A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava (thoughts)

When I read the last page of A Perfect Evil, I wanted more.  No...scratch that....I needed more.  And I found myself frustrated that I didn't have the second book sitting right there ready to be read.  Because obviously I didn't know that I was going to NEED to read the second book instantly especially when the beginning of this book didn't really blow me away.  But by the end....oh the end just left me wanting to continue on and keep reading.  But I'm getting ahead of myself so let me tell you what this book is about.

A Perfect Evil is a thriller that begins when a young boy is found murdered after he had gone missing a few days earlier.  The murder is eerily similar to a couple of previous killings with the problem being that the convicted murderer for those crimes has been recently executed.  The question remains if the police have a copycat killer on their hands.  And then another boy goes missing....

I'm going to admit that at first I didn't think that I was going to like this book.  As a parent it is never easy for me to read books where the crimes being perpetrated are against children.  Plus, the author isn't afraid to share all of the gory details that went along with the killings and I started to pull away a bit as a reader.  The saving grace of the book for me was Maggie O'Dell and Sheriff Nick Morrelli.  Both main characters came across so realistically to me and both were flawed.  I loved that!  I found it all too easy to connect with both of the main characters which is always a positive in my opinion.  I found that for me these two made the book.  I loved the chemistry that developed between them, I appreciated the obstacles that they were up against, and I cannot wait to see what future books have in store for them.  Because nothing in this book was easy to figure out including the mystery itself.  And just when I thought that it was done and everything was figured out, I realized that there was more.  And maybe even a little more after that.  Let me tell you that these twists and turns really had me turning the pages.  I've already mentioned the ending but it bears repeating that the ending left me wanting.  I'm so eager to continue on that I'm already planning on grabbing the 2nd book when I visit the used bookstore next time.  Or if I decide I can't wait until then a library trip will be in order. 

Overall, this was a very solid thriller that was made better because of the main characters.  I liked that the author didn't give us all of the answers, and I found that it just made me more curious about future books.  My only warning before recommending this book is the violence against children issue.  If you are squeamish at all (and I was at times) when it comes to this, then you might not enjoy this book as much as I did.  I was able to get past it though mainly because of my curiosity and connection to the characters.  Otherwise, highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  A thriller that made me wish I had book 2 instantly!

Disclosure:  I bought my copy of this book from the used bookstore.  I just passed it on to my Mom because I thought it was that good :)