Book Review- Ridley Pearson- The First Victim

Ridley Pearson- The First Victim (Hyperion 1999) 3.75 Stars

Lieutenant Lou Boldt is investigating three women’s deaths. They were found in a shipping container that was washed overboard during a storm. The shipping container was filled with illegal immigrants from China. He will find himself competing with reporter Stevie McNeal in a race for information as she hunts down her missing friend who was doing an investigative report on the illegal alien scam. Meanwhile he is also trying to work both with and against other departments who wish to take the case away from him.

I liked this novel. It was a different kind of thriller than I am used to seeing on the market these days; so it was kind of refreshing. The plot was a kind of two-fold one, two different purposes for the investigation, and moulding into one investigation. It was fairly intense in the latter half and was really hard to put down at the end. I like the characters in this book, they were really well done, especially Boldt. We see both the work side and the personal side of Boldt as he struggles to come to grips with his wife being healthy and having found religion. It was a perfect balance between the two. At times I did find that Pearson was a little wordy, which was kind of distracting at first, making the book harder to get into. I would definitely recommend this book, and will certainly read more books in this series.

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Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

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