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Title details for The Rosary Girls by Richard Montanari - Available

The Rosary Girls

#1 in series

by Richard Montanari
Scott Brick
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
In his sleek, visceral novels Deviant Way, Kiss of Evil, and The Violet Hour, Richard Montanari slammed into the suspense field like a force of nature. Now Montanari has written an astounding novel that pits two besieged detectives against a fiercely intelligent serial killer.
Sprawling beneath the statue of William Penn, Philadelphia is a city of downtrodden crack houses and upscale brownstones. Somewhere in this concrete crazy quilt, one teenage Catholic girl is writing in her diary, another is pouring her heart out to a friend, and yet another is praying. And somewhere in this city is a man who wants these young women to make his macabre fantasy become reality. In a passion play of his own, he will take the girls–and a whole city–over the edge.
Kevin Byrne is a veteran cop who already knows that edge: He’s been living on it far too long. His marriage failing, his former partner wasting away in a hospital, and his heart lost to mad fury, Byrne loves to take risks and is breaking every rule in the book. And now he has been given a rookie partner. Jessica Balzano, the daughter of a famous Philly cop, doesn’t want Byrne’s help. But they will need each other desperately, since they’ve just caught the case of a lifetime: Someone is killing devout young women, bolting their hands together in prayer, and committing an abomination upon their otherwise perfect bodies.
Byrne and Balzano spearhead the hunt for the serial killer, who leads them on a methodically planned journey. Suspects appear before them like bad dreams–and vanish just as quickly. And while Byrne’s sins begin to catch up with him, and Balzano tries to solve the blood-splattered puzzle, the body count rises. Meanwhile, the calendar is approaching Easter and the day of the resurrection. When the last rosary is counted, a madman’s methods will be revealed, and the final crime will be the one that hurts the most.
Relentlessly paced and vividly told, The Rosary Girls is a smart, emotionally complex, fiercely gripping thriller from an author who takes chances, breaks new ground, and leaves readers haunted and moved long after the last page is turned.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Kevin Byrne & Jessica Balzano

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 22, 2005

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415953044
      • File size: 389430 KB
      • Duration: 13:31:18

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      A meticulous and highly intelligent madman is gruesomely killing Catholic teenaged girls, breaking their necks, bolting their hands together in prayer, and mutilating them sexually. Veteran Philadelphia Detective Kevin Byrne and his new partner, Jessica Balzano, who quickly realizes she and her daughter are on the murderer's list, investigate every lead. Scott Brick's narration captures all the tension in this fiercely gripping thriller. He is equally at ease with voices of both genders and uses pacing and distinctive vocal characterizations to maintain suspense. Brick's voice is clear and precise, making his performance spellbinding. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 13, 2004
      A starred review indicates a book of outstanding quality. A review with a blue-tinted title indicates a book of unusual commercial interest that hasn't received a starred review.

      THE ROSARY GIRLS
      Richard Montanari
      . Ballantine
      , $23.95 (416p) ISBN 0-345-47095-8

      A specialist in serial killer tales (Kiss of Evil
      , etc.
      ) offers the gory first in a projected series. A religious nut is preying on Catholic schoolgirls, picking them off with impunity while Philadelphia detective Kevin Byrne and his new partner, Jessica Balzano, wring their hands and wrack their brains. The victims are found with their necks broken, their hands bolted together in prayer and their vaginas sewn shut. Byrne has a problematic past and a Vicodin habit, and Jessica's daughter, Sophie, is a tempting target for the killer, especially since her dad, undercover cop Vincent Balzano, has been kicked out of the house for cheating on Jessica. Several red herring suspects keep both cops and readers off balance, and there are plenty of subplots—Jessica is a female boxer, Byrne is the divorced father of a deaf daughter, there's a nosy tabloid reporter trying to start trouble. But most of these mini-dramas serve only to provide a breather between sadistic mutilations. Montanari can be a wonderfully evocative writer, but the final unveiling of the madman's identity will draw cries of foul from readers who expect a fighting chance at figuring out who the guilty party is. Agent, Meg Ruley. (Feb.)

      Forecast:
      Ballantine is pushing this one as Montanari's breakout book—and it's a featured alternate of the Literary Guild, the Mystery Guild and the Doubleday Book Club—but the dangling subplots and a formulaic ending may hobble it a bit
      .

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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