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Paige King #1
La ragazza che l’ossessionava
Paige King, 25, in her Ph.D. residency at a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane, is summoned urgently by the FBI: her most notorious patient, a diabolical and elusive serial killer, has escaped. And they need her to help hunt him down.
Paige, as brilliant as she is, knows she is up against a mastermind with no equal. This killer will stop at nothing to outwit them all, and going too deep into his mind may be just the thing that undoes them all.
Paige’s skills are put to the ultimate test in this harrowing cat-and-mouse thriller, as new bodies pile up, and as Paige realizes that she, herself, may just be the target.
A complex psychological crime thriller full of twists and turns and packed with heart-pounding suspense, the PAIGE KING mystery series will make you fall in love with a brilliant new female protagonist and keep you turning pages late into the night.
Paige, as brilliant as she is, knows she is up against a mastermind with no equal. This killer will stop at nothing to outwit them all, and going too deep into his mind may be just the thing that undoes them all.
Paige’s skills are put to the ultimate test in this harrowing cat-and-mouse thriller, as new bodies pile up, and as Paige realizes that she, herself, may just be the target.
A complex psychological crime thriller full of twists and turns and packed with heart-pounding suspense, the PAIGE KING mystery series will make you fall in love with a brilliant new female protagonist and keep you turning pages late into the night.
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 21, 2022
1623 people are currently reading
1602 people want to read
About the author
Blake Pierce
685 books5,777 followersBlake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seven books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); and of the new KERI LOCKE mystery series.
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
July 27, 2023
No sooner than placing The Girl He Pined on my currently reading bookshelf, than I started receiving comments from my GR friends saying, "Let me know what you think." "I love Blake Pierce." "A favorite of mine." I had never read any of his books and so I was taken aback when I saw that he is quite prolific. So I felt very secure in reading what I felt was going to be either a Silence of the Lambs rip-off or resplendent homage of a serial psycho-killer thriller.
The novel begins with a 25 year-old Ph.D student, Paige King (not an MD), interviewing an incarcerated serial killer for her doctoral thesis. He tells her, that he has enjoyed her questions, that he admires her, and that he intends to escape tonight. She dutifully reports the proclamation and inadvertently sets in motion all she was trying to avoid. He immediately sets out to complete his "unfinished business" before setting his sights on those who have wronged Paige. The FBI agent tasked with the case realizes that although Paige is young and inexperienced, she had made an undeniable connection with the killer such that Paige might be a secret weapon in the recapture.
Fast-paced, and suspenseful, I must admit that I dreaded turning the pages concerned with the possible depravity flowing from one page to the next. I was shocked that someone who considers himself a hardcore horror fan like me might be so affected by the writing. I'm not going to lie. I was swept away by this stellar book.
The novel begins with a 25 year-old Ph.D student, Paige King (not an MD), interviewing an incarcerated serial killer for her doctoral thesis. He tells her, that he has enjoyed her questions, that he admires her, and that he intends to escape tonight. She dutifully reports the proclamation and inadvertently sets in motion all she was trying to avoid. He immediately sets out to complete his "unfinished business" before setting his sights on those who have wronged Paige. The FBI agent tasked with the case realizes that although Paige is young and inexperienced, she had made an undeniable connection with the killer such that Paige might be a secret weapon in the recapture.
Fast-paced, and suspenseful, I must admit that I dreaded turning the pages concerned with the possible depravity flowing from one page to the next. I was shocked that someone who considers himself a hardcore horror fan like me might be so affected by the writing. I'm not going to lie. I was swept away by this stellar book.
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May 16, 2022Just ok
Didn't find this book very interesting or page turning in any way. In fact was boring and read like a first novel rather than something from am experienced writer.
Didn't find this book very interesting or page turning in any way. In fact was boring and read like a first novel rather than something from am experienced writer.
July 18, 2023
I listened to this as an audiobook and initially liked the plot however for me this was a huge let down. I really disliked the narrator; there was very little personality there which may have impacted my overall thoughts. I found myself becoming irritated with Paige and her infatuation with the FBI detective and for me the ending was just too abrupt - I'm aware this is part of a series but it felt as though the author had forgot to write the rest. Not for me and I won't be continuing with this series.
April 2, 2023
1 implausible ⭐️
Judging by the writing style this thriller must be more geared towards a YA audience. I found it very elementary and repetitive. Also some of the plot lines just wouldn’t happen in the real world, which made the whole thriller just too unbelievable for me. Grateful to be able to speed up the audiobook version.
Judging by the writing style this thriller must be more geared towards a YA audience. I found it very elementary and repetitive. Also some of the plot lines just wouldn’t happen in the real world, which made the whole thriller just too unbelievable for me. Grateful to be able to speed up the audiobook version.
November 21, 2024
Honestly, I want to give it a 2 bc I really feel like "Meh, I could have gone without this book," but I'm giving Pierce the benefit of the doubt and continuing the series.
Summary
This book is about PhD student, Paige King. She lost her father to a serial killer and that affected her deeply, to the point where her thesis is on Serial Killer Psychology. The killer she's been interviewing for her thesis, Andrew Riker, escapes and she is asked to assist FBI agent, Christopher Marriot, to catch Riker as Marriot believes she knows him best.
Review
Honestly, as the book goes on, you get to see that Paige kinda dumb as hell fr. I feel like this is the very, very start of Valerie Law's career or trying to show how one gets started in the FBI as a criminal profiler. HOWEVER, it wasn't well done. Also, we find out that Christopher is married and homegirl still thirsting over him. Pierce, just no, man.
I'm gonna listen to the second book just because I want to see if Paige makes it frfr. If she's still a dumbass ditz, or if there's some extramarital bs in there, it's getting dropped REAL QUICK
Summary
This book is about PhD student, Paige King. She lost her father to a serial killer and that affected her deeply, to the point where her thesis is on Serial Killer Psychology. The killer she's been interviewing for her thesis, Andrew Riker, escapes and she is asked to assist FBI agent, Christopher Marriot, to catch Riker as Marriot believes she knows him best.
Review
Honestly, as the book goes on, you get to see that Paige kinda dumb as hell fr. I feel like this is the very, very start of Valerie Law's career or trying to show how one gets started in the FBI as a criminal profiler. HOWEVER, it wasn't well done. Also, we find out that Christopher is married and homegirl still thirsting over him. Pierce, just no, man.
I'm gonna listen to the second book just because I want to see if Paige makes it frfr. If she's still a dumbass ditz, or if there's some extramarital bs in there, it's getting dropped REAL QUICK
June 18, 2024
I loved this book! Love thrillers and this was a good one. It took me along with the main character and had me thinking of how to solve the mystery lol. But tbh the main character made some painfully stupid decisions which was a little annoying haha. Still 4/5. Oh also I listened to this as an audiobook! Still so good!
July 25, 2025
I found this a bit formulaic. Paige is called in to help with murder investigation. Her job is to predict the next possible victim of a serial killer. She makes her prediction, is certain she is right, but while they (a hunky detective that she's falling for) stake out House A, the murderer is actually at House B and someone else is dead.
Individual scenes are well-written, suspenseful.
Individual scenes are well-written, suspenseful.
July 24, 2022
Very good book! It was one of those books that I didn’t want to quit reading! I highly recommend!
March 27, 2023
Not amazing, but still good, little bit predictable in parts
September 12, 2023
Bro I love these serial killers book I used to be obsessed with them, I hope that in the other book there’s a romance between Christopher and Paige tho…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2024
Psychopaths are crazy animals
September 21, 2024
Very mid and predictable audiobook
August 19, 2022
Okay, but not nearly as good as the Zoe Prime series.
April 8, 2022
Paige is finishing her thesis for a PHD programme which focused in interviewing serial killers, but she ends working with only one, a ruthless individual, Adam, who does not have conscience problems with killing and maiming people. She ends up teaming with Christopher, a FBI agent, in the hunt for this criminal. The Girl he Pined has a good plot, is fast-paced, and caught my attention from the beginning. It's a promising start to a new series and I believe the duo - Paige & Christopher - will make an excellent pair of agents in the next stories in this series. As a member of the author's ARC team, I downloaded a free copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.
July 6, 2022
I loved this plot. Foul language is minimal or none. Can't really remember reading any. Sex scenes none. It was kind of slow getting into the mind of the main character. She has a lot of trauma and self doubt. Everything she has gone through are building blocks for the person she will be. Interviewing a serial killer has got to be daunting. It sounds exciting on some level but in the end you can't trust them go be honest. I felt it was well written. I definitely recommend it. I am looking forward to the next book.
April 29, 2023
Okay so it did start off as a 4 star read for me I’ll be honest. The glimpse into the cereal killers psyche was really interesting. I would say this part of the book did actually remain interesting throughout. The twisted thoughts, the obsession with Paige, the inability to distinguish between wanting to hurt her more than his previous victims bc of his emotional connection with her and wanting her to be like him so they can be together was quite jarring. But this was the only consistent part of the story for me.
I didn’t like Paige’s character all that much. I thought she was very surface level and as soon as we got a glimpse into her past the author would move on. She was clearly traumatised from what happened to her dad and I feel like this should’ve been given more attention than it was. I also didn’t like how clueless she seemed to be at times for someone doing her entire phd on cereal killers.
I thought a lot of this book was very predictable to. The author tried misleading us by sending Paige and Christopher on chases of people they thought were Adam… but the lack of suspense and tension, and the fact that these happened relatively quickly after Adam escaped from the psych hospital… well clearly they weren’t him. He wouldn’t let himself get caught so easily. So even though I’m
Sure I was supposed to be on the edge of my seat whilst they were running after the suspected Adam… I was bored bc it obviously wasn’t him. This brings me onto the suspense (or lack thereof) of this book.
Ninimal suspense during the chase, no suspense during the ending, no suspense when Paige and Christopher are waiting at the suspected locations Adam might turn up to… this was an especially annoying part for me. You literally knew where Adam was in the chapter before, and then you had Paige and Christopher somewhere completely different in the next chapter. Granted, that can sometimes work. It definitely worked in the tv show Safe, but in this book? It just pissed me off lol. I was just sat there like “okay he’s there, they’re there, and it’s all just pointless.” Just swap the fricking chapters around!!! Then I wouldn’t know they were in the wrong location and every creek of the floorboard would have me holding my breath, and wow would you believe it, you’ve got yourself some suspense!
The ending was really anticlimactic as well. I think I wrote more suspenseful, dramatic endings in my creative writing lessons in year 8 to be honest. Like what even was that. I won’t give it away but it was just very poorly done.
Also the fact Christopher carried only one gun and no other weapons to catch one of the most dangerous cereal killers out there? Okay mr fbi, clearly the fbi need to do better in their training bc that is a bit mad.
There were a lot of plot holes to. Like mr fbi didn’t even communicate with anyone else on the case. He just relied on Paige making guesses about what Adam might do next. Ugh, just wouldn’t happen in real life.
I didn’t like Paige’s character all that much. I thought she was very surface level and as soon as we got a glimpse into her past the author would move on. She was clearly traumatised from what happened to her dad and I feel like this should’ve been given more attention than it was. I also didn’t like how clueless she seemed to be at times for someone doing her entire phd on cereal killers.
I thought a lot of this book was very predictable to. The author tried misleading us by sending Paige and Christopher on chases of people they thought were Adam… but the lack of suspense and tension, and the fact that these happened relatively quickly after Adam escaped from the psych hospital… well clearly they weren’t him. He wouldn’t let himself get caught so easily. So even though I’m
Sure I was supposed to be on the edge of my seat whilst they were running after the suspected Adam… I was bored bc it obviously wasn’t him. This brings me onto the suspense (or lack thereof) of this book.
Ninimal suspense during the chase, no suspense during the ending, no suspense when Paige and Christopher are waiting at the suspected locations Adam might turn up to… this was an especially annoying part for me. You literally knew where Adam was in the chapter before, and then you had Paige and Christopher somewhere completely different in the next chapter. Granted, that can sometimes work. It definitely worked in the tv show Safe, but in this book? It just pissed me off lol. I was just sat there like “okay he’s there, they’re there, and it’s all just pointless.” Just swap the fricking chapters around!!! Then I wouldn’t know they were in the wrong location and every creek of the floorboard would have me holding my breath, and wow would you believe it, you’ve got yourself some suspense!
The ending was really anticlimactic as well. I think I wrote more suspenseful, dramatic endings in my creative writing lessons in year 8 to be honest. Like what even was that. I won’t give it away but it was just very poorly done.
Also the fact Christopher carried only one gun and no other weapons to catch one of the most dangerous cereal killers out there? Okay mr fbi, clearly the fbi need to do better in their training bc that is a bit mad.
There were a lot of plot holes to. Like mr fbi didn’t even communicate with anyone else on the case. He just relied on Paige making guesses about what Adam might do next. Ugh, just wouldn’t happen in real life.
December 8, 2025
It has been a while since I read Blake Pierce, but I thought she wrote better. I loved the Jessie Hunt series. However, this book was rather juvenile imo. A seasoned FBI agent letting a newly graduated 20-something dictate the investigation? I don't think so. I understand getting her help, but he let her make some major decisions that would have got him fired in real life. I'm all for stretching the imagination, but not intelligence. I might try the second book eventually. I only finished this one because I listened to the audio while doing other things.
The narrator was not good either, so maybe that is part of the problem. No inflection and one narrator for male and female pov, was confusing at times as to who she was portraying.
The narrator was not good either, so maybe that is part of the problem. No inflection and one narrator for male and female pov, was confusing at times as to who she was portraying.
August 5, 2022
3.5 stars This was an entertaining, if not predictable, read. For a first novel it had enough intrigue to make you want to know more about the main character, Paige. The hunt for the serial killer was not as exciting as it could have been...a lot of going to a spot to wait for him to show up, but he doesn't. Then give up on the spot and go to a new one....kind of a poor strategy Why give up after a few hours? The show down was also predictable....you knew the whole story was going to wind up at that spot for a final contest. It was good enough a story to continue reading the series, but not so good that I'll be racing out in search of the next one.
January 30, 2023
I'm not about to say that this was the most perfect novel I've ever read - however it was the first mystery/suspense/thriller novel I've ever found easy to read whilst also keeping me engaged. It lacked any pretentiousness and never tried too hard. Let's be honest, it's pretty hard to shock people these days. I think we need to be fair to authors who may not come up with something entirely 'unique', but do manage to entertain us with an easy to devour read. Law and Order SVU is one of my favourite TV shows of all time (and one of the most successful) and yet reps many similar cases across the long running series. I still love it anyway. I'll read the next book immediately. Enough said.
May 2, 2024
I thought this first book in the Riley Paige series was solid. Told from third person point of view, this story and its characters were believable. The dichotomy between where Riley believes Adam is going and the actuality of his actions made for a great contrast throughout the book that holds the readers attention. There was a lot of depth given to the characters, as well as great scenery description. I didn't give it a 5 because I did think some of it was drawn out too long. However, it might be that the author did this to further develop Riley's character and to show the devolving of Adam's psyche. If you like Criminal Minds or James Patterson, you will enjoy this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2024
Listened to it on audiobook, not a huge fan of audiobooks but it was a free one and a new author to me so I said why not? I did like the suspense of this, however, in so many ways I just don’t get the same feel for it I’d want to read the rest because most of the time I gage new authors by so I want to put this book down, and I find audiobooks hard for myself to focus on. It was good though and it did spark enough interest for me to buy or find it in hard copy and read it myself and then see if I would want to continue with this series. I can say I did like the subtle foreshadowing in this book; I did pick that up!
April 9, 2022
Paige King has been doing her residency for her PHD at a hospital for the criminally insane. Working on her thesis while studying these patients she focuses on one man, Adam Riker, to base the thesis. Her last day Adam tells her he plans to escape. She tells the hospital, and they increase security which actually helps him escape. Paige is contacted by FBI agent Christopher Marriott who asks her to help find Adam because she has been profiling him. This story is really great and keeps you turning pages. Can't wait for more of this new series hopefully involving Paige and Christopher.
June 29, 2022
A suspenseful reas
A crazied killer has escaped and he is going to finish what he didn't do the first time. Paige can't believe that Adam escaped but she doesn't believe that she is in danger. But FBI agent Christopher Marriott needs her help but will she be willing to put herself out there?
Can Paige & Christopher find him before more people loses their lives? Is Adam going to push her too far?
A good read. Paige is strong willed but she knows her limitations. She puts herself out there as she knows that she can help. She will be a great profiler.
A crazied killer has escaped and he is going to finish what he didn't do the first time. Paige can't believe that Adam escaped but she doesn't believe that she is in danger. But FBI agent Christopher Marriott needs her help but will she be willing to put herself out there?
Can Paige & Christopher find him before more people loses their lives? Is Adam going to push her too far?
A good read. Paige is strong willed but she knows her limitations. She puts herself out there as she knows that she can help. She will be a great profiler.
July 1, 2022
The Girl He Pined
This is the second book in a row that I read by Blake Pierce. I gave both 5 stars. This is the story of a psychologist writing a thesis about serial killers. She was interviewing several serial killers until she ended up concentrating on only one of them. She did this at a hospital for the criminally insane. This serial killer escaped this hospital and continued killing. An FBI agent asked her to partner with him to catch the killer since she knew him best.
This is the second book in a row that I read by Blake Pierce. I gave both 5 stars. This is the story of a psychologist writing a thesis about serial killers. She was interviewing several serial killers until she ended up concentrating on only one of them. She did this at a hospital for the criminally insane. This serial killer escaped this hospital and continued killing. An FBI agent asked her to partner with him to catch the killer since she knew him best.
July 7, 2022
I give this 3.5 stars
This is the first book in a new series by Blake Pierce. Although it’s a very good read, it just didn’t excite me or capture my imagination like so many other books have, thus my rather low score. By the end of the book I didn’t feel like I really knew the characters that well though this may change with the rest of the books in the series.
I would definitely recommend it as a good read but it lacked the who-did-it and what will happen next excitement that I like in this genre of book.
This is the first book in a new series by Blake Pierce. Although it’s a very good read, it just didn’t excite me or capture my imagination like so many other books have, thus my rather low score. By the end of the book I didn’t feel like I really knew the characters that well though this may change with the rest of the books in the series.
I would definitely recommend it as a good read but it lacked the who-did-it and what will happen next excitement that I like in this genre of book.
July 28, 2022
Paige King is interviewing Adam Riker, a serial killer that is in a maximum security mental hospital for all the people he has killed. Paige, whose father was killed when she was a little girl has her trying to discover why serial killers kill.
Adam escapes and starts his killing spree again but there is a shift in who and why he is killing the 3 women that he's killed. Christopher Marriot, FBI agent convinces Paige to help find Adam since she knows him better than anyone else.
A gripping novel that keeps you guessing where Adam will strike again.
Adam escapes and starts his killing spree again but there is a shift in who and why he is killing the 3 women that he's killed. Christopher Marriot, FBI agent convinces Paige to help find Adam since she knows him better than anyone else.
A gripping novel that keeps you guessing where Adam will strike again.
October 8, 2022
Captivated from start to finish.
I enjoyed the narration of each one of the characters and the storyline flowed smoothly. There were a few audio repeat glitches but nothing that interrupted the story itself. It definitely was sinister with the crazed killer yet never got into the graphic detail. Obviously this was fiction so getting unglued at how an FBI agent would never: "X,Y, or Z" I am not even going to address. If you are a person looking for a crime book based on reality this is not for you. if you want a fast paced, simple, captivating book,... I recommend this one. 👍
I enjoyed the narration of each one of the characters and the storyline flowed smoothly. There were a few audio repeat glitches but nothing that interrupted the story itself. It definitely was sinister with the crazed killer yet never got into the graphic detail. Obviously this was fiction so getting unglued at how an FBI agent would never: "X,Y, or Z" I am not even going to address. If you are a person looking for a crime book based on reality this is not for you. if you want a fast paced, simple, captivating book,... I recommend this one. 👍
December 14, 2024
I did not find story engaging at all. The amount of repeated thoughts within a chapter and across chapters is highly annoying.
In one chapter, Paige repeats that she has feelings for Christopher (after only 2 days), but he has a wife and has done nothing to reciprocate at least 6 times.
In one section, it says contentment 5 times.
Why did no one instruct her to have professional boundaries to not share personal information during sessions?
Only finished because I didn't want to start a new book before bed
In one chapter, Paige repeats that she has feelings for Christopher (after only 2 days), but he has a wife and has done nothing to reciprocate at least 6 times.
In one section, it says contentment 5 times.
Why did no one instruct her to have professional boundaries to not share personal information during sessions?
Only finished because I didn't want to start a new book before bed
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2025
A fun novel with two likable main characters, and a ghastly villian. Some predictable moments, but I enjoyed the Paige character because she was written with a realness that some writers forget in their thriller/mystery novels. Especially ones more based around the police and the FBI. It was an easy read, and one I am glad I chose. A twisted look at the minds of those that kill and seem to do it as an art form. Like Paige, I think so many of us always wonder why. This book also shows us that the answers are usually tough to take.
June 30, 2022
Enthralling story.
I liked the way that Paige was shown doing research for her thesis on psychopathic serial killers. After interviewing one particular person, inside the prison where he was incarcerated for sadistic cruel murders, she was uneasy after he claimed that he was going to escape. The characters were well created in order to provide the suspense and power of the story.
I liked the way that Paige was shown doing research for her thesis on psychopathic serial killers. After interviewing one particular person, inside the prison where he was incarcerated for sadistic cruel murders, she was uneasy after he claimed that he was going to escape. The characters were well created in order to provide the suspense and power of the story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews