What do you think?
Rate this book
Ulysses Grove #4
Todesschatten
A slashed female corpse... a footprint, a tire track... a trail of blood in a crowded shopping mall. Even the most jaded cops are horrified by the carnage. But to seasoned FBI profiler Ulysses Grove, the evidence spells out a much more personal message -- a threat that speaks to Grove alone...METICULOUS KILLER...He chooses his victims with care. He plans their murders with painstaking precision; he studies the most notorious slayers. He's gone to extremes to achieve his goals -- committed to fulfilling his destiny as history's greatest serial killer... With precious lives at stake, and his very soul on the line, Grove throws himself into the chase -- and into a trap from which there's no escape...
Pocket Book
First published January 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Jay Bonansinga
111 books387 followersThe national best-selling author of ten acclaimed books – both fiction and non-fiction -- Jay Bonansinga has been called “one of the most imaginative writers of thrillers” by the Chicago Tribune.
Jay is the holder of a master's degree in film from Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University in their Creative Writing for the Media program.
Jay is the holder of a master's degree in film from Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University in their Creative Writing for the Media program.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 10, 2009
Synopsis promises excitement - author failed to deliver.
Anyone who’s read my more recent reviews usually get a brief rundown of what I read, what I liked and disliked. With this one, I’m sorry, but I’m not wasting my time.
The synopsis had my attention, I figured this one was right down my alley. How misleading! The prologue and first couple of chapters had my attention. From then on, I had to force myself to read this book. For me, that’s not good - not good at all. I felt absolutely nothing for the characters: not for Ulysses, or his wife Maura, nor anyone else. One dimensional, no depth, no personality. The only one I actually liked was their toddler! The plot was ridiculous, unlikely and far-fetched.
One Amazon.com reviewer wrote: “Bonansinga’s protagonist is a ludicrous cross between Jesus Christ (think immaculate conception — no, really,) Sherlock Holmes and an African-American Batman. Sort of like an Anne Rice character, without the benefit of imagination, plot device and literary skill. And I use those terms loosely.” - Thank you, Anonyme from Oregon, I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
I had to wonder if perhaps I’d have liked the book more if I’d read the others in the series. All their synopsis’ sound good, but seeing as I really didn’t like the characters, nor the plot, in this one, I highly doubt I’ll go out of my way to get a copy. If it’s passed to me, that’s still a huge maybe.
And the ending… good grief! How anyone, let alone the main character, could have survived that is anyone’s guess - it was that far-fetched. Understandable how his mind wasn’t intact after that - but for his wife and kid to walk into the room and suddenly remember who he is… honestly, Mr. Bonansinga, did you really think we’d be able to swallow it?
If his characters had been more believable, if there’s been more mystery to the plot, and if he’d left out the spiritual/paranormal mumbo jumbo (didn’t believe any of it for a second, not even a nano-second,) maybe, just maybe, I’d be more inclined to read some of his other work. As it stand: No.
Anyone who’s read my more recent reviews usually get a brief rundown of what I read, what I liked and disliked. With this one, I’m sorry, but I’m not wasting my time.
The synopsis had my attention, I figured this one was right down my alley. How misleading! The prologue and first couple of chapters had my attention. From then on, I had to force myself to read this book. For me, that’s not good - not good at all. I felt absolutely nothing for the characters: not for Ulysses, or his wife Maura, nor anyone else. One dimensional, no depth, no personality. The only one I actually liked was their toddler! The plot was ridiculous, unlikely and far-fetched.
One Amazon.com reviewer wrote: “Bonansinga’s protagonist is a ludicrous cross between Jesus Christ (think immaculate conception — no, really,) Sherlock Holmes and an African-American Batman. Sort of like an Anne Rice character, without the benefit of imagination, plot device and literary skill. And I use those terms loosely.” - Thank you, Anonyme from Oregon, I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
I had to wonder if perhaps I’d have liked the book more if I’d read the others in the series. All their synopsis’ sound good, but seeing as I really didn’t like the characters, nor the plot, in this one, I highly doubt I’ll go out of my way to get a copy. If it’s passed to me, that’s still a huge maybe.
And the ending… good grief! How anyone, let alone the main character, could have survived that is anyone’s guess - it was that far-fetched. Understandable how his mind wasn’t intact after that - but for his wife and kid to walk into the room and suddenly remember who he is… honestly, Mr. Bonansinga, did you really think we’d be able to swallow it?
If his characters had been more believable, if there’s been more mystery to the plot, and if he’d left out the spiritual/paranormal mumbo jumbo (didn’t believe any of it for a second, not even a nano-second,) maybe, just maybe, I’d be more inclined to read some of his other work. As it stand: No.
January 8, 2015
"Perfect Victim" is James Patterson/Alex Cross light. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just that I'd already felt like I'd read the story (and experienced the qualities of the main character) in an earlier Alex Cross novel (or two) by James Patterson. The main character, Ulysses Grove, is practically a clone of Alex Cross with a wife who questions her role in her man's life, a boss who is often "down" on him, a nice kid that he loves dearly but doesn't get to spend enough time with, etc. In addition, the personal qualities of Grove (black, good-looking, FBI superstar with preternatural knack for reading what the bad guy will do next) are also too Cross-like for me.
All of this didn't seem to bother me until this book because I have read (and enjoyed) the three previous Grove novels. The similarities with Cross just seem to be too great in "Perfect Victim" and got in my way of enjoying the story.
This novel starts with an interesting enough premise - serial killer following same pattern of killing his victims, victims spread over eastern third of country, and with the grand scheme having some sort of connection (no spoiler here) to Grove. As Grove begins to unravel the killer's ultimate plan, both his private and public lives are put in jeopardy. His wife and son leave at the same time his boss suspends him. As one would expect, this doesn't deter Grove who, with the assistance of one of his students, ramps up the search for the killer before it's too late for the next victim.
The book certainly is a quick enough read and if you've read the previous 3 Grove novels, you'll more than likely will want to read this AND will may even like it. However, this novel would not necessarily be a great jumping off point for someone new to the Grove series, because after reading it, they might not be interested enough to go back and read "Frozen", Twisted", and "Shattered".
I'm glad I've read the series up to this point, but I'm not sure I will continue with it from here. It doesn't appear that Bonansinga is adding to the series either as it looks as if he's concentrating on writing "Walking Dead" novels.
All of this didn't seem to bother me until this book because I have read (and enjoyed) the three previous Grove novels. The similarities with Cross just seem to be too great in "Perfect Victim" and got in my way of enjoying the story.
This novel starts with an interesting enough premise - serial killer following same pattern of killing his victims, victims spread over eastern third of country, and with the grand scheme having some sort of connection (no spoiler here) to Grove. As Grove begins to unravel the killer's ultimate plan, both his private and public lives are put in jeopardy. His wife and son leave at the same time his boss suspends him. As one would expect, this doesn't deter Grove who, with the assistance of one of his students, ramps up the search for the killer before it's too late for the next victim.
The book certainly is a quick enough read and if you've read the previous 3 Grove novels, you'll more than likely will want to read this AND will may even like it. However, this novel would not necessarily be a great jumping off point for someone new to the Grove series, because after reading it, they might not be interested enough to go back and read "Frozen", Twisted", and "Shattered".
I'm glad I've read the series up to this point, but I'm not sure I will continue with it from here. It doesn't appear that Bonansinga is adding to the series either as it looks as if he's concentrating on writing "Walking Dead" novels.
October 26, 2013
Never read anything by this author but this book got me involved right from the beginning.An FBI Profiler,it is quite a thriller,with paranormal and history.lots of action.To much going on here to try and give you an idea.Best I can tell you is to read it yourself.Going to look up what else this guy wrote!!!
February 19, 2010
I am not sure why I finished this book. What I expected was a straight forward book about a serial killer. Instead it was about a para-normal serial killer with hints of ancient religions, voodoo and other things that may be good in a Stephen King novel but just didn't cut it for me in this book.
February 21, 2018
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I was rather disappointed. There was too much history of voodoo magic that somehow wound its way into the life of a serial killer, with little explanation; too much was to be inferred by the reader. There was less profiling of a criminal and more mental confusion and breakdown of the profiler! An alright book but nothing memorable.
March 18, 2020
This book starts out as a murder mystery....and turns into something mystical & creepy
July 4, 2020
not great, but kept my attention for a weekend to finish
September 11, 2022
Creepy good.
August 3, 2015
Perfect Victim was my introduction to the work of Jay Bonansinga and, unfortunately, it may be my only exposure. The book started out okay; it appeared to fall within the crime-fiction/thriller genre but half-way through the book the author introduced a number of potential supernatural plot twists, some of which simply did not pan out.
There were a number of editing errors throughout the book; the errors consisted primarily in missing and misspelled words. It was enough of an issue that it caused a rift in the important relationship that must exist between story-teller and reader.
As a whole the story lacked substance; there was no real reason to care for either Groves or Drinkwater. Empathy, a requisite emotional response every author should strive to create in his reader, simply did not come in to play in this story.
At one point in the story I came across the following dialogue between Agent Groves and Drinkwater:
"Mitochlorians, Ulysses. There's a term for it. It's like an airborne - What? - like a spore - "
"That's enough."
" - that can be passed during altered states, like a hallucinogen, like in a religious ceremony, but not exactly. It's really hard to explain."(pg. 218).
If the term 'mitochlorians' sounds familiar it's because it appears to be a knock-off of the term 'midichlorians', from one of the Star Wars prequel movies. Here's a definition of the term, taken from a Star Wars Wiki online:
"Midi-chlorians were intelligent microscopic life forms that lived symbiotically inside the cells of all living things. When present in sufficient numbers, they could allow their host to detect the pervasive energy field known as the Force." (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Midi-c...)
This, coupled with the lackluster manner in which the author wrapped up his story line, have put me off reading any further Bonansinga novels for quite a while.
There were a number of editing errors throughout the book; the errors consisted primarily in missing and misspelled words. It was enough of an issue that it caused a rift in the important relationship that must exist between story-teller and reader.
As a whole the story lacked substance; there was no real reason to care for either Groves or Drinkwater. Empathy, a requisite emotional response every author should strive to create in his reader, simply did not come in to play in this story.
At one point in the story I came across the following dialogue between Agent Groves and Drinkwater:
"Mitochlorians, Ulysses. There's a term for it. It's like an airborne - What? - like a spore - "
"That's enough."
" - that can be passed during altered states, like a hallucinogen, like in a religious ceremony, but not exactly. It's really hard to explain."(pg. 218).
If the term 'mitochlorians' sounds familiar it's because it appears to be a knock-off of the term 'midichlorians', from one of the Star Wars prequel movies. Here's a definition of the term, taken from a Star Wars Wiki online:
"Midi-chlorians were intelligent microscopic life forms that lived symbiotically inside the cells of all living things. When present in sufficient numbers, they could allow their host to detect the pervasive energy field known as the Force." (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Midi-c...)
This, coupled with the lackluster manner in which the author wrapped up his story line, have put me off reading any further Bonansinga novels for quite a while.
August 19, 2016
Paula is a private detective and went to the police station to talk to Warren Wade who had been arrested for the murder of his ex fiance Sylvia. Sylvia had been killed three nights before with q fire poker that had warren’s fingerprints all over it. Sylvia told warren she didn’t love him any more and broke the engagement but Warren said she had been acting a little strange while she was telling him. Warren states he did not kill Sylvia and Paula believed him. Warren was a rich man who really didn’t work but did love computers. Sylvia’s best friend was Amity they had been best friends since grade school. Sylvia had worked at a newspaper office. Sylvia and her mom argues some as still tried to control Sylvia and her mom didn’t like Warren. Steve and Paula were lovers and he sometimes help her with cases. Then Steve is attacked while trying to help her with Warren’s case he was put in the hospital. Another of Sylvia friends was killed her name was Glynnis it was the same way Sylvia was killed. The police still would not release Warren.
I liked this story alot, it had plenty of action and had a very good plot. There was even some humor in this story. However it was a little slow in spots but i got through them. This is a quick read. I was sucked into the story and stayed there until the end. I loved the ins and outs of this story. I recommend.
I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.
I liked this story alot, it had plenty of action and had a very good plot. There was even some humor in this story. However it was a little slow in spots but i got through them. This is a quick read. I was sucked into the story and stayed there until the end. I loved the ins and outs of this story. I recommend.
I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.
July 7, 2010
This is the continuing series of Ulysses Grove, FBI profiler. His is a strange and interesting life, with some weird African ju ju going on in his past. A serial killer has a unique connection to Ulysses and he is using that connection to draw Ulysses into his trap. At each crime scene there is a message for the profiler. He enlists the aid of a young FBI recruit to investigate Ulysses’ past while he investigates the serial killer. Edith Drinkwater can’t believe some of the stories she is hearing after she chases down the identity of the men she found in a photo. But the real shock comes when she talks to Ulysses’ mother. This thriller laced with the occult and paranormal, comes to a chilling conclusion as readers start to wonder if Ulysses is dead or alive at the end.
December 22, 2012
What a fantastic book. You can't help but feeling a connection with Uly Grove the main character. He is a very deep, emotional character and the mystery surrounding him keeps you reading late into the night.This book was a page turner. It was full of suspense and I couldn't wait until I got to the end. Jay Bonansinga has now become one of my favorite authors!
I realized after I started reading this that I had read one of the Uly Grove books a while back. I now plan on going back and reading the series from the start!
I realized after I started reading this that I had read one of the Uly Grove books a while back. I now plan on going back and reading the series from the start!
July 7, 2012
One of my favorite things to do is go to a bookstore and pick up a book from a author that I've never heard of and that sounds interesting. This book was one of the best random picks I've ever had. The cases were so interesting and unique and I loved everything about this book. I need to read more by this author.
April 2, 2012
This was a little bit too far fetched. I didn't really get the main idea or why any of the stuff happened. I like thrillers and mysteries, don't mind a superhero character like Jack REacher etc, but this guy was just too much. Don't think I'll bother with any of the other ones.
December 21, 2012
I think it was ok. Though the book wasn't as great as I thought it would be I was still able to finish reading it. If you're into thriller novels with a hint of the supernatural and unexplainable powers then Perfect Victim is for you.
August 27, 2013
Pretty good. It kinda took me a while to really get in to it, but it was good. I really got into after like page 240 ... I don't usually finish reading books that don't really hold my attention well, but this was good & I am glad that I kept at it;)
January 11, 2009
Awesome thriller! Couldn't put it down and I can't wait to read the rest of the Ulysses Grove series that Bonansinga has wrote.
July 28, 2011
I will be hard pressed to read anymore of this authors books. there were too many issues of consistency in the book itself. I plan on sending the publisher a note about it.
June 24, 2012
Enoyed it.
August 21, 2012
Started out good and got way too off-the-wall weird at the end...
July 15, 2016
Lots of insight to how profilers might work. The finish is a bit unbelievable
September 11, 2014
Every page gets you guessing and guessing..
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews