / detective books then I’d highly recommend it. The snakes added an interesting element to it & I liked how you got a good feel for Hypok and how he was thinking.
He’s a sinister lad, but the book isn’t graphic.
All round a solid 4
He’s a sinister lad, but the book isn’t graphic.
All round a solid 4
March 12, 2021
everything you wanted (or don't want) to know concerning pedophilia.
Parker wites about the SoCal experperience, I couldn't put it down.
Common themes, revenge and jealousy, payback, determining the true suspect
Parker wites about the SoCal experperience, I couldn't put it down.
Common themes, revenge and jealousy, payback, determining the true suspect
July 3, 2021
Read in 1998. In this intense psychological thriller, Parker masterfully reinvents the classic loner cop: a man with a dark and violent past whose redemption can come only through saving others. One of my favorites that year.
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