Review of DAY OF THE DEAD by J.A. Jance (see her website)

William Morrow, July 2004

Retired Sheriff Brandon Walker gets a new lease on life when he's chosen to join an elite group of retired law enforcement personnel who investigate cold cases--and his current case is not only stone cold, but inconceivably brutal. More than thirty years ago, a local Indian teenager was found hacked to death, stuffed into a cooler and left on the side of the road. But there are plenty of leads, ignored by his own indifferent department.

Soon Brandon and a young homicide detective discover alarming similarities between this ancient case and a more recent one. They soon come to realize a brutal serial killer has been in their midst for decades and the wrong man arrested for the new case. Their separate investigations lead them through a world of secretive and sometimes bewildering Native American customs and across the Mexican border, involving a respected charity, pillars of society, and even Brandon's own daughter.

You aren't likely to meet a more chilling pair of psychopaths than the villains in DAY OF THE DEAD. The story coalesces in a tense and lethal chase scene that rivals any I've read.

During the first half, the author makes so many side trips into various points of view and into the past that the story drags and is confusing at times. But pacing in the second half is much faster, rewarding the reader for being patient, and all of the plot strings pull together in a neat, if chilling, bow.

See more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by J. A. Jance.

Three Stars

Reviewed 10/07/04

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