The Perfect Woman

Detective John Stallings #1

by James Andrus

One Man’s Obsession…
Pharmacy clerk William Dremmel is hooked—on drugging pretty young women and lulling them into slow, blissfully quiet deaths. Then he packs his victims in luggage—a nod to the cops that he works alone. Dremmel’s no fool, he’s also a college professor. He just likes using his intellect for darker purposes….

Is Another Man’s Anguish…
Haunted by his own daughter’s unsolved disappearance, Detective John Stallings is committed to finding runaways and busting their abductors. When a series of girls is found dead and stuffed into duffle bags, he’s consumed with capturing “The Bagman”—at the risk of his marriage, his career, and possibly his tough-as-nails partner, Patty Levine…

And Neither Intends To Give Up
As The Bagman grows more brazen in his crimes, the clues line up. But when he draws terrifyingly close to Patty, Stallings is determined to play by his own rules—and they won’t be pretty—or quiet…

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Ebooks, Crime, Mystery Thriller

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

James Andrus is a career law enforcement officer who still works major investigations. He has been involved in real serial crime cases, which formed the basis for some of this novel. He has been featured on network news shows and been recognized for his law enforcement achievements. Andrus lives in the Southeast United States with his family, dividing his time between police work and writing.

Reviews

[Elaine Lucky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction to Detective John Stallings, formerly of homicide and now missing persons. He's on a mission to find his daughter who's been missing for three years. He has worked with runaways and street kids and has a wide network that helps him with his cases. He's pulled back to homicide when a serial killer is detected killing a specific type of woman. John is on the brink with his personal life, professional life, & all consuming case. An interesting solid story with a different type of serial killer and well written. I will continue this series.

[Erth · Rating 4 out of 5]

now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.

The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.

i would highly recommend this author and this book.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book with low hopes-yes, another free Kindle book (well, I've actually had fairly good luck with them) but I've had bad luck with murder mystery/cop detective stories-I'm usually not too impressed/entertained by them. And while this book didn't seem exceptional, it did keep my interest. I enjoyed reading it-and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe the writing and characterization was better than other ones of the genre I've read? Or maybe I just love my Kindle so much, I enjoy everything I read on it. :p
I think what did keep me from getting bored was the jumping around of focus between, about 4, main characters. Still, this book was full of genre cliches-the cop who does things unconventionally and not-by-the-book so we have a "tough guy" to root for (go Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry). Of course he had some annoying story about trying to balance work and spending time with/being there for his family. His wife was a big baby. But, there were some tough-ish women in the novel. The killer was...his back story didn't really explain the degree he was messed up, but I guess it's possible some people don't need all that much to make them crazy-they just probably had a lot of crazy in them before all the crap happened.

Anyways, nothing too special, but, I was still interested and entertained. I wouldn't actively put these books on my wish-list, but if I saw one at a book sale, yeah, I'd pick it up. (I don't know that there are more stories with these characters, but I'm assuming there are.)

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Perfect Woman is a story of the hunt for a serial killer who uses young petite women as "subjects"in his experiments of finding the perfect mix of prescription drigs to keep them lucid but not fully functioning. If a subject doesn't make it through a trial she is stuffed into a suitcase after dying. The title is derived when the killer believes he has found the "perfect woman" for his experiments.

Enter detective John Stallings who is fighting his demons from when his older daughter disappeared. He throws himself completely into this case along with his partner Patty Levin and the lieutenant Tony Mazzerili. With many turns along the way during the investigation, what makes this book a winner is the way the reader is living through Stallings' demons for not only his daughter but also for his wife who is battling addiction. Then when Patty is targeted as one of the killer's subjects, you also learn a lot about Tony. All these character revelations (Patty also has issues told to the reader) is what sets this story apart from other serial killer stories. The reader learns a lot more about the "good guys" than the killer. That makes this book a great read for me and I plan to read more in this series about Detective Stallings.

[Kate Bowyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of books in this genre but love reading all types so thought I'd give it a go. For me the book was predictable and repeated itself way too much. It was not a hard story line to follow so I'm not sure why they kept repeating different parts of it. I would not recommend the book I'm sorry to say. I did finish it though it's only because I have this thing where I need finish any book I start.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's looking for the Perfect Woman -- one that stays quiet, submissive and fast asleep while he's not there, and he will kill to find her. John Stallings and Tony Mazetti go up against a killer that is striking a familiar type: petite, young and often unwanted or a runaway. Stallings own daughter is missing. As girls continue to disappear, including Stallings partner, the body count rises. Can they find the killer before he strikes again? Good read, kept my interest enough to order the second in the series.

[Lisabeth Fluitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhat Predictable

The book is somewhat predictable but it is an exciting story. The characters were strong and followed true to course.

Stallings’s wife Maria conveniently blamed her addictions on him. I think she is weak and you could glue her husband to her side and she would still have trouble. Oh well.......

[patndoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected

This story was far different than I expected. A little twisted, and perhaps not for everyone. None the less, it was an ok read.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.....Very descriptive..with a good view of how police officers have to gather clues, ask the right questions, have good contacts and get the job done....

[Paschalis]

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[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a page turner! Really enjoyed the writing. It was a book like others have written back when they were good. You will enjoy it.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I think it was well written and good ending too. Fast-Paced and got hooked after the first chapter. Ok/ good read.

[Carrie Billig]

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[Charles T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something to read on the airplane.

[Constance Lechman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A police detective/serial killer page turner.

[Linda Branham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally like police procedurals and this one was ok - but not one of my favorites.
I liked the police officer John Stallings character, The author did a really good job of "fleshing" out the character and why he was the way he was. Tony - the other detective who was a narcissistic and obnoxious jerk turned out to be not so bad after all. I really liked that. Making Tony a one dimensional, typical big-headed cop would have been the easy way out but author didn't take it. You actually end up liking him.

My main problem with the story was that the killer's character fell kind of flat. There were vague references to what made him the way he is, but there wasn't enough backstory to make it convincing. The killer struck me as more pathetic (and not in a sympathetic way) and boring than scary and twisted. I like my killers scary and twisted!

The author generally did a good job with the cop characters; the bad guys need some work.

I would be interested in reading another book featuring this group of cops - to see how their characters develop - and to learn what happens with Stallings and his wife

[Madelon · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE PERFECT WOMAN is not a perfect book. It had the potential to be a real nail biter but somehow it fell short. I really love it when I get to the end of a book and I scream in my mind, "No, not over, more, more, more!" because I got so caught up in the story. A book like that has answered most of the important questions and the desire for more is really quite satisfying.

I put this book aside wanting more because the answers to the problems were too nebulous. Without giving the story away, it seemed like there was no real resolution to anything. The premise is more than interesting, and the writing is technically quite good but a little too flat.

Would I recommend THE PERFECT WIFE? Maybe. Maybe not.

[Lizz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book may have been free, or close to it, on Kindle. I was interested because it's set here in Jacksonville (go figure, who puts a book in Jacksonville??) It was pretty good actually, and interesting in that from the first page you knew who the killer was and what he was thinking. I did have a few nits to pick with it. First of all, MUST we refer to the police as the po-po? Second, we KNOW that Mazetti and Hoagie are partners. You do NOT need to point this out every single time you mention them. Third, if you are going to base a book here, you really should be aware that Duval Country is spelled with ONE l, not two. Still..... all in all it was good enough for me to get the 2nd book in the series..... which I shall review forthwith.

[Phyllis M. Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

OOOOOOoooooooooooooooh! I've found another author!

[David MacTavish · Rating 1 out of 5]

A light read. It was ok, I bought it because it was cheap on Kindle, and I think it is only published electronically, and I was curious about that. The author is clearly trying to have interesting characters, but they come off a bit shallow. Storyline is not quite believable. Author uses a technique of backing up in time (just a few minutes) and retelling the scene from a different character's point of view. Neat idea, but given the shallowness and overall "lightness" of the writing, it doesn't work as well as it could. Andrus also needlessly repeats things from earlier in the novel, and the reader is left wondering if why or if the author is even aware of it.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the author's descriptive style, and the story was compelling enough for me to want to speed to the end and see how it all wrapped up. The perspective of the killer, while not new in this genre, was well done. My one gripe is that, at the end, one primary character suddenly acts way out of character. It was necessary for the ending, and I get that, but I wished the transformation was more gradual. I'll agree with another reader's assessment that it started slow, but it really was a good read. And well worth the free Kindle download.

[Space · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked in this one how the author skipped around in people's heads and let you know what each one was thinking. It was a little odd being inside a psychopath's head, but it made the story that much more creepy. I also thought the scenery was fantastic. When he made his first kill it was just chilling.

Anyway, I don't normally like cop/detective novels, but this was pretty good. I might check out the next installment. I'm interested to see if the narrator ever finds his lost daughter.

[Kristen M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book at the Dollar store. It sparked my curiosity, so how could I pass it up for $1.00. I must admit, I actually enjoyed reading it. It was surprisingly refreshing to read something easy and uncomplicated for a change. The characters are well developed and the suspense is remarkably realistic. I don't usually buy mass media fiction unless I'm fresh out of other fiction, but I admit I will read the three other books Andrus wrote. John Stallings sparked my interest.

[Tamera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. Part of my enjoyment was the setting - I don't think I have read a book actually located where I live and it was neat to able to identify with the city. I felt like the author gave a good feel for the city and the work involved in police detecting. It was told in multiple viewpoints (several detectives, antagonist, victims) and the ending lead me to believe it might be a series.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the characters in this book, especially the lead character, and the theme of family/missing girls. The only thing I didn't care for was that the first half of the story sagged considerably, leading me to put it down after a chapter or so whenever I picked it up again. I did read the second half in one sitting. Overall a good story, and I might try another of this author's works.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a Kindle freebie and I'm not sure I would pay for it or am in any hurry to see if there are anymore by this author. It was OK, I used it as my gym read so it took me a fair while to read, and I admit that this may have spoiled my enjoyment of it - I may have fared better if I'd given it more time!

[Marianne Stehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this new series. I read the books intially out of order and had to go back and read the first. This is a great book that shows real police work, has some good thrills, alot of mystery and characters that are less than perfect but feel real. I am hoping for a third int his series.

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Good; Continuing character: John Stallings (first in series); a cop whose daughter disappeared some time ago and who has been trying to offset his loss by working with other runaways, is pulled back into homicide when the victims turn out to be girls who have left home looking for something better - and been murdered by someone who first experiments on them

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can see the story had potential but it was extremely infuriating to have to read the name Stallings or Mazzetti over and over and over -- 1-5+ times PER PAGE. Come on! Those names ruined it . . . burned it out.

Hint for sequels: don't burn us out with so many "Stallings," "Mazzettis" and/or "Patty Levine" and "William Dremmel."

Poor writing, dude. Need to learn how it's done.